I took a trip with my friends in the spring of 2017. We rented a cabin in the woods a few miles from Portland, Oregon.
I fell in love during that trip. I fell in love with the iPhone.
There are videos of me where I’ve defended Android phones vehemently and accused iPhones for being overpriced with a limited feature set. But all of that changed when iPhone 7 came out.
During the trip, I was using an android phone and didn’t have any complaints. But it became obvious when I saw photos and videos from my friend’s iPhone 7 that it was a much better product.
His phone was faster, smoother, more reliable than my android phone. When you held it, you could feel the superior build. I decided that my next phone will be an iPhone. But I did something more important before that.
I opened an account with Robinhood and purchased a few Apple shares. This was my first individual stock investment in US markets.
iPhone has improved a lot since then, both hardware and software-wise. iOS 11 was a significant improvement over its predecessors.
What sold me on the iPhone was that it was reliable. It unlocked when I unlocked it, camera took the photo when I pressed the capture button (not 2 seconds after like my android phones), the battery life was as advertised. “It just worked.”
I now run on Apple products. The ecosystem is REAL. For every Apple device that I’ve added, the value I got has increased exponentially because of the ecosystem.
K and I go for a walk most evenings. We recently started listening to The Moth Podcast (great new find). Because we both have iPhones and Airpods, we can play the podcast on one phone and “share audio” with one tap. No more manual synchronizing, matching timestamps, etc.
That is just one example of how the Apple ecosystem has added value to both our lives.
I’ve been steadily stockpiling in Apple ever since that trip and have not become the largest part of my portfolio. It reported another blowout quarter today.
I have no intention of selling my position anytime soon because Apple is one of those 8-80 companies with great products, high margins, high switching costs, and great management.
Invest in companies whose products you love. That is what I’ve learned so far in my brief journey as an investor.