Interesting

Rob · May 24, 2013, 06:03:35 PM

Found this on Fark
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/052313-657569-gibson-guitar-raid-like-tea-party-intimidation.htm

drbassman · May 24, 2013, 07:13:08 PM

Wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Lightyear · May 24, 2013, 09:15:57 PM

Apple is next. They have the unmitigated gall to follow the law and make horrifically obscene profits.

Dave W · May 24, 2013, 09:54:04 PM

I'm not buying that theory at all. Before the raid, Henry J. and Gibson donated to Democrats and Republicans and he wasn't a Tea Party supporter. Besides, Luthiers Mercantile was raided at the same time and they aren't Republican supporters.

Interestingly, one of Gibson's leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Co. According to C.F. Martin's catalog, several of their guitars contain "East Indian Rosewood," which is the exact same wood in at least 10 of Gibson's guitars. So why were they not also raided and their inventory of foreign wood seized?

I'll tell you why: there's no evidence that Martin's wood was illegally imported. Not all East Indian Rosewood comes from the country of India, not by a long shot -- it's a popular name for a group of species from southeast Asia, not a proof of country of origin -- and if some of Martin's EIR did come from India, it came before the Indian government's 5-year moratorium on exporting unfinished boards. Martin made it clear that they stopped importing from India when the 5-year moratorium went into effect.

westen44 · May 24, 2013, 10:39:54 PM

I think the most likely answer to why all these things happened is because bureaucrats with a Barney-One-Bullet mentality like to do things to make themselves look important. Of course, needless to say, all anyone can do is guess on this matter. Having the people involved tell us the real reason is something that's never going to happen.

nofi · May 25, 2013, 07:19:56 AM

the apple way. isn't that where you hide 44 billion dollars to avoid paying tax on it.

Highlander · May 25, 2013, 01:47:04 PM

What 44 Billion...?

Lightyear · May 25, 2013, 05:10:18 PM

Quote from: nofi on May 25, 2013, 07:19:56 AM
the apple way. isn't that where you hide 44 billon dollars to avoid paying tax on it.

Probably a lot more than that - they're swimming in money. It's sleazy as all hell but legal.

Nocturnal · May 25, 2013, 08:12:34 PM

They probably asked G.E. how to do it.

Psycho Bass Guy · May 30, 2013, 10:38:48 PM

Quote from: Nokturnal on May 25, 2013, 08:12:34 PM
They probably asked G.E. how to do it.

Buy a television network and then sell half of it to a cable company while slowly divesting under the cover of fake partisan-positioning against your billionaire-buddies.

Pilgrim · May 30, 2013, 10:43:05 PM

Our VP of IT was telling me yesterday that Apple is taking some hard licks due to backlash from the tax stories. They're not making a lot of friends at the moment

I also saw a diagram of smart phone sales and their iPhone sales are about 1/3 of Android sales. They may have to have Jim Cameron computer-animate Steve Jobs and make a hologram their company spokesman.

the mojo hobo · May 31, 2013, 05:51:48 AM

Even as Apple's market share decreases they are still the leader. All iPhones are produced by Apple, Android phones are produced by Samsung, Nokia, LG, HTC and a bunch of others none of which sells as many phones as Apple.

Dave W · May 31, 2013, 09:43:16 AM

I've never been an Apple fan, but I can't fault them for using available legal tax strategies. Apple's problem is the same as Microsoft used to have: they're under the delusion that if they mind their own business, that Congress and regulators will leave them alone. The truth is that they have a target on their back. Sadly,they need to spend money and buy legislators. That's the way it is in today's world.

As for market share in smart phones, their dominance was bound to lessen in time. Bringing Steve Jobs back from the dead wouldn't change that.

Pilgrim · May 31, 2013, 10:43:33 AM

Quote from: Dave W on May 31, 2013, 09:43:16 AM
I've never been an Apple fan, but I can't fault them for using available legal tax strategies. Apple's problem is the same as Microsoft used to have: they're under the delusion that if they mind their own business, that Congress and regulators will leave them alone. The truth is that they have a target on their back. Sadly,they need to spend money and buy legislators. That's the way it is in today's world.

As for market share in smart phones, their dominance was bound to lessen in time. Bringing Steve Jobs back from the dead wouldn't change that.

True, however....in the last two years, Apple's market share has increased 1.4 times. Samsung's market share is up 7 times over the same period. In that period Apple has grown from 16% to 22% of the market, Samsung has grown from 4% to 29%, overtaking Apple as the single largest manufacturer.

Ref is slide #42: http://www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/kpcb-internet-trends-2013?utm_source=slideshow&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=weekly_digest

Lightyear · May 31, 2013, 11:06:45 AM

As I understand it the US has some some of the highest taxes in the world on corporations. Then we provide legal methods for them to shelter money off shore.

I'm anything but an Apple fan boy but I don't blame them.

Like I said earlier - it's sleazy as hell. Motorola is starting to build a new smart phone here in Texas - I'm hopeful that it's a competitive product at a competitive price.