Daniel Epstein on Morgan Stanley's Erik Woodring is back from Taiwan with Apple takaways - 'Always difficult to figure out how actual manufacturing and parts costs are dealt with so Apple can keep its very healthy margins. Without knowing the original cost basis and given how big a customer Apple is it is unclear how significant a price rise would be warranted. From what I have read Apple already is paying $35 more for Ram than they were before. It is always interesting what kind of discount can be negotiated even when demand is very high. . And how integrated the ram cost might be to the whole part it is included with. I could see Apple trying to raise prices a little to offset the costs of the new Ram if they feel they need to, want to or have to. But they are reluctant to change prices on already released products so it would have to be a big hit for them to make the customers pay more on already released products. And of course we don’t know if other parts prices drop while Ram costs more. Apple will find a way to deal with this.'
on Welcome to the Steve Jobs garage sale - 'I think that of the stuff on offer the only one I’d be interested in is the Macworld Issue. I doubt I’d want to pay what it would take. I’m not really into collectibles or personalities.'
on Morgan Stanley's Erik Woodring is back from Taiwan with Apple takaways - 'His data comes from an entire research division run by Katy Huberty. But they really have an analyst named Charlie Chan???'
on Morgan Stanley's Erik Woodring is back from Taiwan with Apple takaways - 'I always like his analysis. Eric does his homework.'
on AI: The buildout hits home - 'True, Greg. But won’t Apple be tarred with the the same brush if they “license” AI that’s not (a) run on renewables they built themselves, or (b) ends up contributing to driving up everyone else’s energy costs? AI is not even close to being sufficiently taken to task for all of these issues (pollution, global warming, continuing/increased dependence on the combustion of fossil fuels, and higher energy prices), period. I will grant you that Apple is at least being proactive in these areas. But that doesn’t completely absolve them of a probable linkage via AI implementation.'
on Watch Nvidia do what Apple's Project Titan couldn't (video) - 'I haven’t watched this NVIDIA YouTube video. The video by a YouTuber who went on a demo ride with an NVIDIA rep and driver at the event was maybe slightly better than the YouTubes I’ve watched from Rivian’s AV event last month. NVIDIA and (future non-NVIDIA) Rivian will eventually catch up to Tesla FSD v14 but FSD is what should help Tesla continue to sell EV’s because it is better than anything else most people (in the US) can buy right now. Waymo’s have their uses so long as you consider their limitations. For example, there isn’t a human driver to interact with for making minor, last minute adjustments. Waymo’s apparent lack of contingency planning for the multi-day power outage in San Francisco last month was disturbing! What will Waymo do when the big one (earthquake) hits SF and something is about to fall onto or out from under the car? P.S. Apologies if you were in a Waymo stuck trying to make a left turn onto Grant from Bush at the SF Chinatown gate last week. I was curious if the Waymo would illegally force itself through pedestrian traffic like the cars that cut it off (presumably after growing impatient waiting for it to make its turn) or lawfully wait forever for a clear path. 🙂'
on Morgan Stanley's Erik Woodring is back from Taiwan with Apple takaways - 'I’ll let Tim Cook and his team handle all renegotiations as they were forward thinking when they locked down much of this production several years ago. Apple can command the best pricing in exchange for the volume they can deliver. If there is a price increase with these suppliers, it will be an amount that only Apple will be able to obtain. Interesting perceptions being set forth by Woodring.'
on Watch Nvidia do what Apple's Project Titan couldn't (video) - 'Watch Nvidia do what Apple’s Project Titan couldn’t (video) I believe the headline is misleading. It is not that Apple couldn’t do it, they chose NOT to do it, I believe, because profit margins would have been prohibitive. Now if Nvidia can achieve Apple-ish PMs, then the headline would be accurate. Until then, it is at best, premature. At this point, it is simply Nvidia turning right, where Apple turned left. Time will tell who made the right decision.'
on Watch Nvidia do what Apple's Project Titan couldn't (video) - 'Waymo is everywhere in San Francisco, especially in the Presidio which has been used as a training ground for the past 3 years. A year ago I was riding my mountain bike on one of the main roads, in the bike lane coming up to a stop sign. Just before the stop sign a Waymo came up then abruptly began turning hard right in to me forcing me to leave the bike lane and ride quickly far in to the grass verge. It finally stopped and headed back to the road. The experience shook me up a bit. Hasn’t happened since – software hiccup?'
on AI: The buildout hits home - 'I see big court battles coming down the pipe. These state bills were likely boilerplates issued by tech lobbyists.'
on Apple to stream live immersive basketball games, starting with the Lakers - 'Jonny T said: “I haven’t watched a single basketball game in my life. Looks like I will be watching some now!! And Tommo is fuming.” **I chuckled when I read that last sentence of your comment, Jonny. Tommo and I always had a back-and-forth disagreement about the failure or success of the AVP. Even though Tommo always referred to the AVP as a flop, I consider it the most mind-blowing technological experience I’ve ever had. Our pointed responses to each other reflected our strong feeling regarding the AVP. The latest commentary on his site(01/05/26) is titled: “An AAPL Post-Venezuela Vision Pro Intraday Update: $268 Must Hold”. In that commentary, Tommo states, “AVP flopping (again) is not a negative or positive for the stock; it’s been written off anyway as a material impact on the stock in the near term. RIP AVP, Long Live Gen 3 (whatever that is).”…and then adds “Sorry Ron.” Nice to know he still thinks of me whenever he calls the AVP a flop. 🙂'
on AI: The buildout hits home - 'I’ll be a bit of a NIMBY here. In Tucker County WV, there is a proposal to build a 1.6GW micro grid generation station. The sole purpose would be to power a datacenter complex. While I am an advocate of bringing data center technology to the state, the proposed Tucker County site (estimated 10,000 acres according to the NYTimes) has to potential to devastate the local tourism economy, which is the backbone of the local economy. The State legislature fast tracked a bill last session to eliminate all local oversight and transfer the majority of any tax revenue directly to the State Treasury. The whole process has been very secretive, with redacted clean air permits and dubious low balled emissions estimates and zero information from the front company. The local economy will not be benefited by this complex. Few jobs and most tax revenue being diverted to the state coffers. What we do know is that natural gas and diesel will be used to power the generators. There will be 30 million gallon of diesel fuel onsite with a minimum of 15 million gallons being burned annually. Any spill would impact the local water shed for years. (The exxon valid spill was 11 million gallons). Each of the 3 storage tank proposed has a capacity of 12 million gallons. Why does the location matter? Two small tourist town of Davis and Thomas WV are less than a mile from the proposed power plant, the elementary school is 1/2 mile. Blackwater Falls State park is 2 miles away. One of the most scenic areas in all of Appalachia. I am on the Foundation board and we have been actively seeking International Dark Sky designation for the Park prior to the proposed data center complex. Canaan Valley is also adjacent to the complex, and has 3 ski areas and the 7000 acre Canaan Valley/Blackwater River National Wildlife Area. It is a fantastic outdoor wilderness area and the proposed site could cause significant pollution (diesel exhaust) being trapped by high altitude air inversions in Canaan Valley and light pollution that would ruin the night sky. There are much better sites in WV to build data centers. Old industrial sites, brownfield areas, abandoned strip mining areas, etc.'
on Premarket: Apple is red - 'Due to the report that App Store gaming revenue is down? (And the expectation is that revenue will continue to decline as 3rd party game stores open up?)'
on Premarket: Apple is red - 'The major indexes are green with the Nasdaq Composite up 0.34% at 23,476.39. Apple continues to struggle. The shares are off in early trading $2.55 at $264.71.'
on Apple to stream live immersive basketball games, starting with the Lakers - 'Looking forward to what Apple does with their new Formula 1 races. Holding off in the AVP purchase to see what if anything they do.'
on Apple to stream live immersive basketball games, starting with the Lakers - 'Greg, With the F1 movie on Apple TV, I had thought that F1 racing would have been the first sport to do this. But basketball works too. If this looks like it could be a reliable source of revenue for sports teams, the rollout may be shorter than you think. And sports teams are always looking for new kinds of revenues. We also might be seeing more Apple products being used to analyze performance in a more real time kind of manner at sporting events.'
on Watch Nvidia do what Apple's Project Titan couldn't (video) - 'A friend who has ridden Waymo taxis speaks highly of the experience. You call the Waymo on an iPhone app. When it arrives, only your iPhone can open the door.'
on Apple to stream live immersive basketball games, starting with the Lakers - 'Also lots of exposure to Hollywood.'
