Decelerating growth with increasing fixed and variable costs does not bode well for future profitability.

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The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile.

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Airlines have huge fixed costs and negligible variable costs.

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While revenue sharing costs and postage costs are variable, other costs have large fixed components.

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Although the nature of the transformation is still unclear, it will probably include more partnerships and outsourcing to turn fixed costs into variable costs.

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Make sure you take into account your variable costs to get to a gross profit and then fully allocate all of your fixed costs associated with that account.

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On the negative side, revenue growth is decelerating at the same time Amazon is investing more than previously expected in fulfillment centers (fixed assets) and operating and customer service employees (variable costs).

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So, cutting the fixed costs of reaching customers, as Apple is negotiating to do, and increasing the variable component, seems like a sensible move.

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