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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

#331

Post by majormajor »

shawkinaw wrote: post #267
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…

Can anyone shed some light on why the subsidy model is going/has gone away? It seems to me cell providers would not want to stop essentially requiring 2-year contracts, so why have they? Fear of government action, or market competition? Or was the subsidy model actually bad for the networks somehow?

Someone had to blink, especially as basic Android phones got better and cheaper.

Pre-iPhone, most contracts were one-year, and typical expensive phones cost $3-400 unlocked. Post-iPhone, phone costs go up, so contracts get longer, but now the carriers are in a position where they're treating expensive iPhones the same as the same as less-expensive base-model Androids. Sure, they can make a killing on the less-expensive phones in that model - since the subsidy amount is greater than the cost of the phone - but it gave T-Mobile incentive to ditch the model and pass on some of the savings to budget-conscious consumers.

And ultimately, that's not such a bad thing for the carriers, but it is a bad thing if almost all the phones you sell are on the "more expensive" side, since you're now competing more directly on price.

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

#332

Post by shrewduser »

guywithabike wrote: post #283
rpgmaker wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hope #2 gets traction. It's been disappointing to see the SE not do as well as I wanted it to. I'm not an iPhone owner myself but I'm hoping the SE popularizes the "small" form factor phone again.

Tim mentioned on the earnings call today that the SE is supply constrained because the SE is selling far better than they projected that it would.

i'm always dubious whenever a company says that.

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

#333

Post by [deleted] »

swalsh wrote: post #55
c-slice wrote: post #22

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

VAR - Virtual/Augmented Reality. Also, i'm hoping my future glasses have some kind of mechanism built in that will let me text with my mind... even if that means thinking about moving shapes or colors or something to do it.

[deleted]

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

#334

Post by bluthru »

darkclarity wrote: post #174
mjfern wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's a big reason why private businesses are better than public ones. There's no need to push for unsustainable growth at the behest of busybody investors.

I feel Apple would be better as a private company but it's too late at this point.

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

#335

Post by devsquid »

madeofpalk wrote: post #329
devsquid wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea exactly its one of the reasons why I love Android so much. Also the argument that Android isn't actually OSS argument is dumb. If it was closed source how have other companies forked it and successfully released their own variants? It doesn't make sense.

"Forked it and successfully released their own variants" is a stretch (Amazon Fire Phone), especially when Google specifically prohibits vendors that get access to Google Play to fork Android.

The fire tablets are very successful. There are a few successful forks in China. There are tons of fan built versions. Thats not a stretch.

Google restrict OEMs from forking, is certainly shitty. But its also a smart business tactic and I hope Google gets more restrictive around letting OEMs use their flavor of Android. Since it leads to a more cohesive experience surrounding Android.

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

#336

Post by _spoonman »

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…

You don't by chance do business via mail or have a website do you? :)

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

#337

Post by rblatz »

Stanleyc23 wrote: post #299
twblalock wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I forget that 3D Touch exists because I own an iPad, which does not have it. After using the iPad for a while, I stopped trying to use 3D Touch on my phone, because I got conditioned to the idea that it isn't there.

That's funny because i got used to the force touch application switching gesture of swiping from the left side. When I got handed an ipad, I found myself making the gesture and then remembering that I need the double press on the home button.

If you didn't know a four finger swipe will switch apps on the iPad.

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

#338

Post by studentrob »

zepto wrote: post #220
noir-york wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones. Isn't google still not a search company, but its moved past its 'search' era and now its focus on other things. Apple will always sell hardware, but it needs to orient to its next phase of growth, and that ain't hardware.

Google hasn't moved past anything - almost all of its money comes from search still. Everything else is just 'bets' none of which have paid off. Apple makes bets too - they just aren't public.

> Google hasn't moved past anything

Yeah. This doesn't seem so bad to me. Search has improved tremendously over the years. Things are easier to find. Google is making more content discoverable.

Advertising is arguably the biggest revenue generator for internet tools. Everyone can use things that are free, and companies want to reach everyone. So long as Google is the most frequently visited site in the world, they remain in control of the biggest revenue stream.

One could argue Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat etc. are making up ground by giving people access to more readers than the likes of Blogger or WordPress. These isolated worlds feel a little like AOL's heydays to me. There ought to be an easy way to publish somewhere, then take your content and network and move to another service if you want. At the moment, it's possible but not easy.

I think anyone who makes such an open social network, with easily exportable contacts and content, would find a lot of success. But it's a really hard problem to solve and I understand why this doesn't exist yet.

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

#339

Post by abritinthebay »

wdewind wrote: post #277
abritinthebay wrote: post #200

In this thread: lots of people making unfounded assumuptions and drawing dumb conclusions when anyone who has been paying attention knew this was coming as Apple even said so last quarter . The last year quarter was buoyed by previous quarter supply constraints causing a lot more sales in many categories and products. It's not that this quarter was bad (it was fine) it's that last years quarter was SO GOOD and last q…

As someone who basically looked at this as confirming what I believed about the iPhone 6/+ (ie: that it is too big and no one likes it and Apple's sales are going to fall), thanks for this post. Changed my view.

You're very welcome!

I think sales are going to slow down but that is a case of less growth to be had in western markets.

Still plenty of growth opportunities in other markets but they'll be slower

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

#340

Post by coldtea »

mdorazio wrote: post #284
r00fus wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dunno about you, but TouchID is indispensable to me. I would not buy another phone without it (or something as secure). With TouchID + strong alphanumeric password, I can be secure in my person. My data is far more valuable than just the hunk of metal and glass it resides on. I think Apple should do an expansion of their 2008 iFund, but writ bigger (and maybe focused on the watch and apple TV).

Out of curiosity, in what way do you feel TouchID makes your phone more secure than just a password? Someone could steal a glass you've touched along with your phone and unlock it with a bit of effort. From a technical standpoint, the only thing TouchID adds in terms of security is preventing someone from peering over your shoulder at a passcode as you enter it, but a would-be thief is more probably far more concerne…

>Out of curiosity, in what way do you feel TouchID makes your phone more secure than just a password? Someone could steal a glass you've touched along with your phone and unlock it with a bit of effort.

Well, quite a lot more effort.

I don't want my data/photos/etc to fell pray to a phone thief -- or a guy that finds the phone after I dropped in a cafe. And Touch ID does that fine.

The "fingerprint on glass" scenario you mention concerns dedicated people targeting my data especially -- which is not something I realistically care about. If such people were after my data, they could also use a crowbar and beat me till I tell them my secrets...

>but a would-be thief is more probably far more concerned with selling the hardware than ransoming your data.

Yes, and I am more concerned about my data than about the hardware -- after all at that point it is already in the thief's hands.

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