Apple has painted itself into a lucrative corner. In its last two quarters, revenue rose by 70 and 80 per cent year-over-year, respectively. Earnings per share expanded still faster. Because the good times have made the company vast by any standard (it is expected to have more than $100bn in revenue this year) the question is how much, not if, growth is going to decelerate in coming quarters. When the company reports, later on Tuesday – and for several more quarters to come – investors should be alert for any clues about how management will handle this transition from absurd to merely exceptional growth.
蘋果(Apple)進入了一個“掙錢太多”的困境。上兩個季度，該公司營收同比分別增長70%和80%，每股收益則增長得更快。由于該公司在大好形勢下形成了龐大的規模——無論以何種標準衡量都堪稱一家巨型公司，今年營收據預計將超過1000億美元——它所面臨的問題不是在未來幾個季度里增長是否會放緩，而是會放緩多少。該公司本周二發布最新季度業績。以后在這種時候，投資者應留心各種蛛絲馬跡，以判斷該公司管理層將如何應對增長從“超乎常理”到僅僅是“出色”的轉變。