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While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

arstechnica.com

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Re: While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

#71

Post by browsercoin »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #53

Apple services definitely are on an upward trajectory for quality and breadth. Two years ago I thought Siri was a bit of a joke because the voice recognition and accuracy/usefulness of results was not there for me. Different now: about 4 months ago I deinstalled the Google Assistant from my iPhone and now just use Siri. Siri is still not as good but there is the privacy issue. Siri is good enough for me. I still pref…

> Google for the Play Music + commercial free YouTube

easy to sell to a demographic that pursues perceived luxury over dollar to value ratio but you are right that Google has built an economic moat around their monopolies that unfortunately Apple or Microsoft can ever overthrow.

Google realized the value of services which Apple is way too late to the party. Kudos to them for trying. But I doubt the same number of people would still buy iPhones if Google one day decided to block Youtube.

5 years ago, I might have had to seriously consider the iPhone but Android tbh has gotten so good that Apple no longer feels all that special. Samsung Galaxy S8 and up are all luxurious beasts. Apple will also probably copy Samsung's DeX, I see this to be the next battleground-mobile desktop phones.

Use your phone and plug it into a monitor to use as desktop. Samsung is not graceful with UI and this is where I think Apple can expand.

Re: While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

#72

Post by browsercoin »

wycy wrote: post #58
mark_l_watson wrote: post #53

Apple services definitely are on an upward trajectory for quality and breadth. Two years ago I thought Siri was a bit of a joke because the voice recognition and accuracy/usefulness of results was not there for me. Different now: about 4 months ago I deinstalled the Google Assistant from my iPhone and now just use Siri. Siri is still not as good but there is the privacy issue. Siri is good enough for me. I still pref…

Out of curiosity, what do you use Siri for that it can be good enough? I use Siri almost exclusively for reminders (e.g., "remind me at x PM to do y" or "remind me when I get home to do z"), and even with this limited use case I often end up with baffling reminders in the future (my favorite reminder is to "make farts"--I never did remember what it was supposed to be.) Beyond reminders I've yet to find a compelling,…

It's amazing that I would be having a random discussion and to check a fact, I would ask Google because Google Search Engine.

Google reads the answer in a natural human like way. It works well.

Countless dinner arguments arbitrated by Google via Google Voice by a simple ask. Shit saves marriages I bet.

"wtf you mean the Mongol Empire didn't last long? hold up, lets ask Google about the Crimean Khnate that still kicked ass up till the 17th century"

"i dont fucking believe you, i want a divorce"

"...ey google what year did Crimean Khanate close"

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Crimean Khanate was an important center of the slave trade. In 1774, it was released as a nationally independent state, following the Russo-Turkish Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, and formally annexed by the Russian Empire in 1783, becoming the Taurida Governorate

"thank you Google for saving our marriage"

Your welcome.

--goes to work the next morning, sees divorce lawyer ads--

Re: While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

#73

Post by browsercoin »

Shivetya wrote: post #55
tpetry wrote: post #7

Stagnant sales with a much more expensive smartphone, i don‘t think anybody wouldn‘t live to have the same „problem“.

Well looking at the offering, the new Xs and Xs Max, are not that big of a change from the X so the desire to upgrade may be mooted. With the X Apple introduced a whole new means of authentication and screen technology that was truly a jump from previous phones. This fulfilled two very important categories for sales, the people who love new tech and the people who love being seen with the newest tech; these are not n…

im seeing more ex-Apple users being woke after using Android. They've tasted endless hours of ad free Youtube + Youtube Music + Play Music. You can download songs to YM and what can I say, youtube has music you can't find anywhere.

It's convenient that while I'm driving I can interact with different apps like maps and switch to music or play it at the same time without touching the phone. Youtube Music lets me play any song I can think of in the car via mobile data.

I'm not clear on what exactly Apple services are, but it's not enticing to Android users to sacrifice access to the biggest video music media entertainment content on the web.

To me the Google products have become a tether to the Android platform, and Google Search combined with Google Voice is something you just can't do well if you are not Google and don't have near monopoly of those service sectors. Search, Streaming Music, Youtube (theres nothing of this sort from Apple). I just don't see how Apple can catch up now since Google has been winning this game forever.

Re: While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

#74

Post by ForHackernews »

zelos wrote: post #69
ForHackernews wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iPhones might be a Veblen good. They could probably release a $5000 or $10,000 model and there would be a market for it. Plenty of people buy $50,000 watches.

Didn't Apple stop making the super expensive Apple watch, though?

The Apple watch is a low-status dorky, uncool watch. The iPhone is a cool, high-status phone.

Re: While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

#75

Post by abrowne »

mirekrusin wrote: post #51

stagnant /ˈstaɡnənt/ – showing no activity. so they're selling 0 iphones? really?

Wiktionary says

> 1. Lacking freshness, motion, or flow; decaying through stillness.

> 2. (figuratively) Without progress or change; stale; inactive.

A stagnant pond isn't empty, the water just isn't moving or changing. Same with sales numbers here.

Re: While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

#76

Post by empthought »

izacus wrote: post #63
mark_l_watson wrote: post #53

Apple services definitely are on an upward trajectory for quality and breadth. Two years ago I thought Siri was a bit of a joke because the voice recognition and accuracy/usefulness of results was not there for me. Different now: about 4 months ago I deinstalled the Google Assistant from my iPhone and now just use Siri. Siri is still not as good but there is the privacy issue. Siri is good enough for me. I still pref…

The fact that non-Apple services are limited on iOS platforms also helps push people to adoption. Other companies just aren't allowed to build the same kind of experience. Good for Apple revenue, bad for us users and free market.

I don't think you understand what a "free market" is. This is a free market. A more regulated market would require open hardware platforms from hardware manufacturers and open systems from operating systems implementors. Only government intervention can force that to occur.

Re: While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

#78

Post by empthought »

cm2187 wrote: post #68
tguedes wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why down? If iPhone sales remain stable, which they should, iPhone customers are extremely loyal; as long as they continue to grow in their Other and Services category, there will be a lot of growth for the company. Plus whatever device that comes out for AR will be interesting. Apple still continues to understand strategy and the technology landscape better than any other company.

You think customers are going to spend more than their rent into their smartphone?

If they didn't, they wouldn't be customers.

Re: While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

#79

Post by Terretta »

baybal2 wrote: post #47
howlingfantods wrote: post #12

The average sales priced for an iPhone increased nearly 30% from $618 to $793. Services now account for 16% of revenue. Apple is gradually shifting from a device maker to an ecosystem company that consumers pay a premium initial fee to enter and pay an additional recurring free to use.

Indeed, they are determined to milk their cash cow dry while they can.

Why wouldn’t you? Since they don’t really “go dry”, turns out “milking while they can” is how any industrious farmer maximizes milk per cow over the natural life of a milk cow.

Re: While iPhone sales remain stagnant, Apple services hit $10B in revenue

#80

Post by wil421 »

wycy wrote: post #58
mark_l_watson wrote: post #53

Apple services definitely are on an upward trajectory for quality and breadth. Two years ago I thought Siri was a bit of a joke because the voice recognition and accuracy/usefulness of results was not there for me. Different now: about 4 months ago I deinstalled the Google Assistant from my iPhone and now just use Siri. Siri is still not as good but there is the privacy issue. Siri is good enough for me. I still pref…

Out of curiosity, what do you use Siri for that it can be good enough? I use Siri almost exclusively for reminders (e.g., "remind me at x PM to do y" or "remind me when I get home to do z"), and even with this limited use case I often end up with baffling reminders in the future (my favorite reminder is to "make farts"--I never did remember what it was supposed to be.) Beyond reminders I've yet to find a compelling,…

It works well with CarPlay. Siri is great at reading back messages, asking if I want to respond or re read, and decent with voice to text. I think Siri is getting better but I’m similar to you in my use cases, make timers or reminders and send messages.
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