Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#91

Post by dan1234 » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:33 PM UTC

auggierose wrote: post #65

I switched back from Android to iOS because the only decent Android phone (Pixel) is in the same price range as an iPhone. I got a jet black iPhone 7 and I love it, it just feels great in my hand. The only thing I am a little disappointed about is the notifications system, which is still sub par compared to Android (like, 2 touches instead of 1 to clear a notification, and I cannot properly configure Gmail to show on…

> why Apple Mail can pull Gmail only every 15 minutes is beyond me ...

It used to work, but Google removed Activesync support for free users a while back. you need to use the Gmail app or upgrade to a paid Google Apps plan if you want push support.

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#92

Post by pg314 » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:34 PM UTC

erdevs wrote: post #80

pwinnski wrote: post #6

That Apple might expect to sell fewer phones in the post-holiday quarter than the holiday quarter, that I buy. That sales are more sluggish than expected, I don't. At least not based on unsourced claims. I've seen reports like this so often that I don't think I'd know what to do if one didn't appear. And so far, they mostly happen on years that are later demonstrated to include record sales of the product we're told…

It isn't unsourced. They tell you the source in the article. This is from The Nikkei newspaper, as in The Nikkei Index. This is Japan's largest financial newspaper. It is original research performed by seasoned financial journalists. The Nikkei is actually the largest financial newspaper in the world, with a subscriber base of over 3M. Nikkei also owns the Financial Times among other assets. You've provided no reason…

This is not the first time reputable organisations have wrongly inferred sluggish iPhone sales numbers. In Apple's 2013 Q1, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, warned against reading too much into any rumors about order cuts gleaned from supply chain data after an incorrect story in the Wall Street Journal [1]. I've seen more of these stories that later proved wrong than that were correct.

[1] http://www.imore.com/tim-cook-addresses-rumors-about-apple-c...

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#93

Post by jblow » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:34 PM UTC

Usually I have upgraded, but I currently have no intention of buying an iPhone 7 or later, unless they fix something!

For me it's a double whammy. I don't like the lack of headphone jack, and whereas I feel like I could manage grumpily ... for me it kills the excitement of buying the new device, and I think that is important. (My standard listening headphones are Etymotic ER-4Ps; there is no way I am going to downgrade to AirPods).

But the bigger part of the whammy is iOS. iOS is completely terrible at this point. I just can't consistently control the phone. A large percentage of taps or swipes do things I did not intend (how many I'm not sure -- 20%? 33%?) It's just completely crazy. They need to get rid of 3D touch, get rid of double-tap one-hand accessibility mode whatever it's called, get rid of weird swipes from the edge, fix the horrible inconsistencies in the way autocorrect works (or, please, offer a system that just underlines words-thought-to-be-wrong without changing them, and let me tap on them to change them, or use the current autocorrect system but let me tap on a word to un-"correct" it, the fact that the current system just changes what I typed and gives me no recourse to fix it apart from laborious deletions and re-typings, which I often have to do 2 or 3 times, is just haughty and offensive)... and in the meantime, might as well redesign the rest of the UI. Because right now the phone is not a joy to use, it's a constant exercise in frustration. I haven't felt good about using iOS since sometime back around iOS5 or 6.

So it's no mystery to me why sales might be slowing ... I don't want a new one if it's going to continue the downward trend.

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#94

Post by erdevs » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:37 PM UTC

pg314 wrote: post #92

erdevs wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn't unsourced. They tell you the source in the article. This is from The Nikkei newspaper, as in The Nikkei Index. This is Japan's largest financial newspaper. It is original research performed by seasoned financial journalists. The Nikkei is actually the largest financial newspaper in the world, with a subscriber base of over 3M. Nikkei also owns the Financial Times among other assets. You've provided no reason…

This is not the first time reputable organisations have wrongly inferred sluggish iPhone sales numbers. In Apple's 2013 Q1, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, warned against reading too much into any rumors about order cuts gleaned from supply chain data after an incorrect story in the Wall Street Journal [1]. I've seen more of these stories that later proved wrong than that were correct. [1] http://www.imore.com/tim-cook-addres…

It's well and good to point out that analysis based on supply chain sources may draw inaccurate conclusions and definitely to demonstrate that such analysis has been wrong in the past (it certainly has, for Apple and others). I do not claim to know whether this analysis will bear out in reality or not.

I'm merely pointing out that it is nonsensical to blithely dismiss it or claim it may simply be "made up" when it is at least based on primary sources and real journalism.

With respect to your specific example, I'd say the WSJ article which the article you linked is referring to appears to have actually borne out with the benefit of hindsight. Q1'13 production supply orders affect supply in subsequent quarters, and a reduction in orders means there is less expected growth. The article you linked expresses skepticism that this is the case, but it appears that it was. iPhone sales growth YoY slowed dramatically subsequent to Q1'13... For example Q1'14 saw ~10% sales growth over Q1'13 versus ~30% YoY growth the year prior and ~100% the year preceding that. To the extent the article indicates that demand and production are falling off from previous growth rates, it appears to have been accurate.

The above doesn't mean that this new report will be proven out. Nor even necessarily that the previous reporting you cited was actually correct. But it doesn't appear to be a clear whiff either.

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#95

Post by unclebucknasty » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:38 PM UTC

Ironic that people continued upgrading for years when relatively few changes were made, and Android continued to improve.

Then, shortly after they finally made significant changes (e.g. expanded form factor choices), upgrades begin to slow.

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#96

Post by sixothree » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:38 PM UTC

auggierose wrote: post #65

I switched back from Android to iOS because the only decent Android phone (Pixel) is in the same price range as an iPhone. I got a jet black iPhone 7 and I love it, it just feels great in my hand. The only thing I am a little disappointed about is the notifications system, which is still sub par compared to Android (like, 2 touches instead of 1 to clear a notification, and I cannot properly configure Gmail to show on…

I switched (back) from Android to iPhone because of security settings. I found Android to be a nightmare. Compared that to iOS's ability to set per-application permissions and Apple's stated commitment to privacy and I'm not going back to Android any time soon.

Nor will I be upgrading my iPhone any time soon. I plug in the headphone jack in my car and have found no decent bluetooth receivers to replace that wired connection.

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#97

Post by dan1234 » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:38 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #47

matwood wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better screen, better camera, better external speakers, added waterproofing, and faster. I'm not sure what people were expecting when they say nothing has changed.

Out of that list, the waterproofing is the only one that really stands out. The rest are minor, iterative improvements. We're used to Apple making larger leaps on even years (4,5,6) then iterative improvements in odd years (4S, 5S, 6S). But this year they broke that - the 7 feels more like an iPhone 6SS than a 7. Yes, it's better, but it's not "full price for a new phone" better.

Aside from better battery life (better as in 3+ days of use) I can't think of much I'd want in a phone that isn't already there. Camera, display, speed etc are all fine for my needs.

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#98

Post by adrinavarro » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:38 PM UTC

kjsthree wrote: post #61

djrogers wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better camera, better screen, faster, waterproof, more ram, Taptic Engine, nicer finish options, more durable home button, and on and on. It's a better phone in almost every measurable way.

I should start measuring the time I spend fishing around my cluttered desk looking for that stupid dongle because I'm now done with a Hangouts call on my laptop and would like to switch back to my phone to play a podcast. iPhone 7 will crush that metric! Oh wait, lower is better? Eph! There's also that time that it was 2pm and I still hadn't had lunch. I ended a Hangouts call, yanked my headphones out of my mbp, crui…

It does suck. I've remedied it by using bluetooth earphones & also bringing an adapter (which is pretty small) in my wallet, along with a microusb-to-lightning adapter. And now I'm pretty happy with my phone.

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#99

Post by ihuman » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:42 PM UTC

jblow wrote: post #93

Usually I have upgraded, but I currently have no intention of buying an iPhone 7 or later, unless they fix something! For me it's a double whammy. I don't like the lack of headphone jack, and whereas I feel like I could manage grumpily ... for me it kills the excitement of buying the new device, and I think that is important. (My standard listening headphones are Etymotic ER-4Ps; there is no way I am going to downgra…

>My standard listening headphones are Etymotic ER-4Ps; there is no way I am going to downgrade to AirPods

The phone comes with a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter, so you can continue to use your existing headphones.

Also, you can disable 3D touch and reachability (the double-tap home button thing) in the accessibility settings, if those are causing your issues.

>offer a system that just underlines words-thought-to-be-wrong without changing them, and let me tap on them to change them

If you disable auto-correction in the keyboard settings, it acts just like that.

Re: Apple to slice iPhone production 10% due to sluggish sales

#100

Post by jonknee » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 7:42 PM UTC

This is an annual story, not super interesting. Nikkei itself actually posted something similar at this time last year:

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/Parts-makers-brace-fo...

> Apple is expected to reduce output of its latest iPhone models by around 30% in the January-March quarter compared with its original plans, according to several parts suppliers. The measure will deal a blow to Japanese and South Korean parts companies.

So maybe a 10% cut is actually bullish?