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

nytimes.com

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

#141

Post by philjohn »

petra wrote: post #52
Shivetya wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yet for the most part PCs dropped significantly in price but smartphones seem to be holding the 400+ range which is still woefully overpriced for most of the phone buying populace because not only are you putting out 400 bucks but usually under obligation to send forty to eighty more a month. That is a good chunk of the the lower and middle classes.

Phones are a status symbol, in many cases, which shifts the sale price. PC's much less so.

PC's were a status symbol for a little while back in the late 70's/80's ...

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

#142

Post by notatoad »

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…

>I'm sure there will be lots of "Apple has lost its ability to innovate" articles based on this

Given that people have already been writing those articles for a couple years, i'm sure a drop in their revenue and missed estimates won't make them stop.

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

#143

Post by johansch »

jonknee wrote: post #93
usaphp wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

My bet: http://www.aliexpress.com/ :)

An example:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/10pcs-lot-Mobile-Phone-LCD-Di...

US $215.00/lot 10 pieces/lot, US $21.50/piece

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

#144

Post by radley »

jonknee wrote: post #118
radley wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think buyers had much choice in colors. We're a dev shop and we couldn't get basic silver / grey devices with the specs we wanted. All they had was gold or pink.

Um, what? You can order whatever color you would like: http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone6s

When we need a device, we just walk into the store. We don't order online and wait around. To be fair, it was ATT & Best Buy where I ran into the limited colors, but that doesn't change the validity of my experience.

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

#145

Post by tim333 »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #31
joezydeco wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 the $30 a month than upgrade their phone. Wasn't this why Apple was quietly introducting the "iPhone Upgrade Program"? http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program Seems like Apple realized the future will be a place where every…

In Australia you always had to disclose the phone cost in a contract. People still keep upgrading phones.

In the UK it's changed and it's not so much that they disclose it as that you can buy them separately. In my case it's like £37/month for iPhone, data and minutes for a 2 year contract or £15 a month if you use your old handset. The latter option wasn't always there.

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

#146

Post by nightski »

yoodenvranx wrote: post #140
skywhopper wrote: post #105

It probably doesn't help that the subsidy model has completely changed. But personally, I think iPhone performance has hit a point where one doesn't really feel the need to upgrade right away. I was so ready to upgrade when the contract on my 4 expired. It was really a pain to use after a couple of years. But my 5S has now lasted me two and a half years and other than wishing I had more storage capacity, there's real…

> I think iPhone performance has hit a point where one doesn't really feel the need to upgrade right away I have a cheap 2014 Motorola Moto G and I have the same "problem". Yes, there are hundreds of modern phones out there which are several times faster and have way better hardware but the Moto G is fast enough for me. I usually just browse the web, type a few messages in Whatsapp, take a few pictures, ... and the p…

Agreed, this is the exact reason I went with a Moto G. It was under $200 and I tend to be very clumsy. It runs the latest nearly stock Andriod and is a very smooth experience. The only fault I can find is it's camera. So for someone who finds that very important this may not be an option.

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

#147

Post by frostymarvelous »

philjohn wrote: post #141
petra wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Phones are a status symbol, in many cases, which shifts the sale price. PC's much less so.

PC's were a status symbol for a little while back in the late 70's/80's ...

For us it was the 90s/2000s. Ahh the good old days of having to visit friends to see a PC running Windows 95. Don't you just feel blessed?

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

#148

Post by iamdave »

mjfern wrote: post #108
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…

There is something fundamentally wrong with our system that "growth" is used as the main metric for assessing business success. It's growth for the sake of growth (and more $), and not deploying business to solve hard customer problems and to make the world a little bit better.

growth for the sake of growth

Working at a small shop now, and seeing this same behavior, it's a little frightening. In our case, and from my perspective coming from a couple of startups more recently, and large enterprises prior to that: terrifyingly frustrating for a number of reasons.

I'm in a great spot to make suggestions from my accumulated past, but the team and management seem terrified to make the jump and have nestled themselves nicely in the niche of "let's just do what's easy for now" while still telling themselves they want to grow grow grow, but I don't think management is quite aware of what this growth is going to mean internally for our ability to solve problems with the toolsets we have (both for support and project management).

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

#149

Post by stouset »

FussyZeus wrote: post #117
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…

Apple doesn't innovate terribly much, there were smart phones before the iPhone, the iPhone was just a better one. There were tablets before the iPad and the iPad was just a better tablet. Apple's strength isn't in coming up with NEW things, I would say quite the opposite as they're usually very late into any given market. Apple's strength is coming up with products that are better than the ones that came before, in…

And how do you not consider this innovation?

Innovating isn't just about inventing new technology wholesale. It's also about packaging that technology in a way that makes it useful and desirable.

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

#150

Post by zanny »

mjfern wrote: post #108
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…

There is something fundamentally wrong with our system that "growth" is used as the main metric for assessing business success. It's growth for the sake of growth (and more $), and not deploying business to solve hard customer problems and to make the world a little bit better.

Even at that, it isn't just about making a profit, it is about making more profit (or often just revenue) each quarter. Your business could be operating at a 40% profit margin that but be called a failure and run against on the stock market when that doesn't become a 41% margin next quarter.
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