While reading the news today, I see that Boeing has posted its first annual loss in two decades while Apple has posted its highest revenues ever.
Can this be explained simply by saying that more and more … people prefer to call someone instead of going to see them?
Of course, I’m being somewhat facetious and trying to have a little fun. But it seems to me these two events really do evidence some of the serious trends in our world today. Would anyone care to explain in a way that is more reasonable than my attempt?
Well, ummm…
Maybe the fact that Boeing made a gargantuan design blunder which killed a lot of people and indefinitely grounded an entire line of new planes could explain their loss.
And, Apple makes excellent, well-designed products that people want to use. And people aren’t worried that using them will result in fiery death.
Even if you somehow ignore the 737 MAX problem, which explains the entire disparity, air traffic is increasing at a faster pace than road traffic in the US. I haven’t looked at the worldwide numbers, but I suspect it’s true elsewhere.
This.
I’m 95% certain that should we discover that the coronavirus is being spread by iPhone, Apple stocks will fall.
(the other 5% of me thinks that they may rise because it means that Apple has figured out a way to do semi-stealth biological warfare and many, many people will want to get in on that shit.)
Probably never. The trend is towards big but efficient plans that are flexible. These are two engine planes, like the 787 Dreamliner, the A330neo and the troubled 737 MAX. There just isn’t demand for the super jumbos and the massive logistical headaches that come with them.
People want to fly directly from point A to B, using smaller airports and routes that don’t necessarily support flying 600 people in a single plane.
Nah, this is not evidence of any sort of ongoing existential weirdness in our world. If anything, it’s somewhat reassuring that the markets are reacting as they are to Boeing and Apple.
Boeing is reeling in the midst of the 737MAX debacle, while Apple has huge smartphone market share in the US, and is steadily producing phones that sell very well, as well as tablets, etc…
So it’s not surprising that people wouldn’t consider Boeing a good place to invest their money, and they’d consider Apple a good place. (which is what drives the prices for the most part).
As a point of comparison, Airbus is experiencing a year of increasing stock values, and most of the smaller airliner companies aren’t tanking like Boeing is either.
On the other hand, flight shaming (blame/shame/guilt over environmental impact of airline flights) is a real thing, and may gain enough of a traction to affect airline revenue.
If there was a market for super-jumbos, Airbus wouldn’t have stopped making the A380. They spent billions developing it and then stopped after making only a few hundred.
It may be a thing among the extremely woke but it’s a very small niche. In fact, among the very very woke, a person I know online was talking about spring break. Not only does it require an evil airplane, it’ll require a car trip to the airport to get the cheaper flight. And the warm weather destination has basically no transit so even more Ubers.
On top of what others have mentioned, Apple is a monopoly. If you want to talk about why they make tons and tons of profit, that’s why. The most important fact is that they have total control over the app store, and there’s minimal competition outside of the app store. So they can charge high fees and lock out developers who might compete with anything that they want to sell.
As a Woke Dude™, I’m biking to Spring Break. Where I’ll be able to walk to bars and music venues.
As an Apple stockholder, phones are only part of their revenue. Surprisingly enough, AirPods have done much better than anyone thought and contributed a lot to Q4 '19.
As someone who spends as much time in Seattle as possible, I’m angry at Boeing for covering up so much for so long. It really does affect the greater Puget Sound area economy.
And as a long-time lurker here, I’ve got to ask “Charlie, are you really as naive as you present yourself?”
I think it’s obvious that the two products have nothing to do with each other.