Apple reports fourth quarter results

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Tax anomaly and corporate tax debate

  • Commenters notice Apple’s 2024 vs 2025 tax provisions but point out 2024 included a large one-time EU back-tax charge related to Ireland, so 2025 is closer to normal.
  • This sparks a long discussion on whether corporate income tax is good policy.
  • Some argue it mainly taxes shareholders (including pension funds) and distorts investment, preferring to tax dividends, buybacks, salaries, property, or land instead.
  • Others counter that higher corporate tax can push firms to spend more on wages/R&D, and that taxing only capital gains/dividends encourages avoidance and offshoring.
  • There’s disagreement on fairness, efficiency, and political realism; several note corporate taxes are popular because they are perceived as “someone else paying.”

Revenue mix and product trajectories

  • iPhone and Services dominate: together ~three-quarters of revenue.
  • Services include App Store, iCloud, search deals (e.g., Google default), AppleCare, and media bundles; many argue most of this is ultimately iPhone-driven.
  • Mac revenue is solid and currently Apple’s fastest-growing hardware segment; iPad and Wearables/Home/Accessories are flat or declining, not poised to “overtake” Mac soon.
  • Wearables are seen largely as iPhone accessories; AirPods appear saturated, Watch upgrades slowing.

Macs, longevity, and Windows spillover

  • Many note Macs last a long time (M1/M2 machines still “too good” to replace), which depresses unit sales but not satisfaction.
  • Some speculate Windows 10/11 turbulence is boosting Mac adoption, though price and regional affordability are major constraints outside the US/EU.
  • There’s debate over reliability versus PCs; anecdotes show both long-lived Macs and long-lived Dells/ThinkPads.

Computing habits: phones vs computers

  • Several remark how close iPad revenue is to Mac and how many younger users rely almost entirely on phones/iPads.
  • One camp can’t imagine research-heavy tasks (travel planning, finance, multi-tab comparisons) without a laptop; another says most people don’t do deep research and happily book everything on phones, valuing time and convenience over optimization.
  • Broader thread about “computer illiteracy,” walled gardens, and parallels to cars becoming “sealed appliances.”

Services, ads, and “iPhone company” framing

  • Multiple comments assert Apple is fundamentally the iPhone company; Macs and iPads are “side gigs” that exist largely to support the iPhone ecosystem (including app development).
  • Concern that “Services” growth will drive more ads and DRM-heavy experiences across platforms, eroding the older, ad-light Apple ethos.
  • Some note that despite category labels, a large share of Services and Wearables revenue is tightly coupled to iPhone ownership.

AI strategy and product integration

  • Some ask why Apple doesn’t “add AI”; others respond Apple already ships extensive on-device ML (OCR, computational photography, classification, voice dictation) without branding it as “AI.”
  • There’s criticism that Apple lags Android in visible AI features (photo editing, call screening, assistant quality), and that it has been “coasting.”
  • Interest in truly contextual, private, non-hallucinating personal agents; current offerings seen as incremental.

Supply chain and TSMC dependence

  • Thread highlights Apple’s heavy reliance on TSMC and, indirectly, ASML and US-funded EUV research.
  • People discuss geopolitical risk: if Taiwan fabs were knocked out, the entire global economy would suffer; other foundries (Samsung, Intel, SMIC) are behind and couldn’t quickly backfill.
  • Apple’s investments in TSMC’s Arizona fab are noted, but timelines (years to ramp, ~100 days per wafer) limit short-term resilience.

Apple vs Nvidia and AI compute

  • Some speculate Apple could challenge Nvidia in AI hardware given strong, efficient laptop SoCs and cash reserves, perhaps via future external GPUs.
  • Others argue Nvidia’s advantage is not just GPUs but interconnects, data-center scale, and software ecosystem; AMD is seen as more naturally positioned than Apple on the pure GPU front.
  • Lack of Apple GPU relevance in the research/ML community (Metal vs CUDA) is cited as a structural hurdle.

Market reach and platform “victory”

  • One perspective: in premium markets the “Android vs iPhone war is over” in Apple’s favor, especially in revenue/profit terms and social signaling.
  • Counterpoint: Android still has ~70% global unit share and dominates in lower-income countries; Apple is effectively a higher-margin, upper-tier brand that ignores vast segments where its pricing is unreachable.