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Thread: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

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    Default 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple


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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    wow, amazing I had to look up their stock price 591.82


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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    in the interest of equal time, some additional facts about Apple are discussed at ...



    However, the economic fact remains that Apple's business / tax model is hugely successful ... that Apple products have a quasi-'cult' following by customers around the world ... and that Apple would have to do something amazingly 'stupid' to slip from their position of 'dominance' .

    Additionally, Apple's recent 7 for 1 stock split has resulted in Apple's stock price being in a much more 'investor friendly' range. Also, Apple's recent issuance of US based corporate bonds ( with the borrowed money to be used to pay stock dividends vs repatriating US taxable offshore earnings ) was also well received by investors.
    Last edited by Melonie; 05-02-2014 at 04:33 AM.

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    Apple is also known to use near slave labor conditions in China in factories at Foxxconn and Pegatron. Extremely long hours, very little pay, forced over time, and suicide nets around the factories.

    Apple is also known to take advantage of over seas tax havens. Namely a tax shelter in Ireland.

    Those are the real reason for their huge profits. It is also why I refuse to buy an Apple product.
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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    steve jobs seemed like a huge asshole.

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    Let's not forget their mostly very successful high dollar lawsuits against competitors...
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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    Those are the real reason for their huge profits. It is also why I refuse to buy an Apple product
    Nonetheless, thanks to Apple's efforts to minimize production costs, discourage competitors, reduce taxes, cultivate a 'captive' market via schools and colleges, etc., those profits are indeed huge ... as are the profits earned by Apple stock and bond holders. And, from an investor's standpoint, there's little reason to believe that anything will 'disturb' Apple's profitability in the near future. Unlike certain other companies / industries, Apple's 'profit maximization' measures never seem to attract serious negative attention from the US gov't or US mainstream media.

    At first I had a great deal of difficulty trying to understand why Apple recently decided to sell corporate bonds to the US market to fund stockholder dividend payments. Normally corporations sell bonds when they need to raise cash ... but Apple is 'swimming' in billions of dollars of cash. So why would Apple choose to 'borrow' money via a bond sale, which will cost 5% interest ? The actual reason is that if Apple repatriates cash from offshore operations, it would have to pay 20%+ US corporate income taxes on that cash. Thus from a global economic viewpoint, 'borrowing' money is 15%+ less expensive than using their own money !!! Actually, it's an even better deal because the interest payments Apple makes on those US corporate bonds is also tax deductible against future US taxable earnings !
    Last edited by Melonie; 05-03-2014 at 05:02 AM.

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    in the interest of equal time, some additional facts about Apple are discussed at ...

    http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/...rimes-of-2013/

    However, the economic fact remains that Apple's business / tax model is hugely successful ... that Apple products have a quasi-'cult' following by customers around the world ... and that Apple would have to do something amazingly 'stupid' to slip from their position of 'dominance' .

    Additionally, Apple's recent 7 for 1 stock split has resulted in Apple's stock price being in a much more 'investor friendly' range. Also, Apple's recent issuance of US based corporate bonds ( with the borrowed money to be used to pay stock dividends vs repatriating US taxable offshore earnings ) was also well received by investors.
    I agree some of Apple's business practices are reprehensible, but I do think those numbers are "mind-blowing". I had no idea that Apple was so much bigger than some of their competitors. I thought some people here might find this interesting.

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    Yea, it's a great & interesting article..also the others posted. I think a lot of businesses are dirty to some degree. I remember googling a company I wanted to apply at, & they had like an 8,000.00 fine for selling prohibited material in the Middle East.


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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    Any company is only as good as their next product. Samsung is increasing their sales every year and innovating.

    Apple isnt Berkshire Hathaway. If they dont do something new their sales will dry up just like Blackberry's.

    Yes there is some shady dealings in alot of companies. But some are much worse then others. I can not in good conscience make money from slave labor. I dont give a damn about having an Apple product that bad or even their profits. To me it isnt any different then making money from plantations of black slavery in the old south.
    Without slave labor Apple would be half its size.
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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    I can not in good conscience make money from slave labor. I dont give a damn about having an Apple product that bad or even their profits.
    Obviously, a lot of 'fine, upstanding citizen' investors and institutional investors don't share this sentiment. By the same token, many of those same 'fine, upstanding citizen' investors and institutional investors will pass up shares in companies like BP, Arch Coal, Halliburton, BHP Billiton etc. despite attractive earnings projections / price to earnings ratios, etc. Be that as it may, to a cold calculating investor this probably means that Apple shares are overbought / overpriced, while shares of the other companies are underbought / underpriced. Nevertheless, lots of forces now drive market actions which have little to do with cold financial facts !


    I do think those numbers are "mind-blowing". I had no idea that Apple was so much bigger than some of their competitors
    Oh hell yeah !!! However, the vast majority of profits now originate from overseas sales, and the vast majority of company profits remain overseas as well. Also, keep in mind that a fair chunk of Apple's 'net worth' comes from intellectual property ... the result of not only the company's own R&D efforts, but also the result of Apple's huge cash surplus allowing the purchase of potential 'up and coming' competitors before they actually grow to the stage of becoming a competitive threat. 100 years ago, JD Rockefeller wound up on trial for doing similar things, and his company wound up being forcibly broken apart. Obviously, Apple faces no similar threat today.
    Last edited by Melonie; 05-03-2014 at 05:55 PM.

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    to go along with the above, I just ran across this Bloomberg graph ...


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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    I saw this from 2012:
    http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/25/on...ats-a-problem/

    Forty percent of Apple sales were consummated in the United States as of Apple's 4th quarter, 2012.

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    Quote Originally Posted by Vamp View Post
    Any company is only as good as their next product. Samsung is increasing their sales every year and innovating.

    Apple isnt Berkshire Hathaway. If they dont do something new their sales will dry up just like Blackberry's.

    Yes there is some shady dealings in alot of companies. But some are much worse then others. I can not in good conscience make money from slave labor. I dont give a damn about having an Apple product that bad or even their profits. To me it isnt any different then making money from plantations of black slavery in the old south.
    There's probably not much difference in how workers are treated by Foxconn (Apple's manufacturer), and how workers are treated by other consumer electronics manufacturers. Here's an article comparing Samsung's factories to Foxconn's:

    http://www.thewire.com/technology/20...foxconn/56542/

    Unfortunately, there probably aren't many options if you want to buy consumer electronics products assembled in a factory where the workers get paid well and have good working conditions.


    Quote Originally Posted by Vamp View Post
    Without slave labor Apple would be half its size.
    Apple has very high margins on their products and could afford to pay their workers good wages without affecting their sales. Instead, they'd rather sit on $150 billion in cash.

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    Forty percent of Apple sales were consummated in the United States
    Sales volume yes, corporate profits no. Remember that the 'intellectual property' rights are located in Ireland. Thus a US product sale also involves an 'internal' transfer from the US division to the Irish division to pay for software royalties. This reduces US profit margin ( on paper at least ), while greatly increasing offshore profits ( which are mostly free of US corporate taxes ).

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    Quote Originally Posted by eagle2 View Post
    Unfortunately, there probably aren't many options if you want to buy consumer electronics products assembled in a factory where the workers get paid well and have good working conditions.
    I have actually hung on to my Blackberry for years because of this reason. I know it was made in Mexico.
    I just try not to give money to the worse offenders. That and my phone still works damn good.
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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    And Samsung stock goes for 1400. I'm pretty sure no on here has the money to be investing in them. Also every company is as good as it's next product is only true of tech companies and others. Retail no. I don't own apple products but I did buy the stock when it split. I believe it's a good investment. Walmart is one of the worst corporations in how they treat their employees and everything they have is made in china but I have a lot of friends that own their stock . Chances are...if you own any stock one of those companies is in some way crooked.

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    I looked into buying Samsung stock before, but it seems very difficult or impossible, unless you live in South Korea.

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    SSNLF. You can buy it. I just looked it up in my online portfolio. There are other Samsung tickers coming up cheaper. I don't know what those are. Is the company spit into sectors?

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    back to Apple ... the suspected EU investigation of illegally sheltering income from taxes is now official ... from


    (snip)"The European Commission is to open a formal investigation into Apple, Starbucks and Fiat in relation to tax arrangements with three EU countries.

    The firms' respective arrangements with Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg will be investigated.

    Announcing the move, tax commissioner Algirdas Semeta said that "fair tax competition is essential".

    Last year, a US Senate investigation accused Ireland of giving special tax treatment to Apple.

    The European Commission will look at whether the companies' tax affairs breach EU rules on state aid.

    Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said: "In the current context of tight public budgets, it is particularly important that large multinationals pay their fair share of taxes."

    Countries in Europe cannot allow certain firms to pay less tax than they should, Mr Almunia added.

    Sanctions

    The investigations will focus on "transfer pricing", or whether the countries allowed the multinational firms to charge one part of the company over the odds for goods or services from another part of the company as a way of shifting profits.

    Under Commission rules, companies must charge their subsidiaries market rates.

    Sanctions for a breach of tax rules could include an attempt to claw money back from Apple, Starbucks and Fiat.

    Apple said that it had not had "any special tax deal with the Irish government".

    "We have received no selective treatment from Irish officials," the company said. "Apple is subject to the same tax laws as scores of other international companies doing business in Ireland."

    The Irish finance ministry said Apple "did not receive selective treatment and there was no 'special tax rate deal'".

    "Ireland is confident that there is no state aid rule breach in this case and we will defend all aspects vigorously," the Department of Finance said.

    Last year's US Senate committee investigation revealed that Apple had been able to funnel profits into Irish subsidiaries or "ghost companies" that had no declared tax residency anywhere in the world, cutting billions from its tax bill.

    The Senate committee hearing revealed that Apple designated its Irish entities as unlimited companies, which meant it did not have to publish annual accounts.

    The Irish arrangement allowed Apple to pay just 1.9% tax on its $37bn in overseas profits in 2012, despite the fact the average tax rate in the OECD countries that make up its main markets was 24% last year.

    In a 40-page memorandum, the Senate committee said: "Ireland has essentially functioned as a tax haven for Apple."(snip)

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    Default Re: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About Apple

    I looked into buying Samsung stock before, but it seems very difficult or impossible, unless you live in South Korea.
    Actually, any 'full service' broker can buy you shares of Samsung ... it trades on the Korean KRX exchange as stock #005930, and current price is 1,422,000 Korean Won ( = about $1,394 US dollars as of yesterday ). However, the 'full service' broker may impose a minimum block size for trades on foreign stock exchanges, meaning that a 100 share minimum would require a $139,000 investment ! The rich get richer, while the 'poor' are effectively locked out of the game !!!

    The US 'pink sheet' tracking symbol SSNLF doesn't actually represent official Samsung stock shares. It's just a US dollar denominated tracking mechanism that is unofficially tied to Samsung shares ( probably owned by US investment banks ). To be able to directly trade shares of foreign companies on a US based exchange denominated in US dollars, American Depository Receipts are necessary. Some foreign companies make US ADR shares available to US stock exchanges, but Samsung and many others do not. However, SSNLF can be traded 'over the counter' via the so-called US 'gray market' ... with certain additional risks ... see

    Granted that 'discount' brokers limit the available exchanges they are able to trade on. This is perfectly understandable given the fact that trading shares on a given exchange means first 'buying a seat' on that exchange, at a cost of multiple millions of dollars !!! Thus if you're working with Schwab etc. you're out of luck buying Samsung shares directly.

    However, Samsung does have Great Britain Depository Receipts listed on the London exchange under the label BC94, which some 'less than full service' brokers may still be able to access. Current price of BC94 is 704 equivalent US dollars as of today ( each GDR represents 1/2 share of KRX005930 thus ~half the price ) . Note that the GDR's aren't actually stock shares either, but they are an 'official' paper claim on X amount of real stock shares owned by Samsung which are on 'deposit' with the London stock exchange ... thus unlike SSNLF they can be traded 'officially' on the London exchange ... they carry the same dividend payouts and voting rights of the real 'deposited' stock shares they represent, etc. Obviously, trading and owning ADR's / GDR's / other exchange 'Depository Receipts' is much preferred to 'gray market' trades of 'pink sheet' unofficial shares.

    There is also fresh news that Samsung is about to start offering a new smart phone which is stirring up renewed interest ... see
    Last edited by Melonie; 06-11-2014 at 11:37 AM.

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