Apple is a Bank?
At the beginning of the pandemic, I wrote that that Apple products are maturing and argued that eventually, Apple will become a services company. I revisit that prediction to see how it is panning out.
Tag Service Operations
Apple: A Services Company
Even in this uncertain climate, some supply chains are doing well. Apple going by their 2020 Q1 reports has got some positive news to share. I wrote last year on the blog, while discussing Peak iPhone, that iPhone as a product is maturing and argued that, Apple will soon pivot to become a services company. More evidence is now in.
I revisit the thesis in this post. Apple earned a record $12.7 billion in services revenue during the first quarter of its fiscal year — a year-over-year increase of roughly 17%, growing faster than the rest. Add to this information, the margins are higher than every segment, with margins exceeding 65% in services — Apple will increasingly focus on services going forward.
Servicization and Women in Workforce
A look at how service jobs are changing the nature of US workforce. In Dec 2019, there were more women than men in the workforce in the United States. I briefly ponder why this is the case.
High Cost of Low-Cost Delivery
An economy that has grown beyond belief is the e-commerce delivery market in China. It has become so central to modern Chinese life that the "food-delivery" has been dubbed as one of the 4 great inventions of modern Chinese civilization. For instance, Luckin Coffee (second only to Starbucks in China) has grown on the legs of its delivery business. No other product, not even pizza, exemplifies the need for exceptionally fast delivery need than hot coffee. [...]
Tesla Cars as Product-Service Bundles
What are the pitfalls of Direct-to-Consumer business models? I use Tesla's growth to talk about product service bundles.
Review: The Electronic Sweatshop
The past is more opaque than the future. Even when we know the “rough” history of what transpired, it is sometimes hard to imagine, how things were before the natural evolution into the current “normalcy” occurred. I imagine that, very…
Ring is the key to Key
In 2013, a guy who was trying to pitch a company, called DoorBot, that sold security doorbells, went nowhere on Shark Tank, as the sharks rejected his offer. The founder Jamie Siminoff positioned the idea at $7M. Here is the…