Apple is the Ford of smartphones. As the auto industry currently stands, the top selling model each year doesn't earn more than 1% of the industry's total revenue. The question is whether smartphones will eventually become similarly fragmented, or if the ecosystem network effect will maintain a "winner take most" effect.
iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
181–190 of 551 posts
Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
#182Earlier 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.
It may be hardware, but might not be computers, phones, and tablets.
Apple is amazing when it puts its mind to hardware for which there is an "ideal" Form; the macbook is the "perfect" form for a laptop, the iPhone is the "perfect" form for a smartphone.
Take watches however, there is no one perfect form - different needs demand different forms. Or cars, or fridges or planes.
So yes it may not be computers, phones or tablets, but the number of multi-billion dollar aspirational hardware products that Apple will be good at is not by any means a large number.
Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personally, I wonder who though Apple's growth would never end. This happens to every company sooner or later.
I was at a NASA workshop in Mountain View. An informational placard outside had two plots of growth, one with an unchecked exponential curve, and one with a curve that comes up to a peak and goes down. It asked which made more sense as a growth curve. My idealized mathematical self thought, naturally, the exponential growth curve, because it expresses what happens when y-dot equals alpha y. But I asked a passing Calt…
I'd really like to see this placard. Are you able to find a copy of that placard online?
Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
#184I 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…
3D Force Touch was one of those features I feel would have only caught on, if it was one of the original iPhone features. Tacking it on later, with little to no support in apps, makes it forgetware. I actually really like the functionality, and I completely forget it exists. There needs to be some type of small indicator reminder that a button HAS 3D touch.
I use it all the time for Live Preview in Photos. The Harry Potter effect in photos is awesome.
The only consistent use case though, completely useless beyond.
Photos shows a little icon to indicate that a long press will do something. It is discoverable. No other area where this UI element exists.
Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Apple may be reaching the saturation point (of the products it currently sells) among potential customers in some countries"
Apologies in advance if this is a dumb question. What is Apple's next move once it saturates the market? Or, more generally, what is the next move once you've saturated a market?
Product innovation I would think
Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
#186$175 billion in buy backs?! Wow, its expensive propping up the share price to keep Wall Street happy... There is only so much hardware innovation, there are only so many people on the planet with $600 to spend on a mobile phone. Apple should really move whole heartedly into services (as evidenced by revenue up 20%); build a gmail / dropbox competitor - stop thinking of itself as a consumer hardware maker, that era is…
You don't know how buybacks work do you?
Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Apple may be reaching the saturation point (of the products it currently sells) among potential customers in some countries"
Apologies in advance if this is a dumb question. What is Apple's next move once it saturates the market? Or, more generally, what is the next move once you've saturated a market?
You make a new product. But without Steve Jobs it's hard..
Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you think the era is over? Are people buying less cellphones and laptops?
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.
As a company that has a huge grip on higher end hardware sales, I definitely think they will stay in the space. That being said, product innovation certainly needs to happen for them to retain their dominance.
Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Apple may be reaching the saturation point (of the products it currently sells) among potential customers in some countries"
Apologies in advance if this is a dumb question. What is Apple's next move once it saturates the market? Or, more generally, what is the next move once you've saturated a market?
creating new products and services which will continue to grow or change the markets and get new customers.
Re: iPhone Sales Drop, and Apple’s 13-Year Surge Ebbs
#190$175 billion in buy backs?! Wow, its expensive propping up the share price to keep Wall Street happy... There is only so much hardware innovation, there are only so many people on the planet with $600 to spend on a mobile phone. Apple should really move whole heartedly into services (as evidenced by revenue up 20%); build a gmail / dropbox competitor - stop thinking of itself as a consumer hardware maker, that era is…
You don't know how buybacks work do you?
Buybacks decrease outstanding shares, and increase earnings per share, which drives up share price. But its not a great way to increase EPS, as opposed to increasing EPS via operational means.