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iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs

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Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs

#91

Post by dzhiurgis »

bsirkia wrote: post #47

Incredible that this is the first time in 13 years that Apple hasn't posted quarterly growth. I'm sure there will be lots of "Apple has lost its ability to innovate" articles based on this, but growing for the last ~52 straight quarters is insane. And I don't think one quarter without growth is enough evidence to conclude "Apple may be reaching the saturation point among potential customers in some countries" or "oth…

IMHO biggest Android advantage is being open. Hardware and software is obviously better on iOS, but being closed platform I keep getting disappointed every week because I can't do x or y.

I doubt that many people base their purchasing decisions on this though.

Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs

#92

Post by petra »

rqebmm wrote: post #48
c-slice wrote: post #22

I think we just reached peak smartphone. What's next?

Some combination of wearables, AR/VR, IoT, and consumer 3D printing. The thing is a) those are all a few years out, b) they're interconnected. VR will happen first because it's got an obvious path to a large consumer base. That will lay groundwork for AR, which is probably the actual Next Big Thing. Wearables/IoT/3D printing are really an extension of the miniaturization/customization of longstanding technologies, bu…

I agree about VR and AR.

As for the rest: wearables hadn't had a really strong use case - so it's either a niche or a fashion/status object - and maybe that's what will limit growth even when size/batteries gets solved ?

IOT: cost is definitely a huge barrier, but will it be that huge deal ? or just another feature in the stuff we already buy - sold to us through the same big companies, with a few specialized products ?

And 3D printing - don't you think a 1-day Amazon 3 printing with the most optimal processes will win, for most consumers ?

Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs

#93

Post by jonknee »

usaphp wrote: post #35
ericabiz wrote: post #4

I run a repair shop. We've repaired over 3,000 Apple devices for customers. We are always chatting with our customers, so we get a ton of feedback from them about what they're doing with their phones. We hear a few things consistently: 1) Providers have switched from "free upgrades every 2 years" to a plan cost and a monthly phone cost, so people now really know how much their phone costs--and many would rather save…

aren't your customers a pretty small niche compared to the most of the Apple users in the US? Most of the people will go to apple store if they need a fix for their device instead of going to a local repair shop which will void their warranty. So the argument about people wanting/or not to upgrade to a new device a pretty subjective to your specific customer type, no? > "I recommend buying a refurbished 6 over any of…

> Most of the people will go to apple store if they need a fix for their device instead of going to a local repair shop which will void their warranty.

It really depends on the location of the shop. There are a ton of people who don't live anywhere close to an Apple Store.

Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs

#94

Post by EugeneOZ »

EugeneOZ wrote: post #90
cowpewter wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPad Pro is actually really awesome for artists. Pro + Pencil is a better experience than a Wacom Cintiq display, and it's a whole tablet for about the same price point, not just a display.

And for kids. My daughter loves it.

From other side, kids are often artists.

Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs

#96

Post by criley2 »

adrenalinelol wrote: post #63
FreedomToCreate wrote: post #10

So anyone thinking planned obsolesce might move itself up the Apple priority list? Their per quarter revenue is still massive, but Wall Street always expects more. At its current rate of stock buy back, Apple could buy back all of its stocks and go private in a few years. They could rid themselves of market fluctuations in regard to stock and pump out products while continuing making the ridiculous amounts or revenue…

This was inevitable for Apple; their stratospheric valuation has expected growth priced in. Given the company's inability to foster the same ambition Steve Jobs instilled in it, they can only ride on their existing product line for so long. I do find their lack of acquisitions strange given how much capital they are sitting on. There are a lot of markets w/high barriers to entry they'd have no trouble getting their f…

>"I do find their lack of acquisitions strange given how much capital they are sitting on."

A) They average like 5-8 per year which is pretty standard among their peers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...

B) I said to Steve, “What should he do?” and Steve said to me, “He should focus on his knitting. Not try to do everything. Do one thing well.”

Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs

#98

Post by matwood »

jonknee wrote: post #32

tl;dr it's hard to find lots of new people every quarter who can afford $600 phones.

Or it's just gadget saturation in general. My MBP from a few years ago works great. Some of the older iPads I have at work are just fine. The iPhone 6/6+ also works just great. At some point, the marginal utility of a new device just isn't there. It is what happens as markets mature.

Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs

#99

Post by frankchn »

adrenalinelol wrote: post #63
FreedomToCreate wrote: post #10

So anyone thinking planned obsolesce might move itself up the Apple priority list? Their per quarter revenue is still massive, but Wall Street always expects more. At its current rate of stock buy back, Apple could buy back all of its stocks and go private in a few years. They could rid themselves of market fluctuations in regard to stock and pump out products while continuing making the ridiculous amounts or revenue…

This was inevitable for Apple; their stratospheric valuation has expected growth priced in. Given the company's inability to foster the same ambition Steve Jobs instilled in it, they can only ride on their existing product line for so long. I do find their lack of acquisitions strange given how much capital they are sitting on. There are a lot of markets w/high barriers to entry they'd have no trouble getting their f…

I am not sure about the valuation having a lot of growth priced in, given that Apple's current P/E ratio is 11. In comparison, Google's is 30, Facebook's 84. Even Berkshire Hathaway's is 15.

Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs

#100

Post by fla »

cududa wrote: post #53
fla wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gaming console ?

Funny enough, most VR projection models use gaming consoles as the low point of estimating units a few years from now. I want to bet on sunglass sized AR, but it seems like we'll need some material science revolutions to shrink down the requisite hardware to have the kind of useful experience is imagine

AR and VR should become one, and hardware shall be fully untetherd, extremely powerful and energy efficient.

A long way to go, but we'll be there eventually :)

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