I too am a bit concerned about AAPL's chart; it is strong but not as strong as it was last Fall into early February. But the fundamental story is so powerful. Aside from iPod and iPod Shuffle blowout sales reports, consider the following: Amazon: Best-selling desktop is Mac Mini Amazon: 4 of the top 5 best-selling desktops are Macs Amazon: Best-selling laptop is Mac iBook Amazon: 2 of the top 5 best-selling laptops are Macs PC Connection: 5 of the top 10 best-selling desktops are Macs PC Connection: 2 of the top 3 best-selling laptops are Macs; 6 of the top 19 best-selling laptops are Macs February's PC Connection catalog features Mac mini on front cover and 8 of the first 10 pages of the catalog are devoted to Macs and iPods. It is notable that PC Connection is a Wintel-oriented retailer.
<<So can it be any better then this?>> I hear you. However I have not seen ANY of what I posted here covered in the business press.
You're comparing apples to oranges. The two companies are not even in the same sector, let alone industry. Also, I would get some numbers regarding PS2 vs Xbox, it's nowhere near heavy competition. Microsoft's Xbox projects are still in the red and will be for a little longer, at least the last time I checked up this info (it was a while ago so I could be wrong). AAPL is overextended but a good long term investment. Rip off at these prices though. SNE looks like it can see $100 again, it's a good bet, I just wish the dividend was better.
Exactly. Recent tech trends indicate the following: nothing innovative lasts very long...knock-offs and look-alikes appear almost instantly. This is very much UNLIKE the late 1990's. Again, with a volatile pup like AAPL, watch the price action, and act accordingly...with incredible discipline. We could see one last "heave-ho" upwards, and then the spiral towards reality downward.
Well, to be specific, the comparison of the two companies was actually originated by a previous poster that was talking about trading the two of them as a pair. As for the Xbox, cumulatively you are correct with regards to profitability, Microsoft is still well in the red, however the Xbox division was profitable for the first time last quarter. You are also correct that the PS2 likely is still very, very far ahead of the Xbox in terms of cumulative installed units, however it appears that the XBox 2 (360, whatever) and the PS3 will be launching much closer to each other, so this round of the war will be much, much more interesting than the previous round (which Sony arguably won). It is also worth noting that Sony just had a very significant judgement against it vs. Immersion regarding the force feedback tech in the PS2 controllers, Microsoft already settled with Immersion, it'll be interesting to see how this pans out.
I think this time around MSFT is going to get the Xbox2 to market quite a bit in advance of the PS3. Will be interesting to see if they can get more market share.
Next week is gonna be pretty interesting: we've got a close below the SMA50 for the first time in more than 6 months! I wonder how many institutional stock screeners are going to show that fact simultaneously on sunday night/ monday morning
I saw that earlier today too. We shall wait 'n see. Meanwhile, AAPL has been a pretty decent stock to daytrade...