(12-28-2017 10:53 AM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  

(12-27-2017 03:48 PM)bullet Wrote:  Apple is often thrown in with the others, but I think they are much more vulnerable. Apple once dominated computers. They were followed by IBM. The iPhone and their other devices could rapidly become minor players just like Apple computers did.

Facebook, Google and Amazon are not quite as vulnerable. Facebook and Google control information distribution. Amazon is getting a very strong position in product distribution.

Yup. Apple isnt like the other companies. It is a consumer electronics company not a tech company. And that's why its P/E multiple is in line with an electronics company rather than with a tech company.

Its different as it actually has a significant revenue through digital distribution. The amount of revenues they generate off apps in the Apple store and Apple Music is ginormous (about 1/6 of their entire revenues). After the iPhone, digital distribution is the largest revenue generation in the company.

They were deadly smart in building their iPhone and iPad base. Then they locked the distribution of apps to their control. In order for an app to be offered in the Apple Store, a developer has to hand over 30 per cent of all fees. And, the app developer is forbidden from offering a link to their own signup page to do a "free now then circumvent Apple by doing the pay thing with us."

So they make direct money off direct consumer electronics, then dip their beak into anything that runs on the electronics on a continuous basis.