Apple shares - Invest or not invest?

Thrugelmir

innovate wrote: »

They might soon be cheap enough to buys some.

Seems as if product prices will have to be lowered if Apple is to make headway in emerging markets. This will then rebound Westwards.

jimjames

mania112 wrote: »

Come on guys. Really?

Sure, you may not be doubling your money in a year. But Apple are SO big and SO popular, they are in the category with McDonalds, Google, BT, BP (etc etc) which will always show returns over the long-term.

Most of those companies provide some kind of essential service/product. 10 years ago no-one would have believed Nokia could get knocked from the lead in mobiles.

If most of Apple's rise has been down to the iPhone then a drop in that could severely dent profits in future.

Apple may continue to rake in profits but when you are the biggest company you can't double in size as easily as a company worth $1bn

N1AK

ses6jwg wrote: »

for years they had a first mover advantage with the iphone

Two decades ago they were practically finished. They've 'created' and dominated three markets in recent history (music players, smartphones and tablets). They have $130,000,000,000 available to spend. They could easily create another product as dominant as the others. I've said all of this as someone who has never owned an Apple product and who doesn't particularly like the company; that doesn't stop me from understanding that they could easily continue growing.

In my opinion the biggest risk for Apple is the 'why' of the company is getting muddied. It's hard to be the 'be different' brand when you're the big guy in the market. They also tarnished their gold plated customer satisfaction reputation with the iOS maps issue.

sabretoothtigger

If most of Apple's rise has been down to the iPhone then a drop in that could severely dent profits in future.

They make plenty of high premium products still

I bought some apple though I dont buy the products as they appeal to the masses, the main problem is the high price which I see getting cheaper so then question is the profit margin.

They could end up making more money per share either way, at least I see the dividend is secure. The company isnt overvalued but the shares did double which fully allows this very negative fall now. Its like the gold price when people say it fell bad, on average its up massive still. I'd rather buy this at the top of the market then anything more popular right now that'll probably fall with the market




However this might be the smarter move still, much less drama:

Samsung Q4 Profits Surge 76% Over Smartphones Sky News

Nicholas-bloody-Parsons

Reaper wrote: »

Tech is a trickly industry. Unlike, say, an oil company which owns oilfields Apple's fortunes depend on a continuing stream of products that punters are willing to pay way above cost price for.

Look at Nokia - once it dominated mobile phones but is now an also-ran. Their share price declined from $40 to $3 in just 5 years....

I agree with Reaper. Tech and hardware firms all end up the same way.

Mind you, its pretty easy to support the share price, management just needs to increase the dividend. It pays out about 2%. This could easily be increased to 4%.

Unless they do that a drop to $400 is looming fast.. :T

Jegersmart

jonj123 wrote: »

OK I think X-O seems to be the cheapest option. Has anyone used them? Are they any good? Do they have any hidden costs etc?

No international stocks available through them afaik.

J

lvader

Apple are still growing, sales in the major product lines is still growing. They pretty much hold on to customers when they get them. They still have major product lines to come online. The dividend payment in neither here nor there, I don't think it has much of a baring on the share price.

grey_gym_sock

i heard that americans don't care about dividends. they have a whiff of communism about them. real capitalists make capital gains.

gadgetmind

Nicholas-bloody-Parsons wrote: »

I agree with Reaper. Tech and hardware firms all end up the same way.

There is certainly volatility to take your breath away, but as long as you're not a perpetual johnny come lately, there is a lot of money to be made.

Tech shares bought me my house, cars, ISAs, pensions, and much much more. They still scare the hell out of me, and then a few weeks later put a smile on my face (rinse and repeat) but I'm afraid that I'll probably always have a good 20% of my portfolio in directly-held tech shares.

Thrugelmir

N1AK wrote: »

They have $130,000,000,000 available to spend. They could easily create another product as dominant as the others.

Problem is the cash is offshore. If repatriated to the USA where most R&D and high spec manufacturing is undertaken. Then will incur tax charge. Same problem with dividend distribution.