Apple wants to keep its secret formula secret

“Most comment on Apple’s decision to stop reporting its unit sales figures has focused on the negative signal — the possible future decrease in year on year sales of Apple products,” Abhi Ramchandani writes in a letter to Financial Times. “However, it is essential to examine the more nuanced, positive signal: Apple trying to keep its secret formula secret.”
“Classical theory suggests that if market competitors realise that abnormal profits exist in a sector, they will flood the market until no abnormal profits remain,” Ramchandani writes. “Future secrecy on iPhone sales figures could be beneficial to maintaining profitability, since competitors would no longer know areas of sales where abnormal profits remain (ie, areas where iPhone sales are formidable).”
Ramchandani writes, “The recent tumble in Apple’s stock price shows that investors have taken its decision as a reason to despair; however, there might not be much to worry about, after all.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Exactly. As Apple did and does with Apple Watch, there’ no reason to give competitors valuable data when you don’t need to do so!
The thesis some have that Apple will no longer disclose iPhone unit sales because iPhone units sales are flat or will decline in future quarters ignores the fact that Apple will also stop revealing quarterly Mac unit sales figures which just rose 42% sequentially. — MacDailyNews, November 2, 2018
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