The Rumors Of Apple’s Death May Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Lots of downgrades for Apple over the last few weeks.  The stock was spooked from a $180 level just two weeks ago to around $166 today.

It has nothing to do with the holiday quarter that Apple is going to report on tomorrow after the market’s close… that, people believe, will come in at record levels.

No, it has to do with how the iPhone X is selling this quarter.  Channel checks with suppliers indicate Apple is slashing its expectations of iPhone X sales this quarter… by as much as half…

… which certainly seems like a huge let down given that the iPhone X is supposed to be the flagship product and the first iPhone to crack the $1,000 price barrier.

But… come on, people… did you really think a $1,000 iPhone X should sell in consumer numbers?  It’s not supposed to be a volume leader… rather, it’s supposed to be something exclusive and, quite frankly, unattainable for many.

That’s the whole point… to have a high-end iPhone entrant that (1) makes the device/technology more desirable, and (2) contributes in some way to an even higher overall iPhone family “ASP” or Average Selling Price (which is already the highest in the industry).

My guess is — since there are no negative reports on the iPhone 8 — that it’s not only selling well, but making up for any short-fall from the iPhone X… after all, if they’re not buying an iPhone X, they’re buying one of the other not-so-cheap models.

Additionally, don’t be surprised if some of Apple’s “smaller” businesses — like cloud & other services — make meaningful contributions, too.  Even the analysts that have raised flags on the iPhone X agree that last quarter should be pretty spectacular for the company.

And, finally, I always have to throw in the irrationality of the market:  Apple, one of the most stellar tech companies in the world according to any measure (even growth), has a P/E of 14.2 forward earnings… while the average company in the S&P 500 has 18.6.  If you’re looking at tech leaders, Google has a forward P/E of 28… and Amazon has — wait for it — 168.  Go figure.

AAPL has been beaten down so much by negative sentiment in the last few weeks that I think we might have a nice setup for a pop after earnings tomorrow.

At least, that’s what the contrarian in me thinks.

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More Bitcoin Perspective

Don’t get me wrong, I love what Bitcoin/Blockchain is doing — disintermediating the financial system (and more!) — which is completely cool.

However, wasn’t so long ago that an upstart named Visa grew to dominate another “cashless” payment mechanism.

Today Visa has about a $260 billion market capitalization and over $18 billion in revenues.

Today Bitcoin has about a $260 billion market capitalization and I believe about $0 in revenues.

If that doesn’t feel like “dotcom explosion 2.0,” I don’t know what does.

As for Bitcoin making money, apparently transaction fees — something that used to be near-zero and a major competitive advantage for Bitcoin — are now trending around $10-$20 per transaction.  Apparently not a major competitive advantage any longer.

Seems to me Bitcoin/Blockchain has an extra long ways to go before it stands toe-to-toe with Visa.