Filip Novotny How are you in the evening informed, Apple announced its quarterly financial results for the second time this year yesterday. As has slowly become the norm, this event was not only a stark list of numbers, but also a certain one-man show by Tim Cook. He spoke, among other things, about the growing importance of Apple TV, the meaning of corporate acquisitions and also new product categories (of course only in general terms).
Apple's CEO kicked off the conference by praising iPhone sales. Although the latest generation of Apple phones may have seemed to be stagnating in recent months, Cook reported a record 44 million sales. He also highlighted the ever-growing interest in developed and developing countries, in addition to traditional markets such as the USA, Britain, Germany or Japan, as well as in Vietnam or China.
Revenues from the iTunes store and other services are also growing, even by double digits, according to Cook. Even Mac computers are gaining more and more popularity, and the only area where the Apple boss was more moderate is tablets. "Sales of iPads have fully filled our expectations, but we recognize that they are falling short of analysts' forecasts,” Cook admitted. He attributes this fact to reasons related to the availability of different models and logistical problems - last year, for example, iPad minis were waited until March, which is why the first quarter was stronger.
Tim Cook also gave other arguments why he does not feel that the iPad will begin to stagnate. "98% of users are satisfied with iPads. This cannot be said about almost anything else in the world. In addition, fully two-thirds of people who plan to buy a tablet prefer the iPad," Cook rejected the decline of the Apple tablet. “When I look at these numbers, I feel great about them. But that doesn't mean everyone's going to be excited about them every quarter — every 90 days," he adds.
[do action=”citation”]98% of users are satisfied with iPads. This cannot be said about almost anything else in the world.[/do]
Not much has changed in the iPad world in recent weeks, but one event (or application) has gained attention. Microsoft has finally decided to release its popular office suite for Apple tablets as well. "I think Office for iPad has helped us, although it's not clear to what extent," Cook praised himself, but then he also poked fun at his Redmond rival: "I believe that if this had happened earlier, the situation for Microsoft would have been a little better .”
Another product that received space - perhaps a little surprisingly - at yesterday's conference is the Apple TV. This product, which was launched by Steve Jobs as an accessory standing outside the mainstream of the company, over time has become a very popular accessory for the iPad and other Apple products. Tim Cook no longer talks about it, like his predecessor, as a mere hobby. “The reason I stopped using this label is obvious when looking at Apple TV sales and the content downloaded through it. That number is more than a billion dollars,” Cook said, adding that his company will continue to improve the black box.
Despite all the previous confident claims, however, it may still seem that Apple is increasingly trying to insure itself for future years. One such indicator may be the number of corporate acquisitions; Apple bought a total of 24 companies in the last year and a half. According to Cook, however, the Californian company is not doing so (unlike some competitors) to harm the competition or show a certain activity. He says that he tries to take full advantage of the acquisitions and does not make them recklessly.
“We're looking for companies that have great people, great technology, and a cultural fit,” says Cook. “We don't have any rule that prohibits spending. But at the same time, we are not competing to see who spends the most. It's important that acquisitions make strategic sense, allow us to produce better products and increase the value of our shares in the long term," Cook explained his company's acquisition policy.
[do action=”citation”]It is important that acquisitions make strategic sense.[/do]
It is these acquisitions that help Apple explore new product categories, such as the expected watches or televisions. However, apart from indirect conjecture and speculation, we haven't heard much about these products until now, and Tim Cook explains why. “We're working on great things that I'm really, really proud of. But because we care about every detail, it takes a little longer," he answered a question from the audience.
"This is how it has always worked in our company, it is nothing new. As you know, we didn't make the first MP3 player, the first smartphone or the first tablet," admits Cook. "Tablets had actually been sold for a decade before that, but we were the ones who came up with the first successful modern tablet, the first successful modern smartphone, and the first successful modern MP3 player," Apple's CEO explained. "Doing something right is more important to us than being first," Cook sums up his company policy.
For this reason, we have not yet learned much about any of the long-awaited products. However, according to Tim Cook's statements yesterday, we could wait quite soon. "At the moment we feel strong enough to work on new things," he revealed. Apple is reportedly already working on several new products, but for the time being it was not ready to show them to the world.
The connection "his company" is not very accurate, Cook is only a director, not an owner, also because apple is a stock company :)
Aren't you a Czech too? :) What about your nation? :))
why is the republic as?
Yes, our Czech Republic is in a way an as :) if you know who is behind the management of our state, especially influential lobbyists and string-pullers, then yes :)
yeah, but that's not what I meant :)
he himself is a big shareholder, so it is also his. not "just a director"