

Former CEO defends Google using Caribbean tax shelter





Eric Schmidt
[Image Source: The Sydney Morning Herald]




II. Schmidt on Gov't Regulation, Taxes



Gimme Shelter



Source: Bloomberg

Comments     Threshold


By djc208 on 12/14/2012 8:51:47 AM , Rating: 2
Great post, but I think you're missing one big point. Apple lives in the boutique world, the same one selling designer clothes and Starbucks coffee. They are as much about attitude as they are about quality (real or percieved). They always have to be careful to try and ballance their image with their desire for market share. Cadillac, BMW and others have tried "cheap" luxury cars, and inevitably it does more to hurt the brand than help it.

Apple may want to be the end-all and be-all of smart phones, but like the computer market they will not be willing to go where the majority of the market is. They may have been one of the first to turn electronics into a consumer/fashion device from a tool/toy, but they don't want to be the budget computer/phone choice any more than Starbucks wants to start selling $0.99 cups of coffee.

Apple's fear is that Android or MS is pushing them to do more to compete, which means more money to keep up/keep ahead and less for profit. The Maps issue is a good example of this. How much money and bad PR has it cost Apple to try and compete with Google and MS on maps? The other is that while neither may ever get the polish that Apple has, they only have to get close to seriously erode Apple's market.

