What The Hell Is Apple Doing?

[obvious Child]

Anyone paying attention to the new Apple release?

Seriously, what hell is Tim Cook doing?

iPhone 5C selling off contract for $549? How the hell does he expect Apple to grab market share in China at that price?

That finger print sensor better work 100% and even then, it's not that safe. Anyone with crafty kids or roommates should be cautious about using it.

Cnet Forums are full of people saying "It's nice, but I'll keep my [iPhone] 5."

And the stock is down -2.28%.

What Apple should have done is intergrate the iPhone 4 and Mini into a cheaper phone and sell it in China and South East Asia for $199~250. They're never going to take serious market share back from Android (especially Xiomi) unless they can curtail prices. Average incomes in East Asia (with exceptions for Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong) cannot afford to spend materially large percentages of their incomes on phones. Remember, it's pretty much just the US that subsidizes phones.

 

[AlabamaPaul]

Anyone paying attention to the new Apple release?

Seriously, what hell is Tim Cook doing?

iPhone 5C selling off contract for $549? How the hell does he expect Apple to grab market share in China at that price?

That finger print sensor better work 100% and even then, it's not that safe. Anyone with crafty kids or roommates should be cautious about using it.

Cnet Forums are full of people saying "It's nice, but I'll keep my [iPhone] 5."

And the stock is down -2.28%.

What Apple should have done is intergrate the iPhone 4 and Mini into a cheaper phone and sell it in China and South East Asia for $199~250. They're never going to take serious market share back from Android (especially Xiomi) unless they can curtail prices. Average incomes in East Asia (with exceptions for Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong) cannot afford to spend materially large percentages of their incomes on phones. Remember, it's pretty much just the US that subsidizes phones.

I was expecting a $300 price point for the 5C to make a significant market shift in Asia. It's basically a 5 with a plastic shell...

 

[Fisher]

Without Jobs, Apple is doing what Microsoft did--start recycling the same crap with a new name on it.

 

[obvious Child]

I was expecting a $300 price point for the 5C to make a significant market shift in Asia. It's basically a 5 with a plastic shell...

Even then $300 is high. Someone wrote up a good article about how Apple got here. They survived on high margin markets and moved to dominate them. But they never focused on the lower margin market share. That was always an afterthought. So now with Android taking the lower cost market share by fist fulls, Apple doesn't quite know how to respond. Nor do they want to cheapen their brand with cheap products. Sure, they moved down into the lower cost music market with the shuffles and nanos, but that ain't the same as the smartphone market where other firms actually compete with good products.

Google is selling the Nexus 4 for $199. I can buy three for the price of a single iPhone 5S.

Even after the China Mobile deal, I can't see Apple taking market share in the market it needs for the future.

 

[SBu]

Anyone paying attention to the new Apple release?

Seriously, what hell is Tim Cook doing?

iPhone 5C selling off contract for $549? How the hell does he expect Apple to grab market share in China at that price?

That finger print sensor better work 100% and even then, it's not that safe. Anyone with crafty kids or roommates should be cautious about using it.

Cnet Forums are full of people saying "It's nice, but I'll keep my [iPhone] 5."

And the stock is down -2.28%.

What Apple should have done is intergrate the iPhone 4 and Mini into a cheaper phone and sell it in China and South East Asia for $199~250. They're never going to take serious market share back from Android (especially Xiomi) unless they can curtail prices. Average incomes in East Asia (with exceptions for Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong) cannot afford to spend materially large percentages of their incomes on phones. Remember, it's pretty much just the US that subsidizes phones.

Apple will slowly decline. It's inevitable. They simply won't be able to maintain innovative advantage over time, and as they lose the edge they will also lose market share. As they lose market share, stock price may actually begin to reflect the true value of the stock. It won't happen over night by any means, however.

 

[obvious Child]

Apple will slowly decline. It's inevitable. They simply won't be able to maintain innovative advantage over time, and as they lose the edge they will also lose market share. As they lose market share, stock price may actually begin to reflect the true value of the stock. It won't happen over night by any means, however.

Honestly, I haven't seen anything innovative from Apple in years. Princess Leia said it best, "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Apple is defending its territory and that's not the move it needs to be making.

 

[SBu]

Honestly, I haven't seen anything innovative from Apple in years. Princess Leia said it best, "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Apple is defending its territory and that's not the move it needs to be making.

Agree. They're playing whack a mole. I think they should have started that MUCH earlier and with a freaking sledge hammer. But now the moles are gigantic and numerous. Who knows though, maybe they have something earth shattering up their sleeve. They still have their iconic image which is pretty good for the near term.

 

[Fiddytree]

I'm cautiously optimistic. It may be a bad call for China and many developing countries, but I am not that market. I find it strange that the C is basically a build-quality cheapened iPhone 5, with no price savings for the consumer. As far as the stock market it concerned, I'm generally amused at its reactions to Apple announcements in general (where even the most successful quarter ever could be met with prices tanking).

 

[obvious Child]

Agree. They're playing whack a mole. I think they should have started that MUCH earlier and with a freaking sledge hammer. But now the moles are gigantic and numerous. Who knows though, maybe they have something earth shattering up their sleeve. They still have their iconic image which is pretty good for the near term.

In some markets (okay, most) the moles are actually beating down Apple. Apple's market share for basically everything and everywhere except for US smartphones is on the decline. They're the minority OS in most places from computers to smartphones. The only real shinning market domination is in music players, but those are largely being eaten by smartphones anyways.

 

[Fisher]

Honestly, I haven't seen anything innovative from Apple in years. Princess Leia said it best, "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Apple is defending its territory and that's not the move it needs to be making.

Whenever you make more news on an IP suit than you are on your products, your company is on the way to the crapper. Google's promise to start encrypting the info on the servers themselves to protect the cloud from government intrusion is probably the most noteworthy tech news of late.

 

[obvious Child]

Whenever you make more news on an IP suit than you are on your products, your company is on the way to the crapper.

Hahahah.

Google's promise to start encrypting the info on the servers themselves to protect the cloud from government intrusion is probably the most noteworthy tech news of late.

Seriously doubt this will stop the NSA. We're living in the era of big brother. At least we know about it now thanks to Snowden.

 

[Fisher]

Seriously doubt this will stop the NSA. We're living in the era of big brother. At least we know about it now thanks to Snowden.

Probably not but it will slow them down and give businesses at least some false hope of privacy.

 

[obvious Child]

Probably not but it will slow them down and give businesses at least some false hope of privacy.

Hell, seems like the only way to ensure privacy is to go back to type writers in a phone-less sound absorbent room on a desk that's sitting on a foot of absorbent material and then courier them around.

 

[Fenton]

Anyone paying
attention to the new Apple release?

Seriously, what hell is Tim Cook doing?

iPhone 5C selling off contract for $549? How the hell does he expect Apple to grab market share in China at that price?

That finger print sensor better work 100% and even then, it's not that safe. Anyone with crafty kids or roommates should be cautious about using it.

Cnet Forums are full of people saying "It's nice, but I'll keep my [iPhone] 5."

And the stock is down -2.28%.

What Apple should have done is intergrate the iPhone 4 and Mini into a cheaper phone and sell it in China and South East Asia for $199~250. They're never going to take serious market share back from Android (especially Xiomi) unless they can curtail prices. Average incomes in East Asia (with exceptions for Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong) cannot afford to spend materially large percentages of their incomes on phones. Remember, it's pretty much just the US that subsidizes phones.

And right when Amazon is threatening to give out free phones.

It's going to marginalize Apple phones to the most devoted and well paid users.

That kind of Contract is going to run everyone else off.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Anyone paying attention to the new Apple release?

Seriously, what hell is Tim Cook doing?

iPhone 5C selling off contract for $549? How the hell does he expect Apple to grab market share in China at that price?

That finger print sensor better work 100% and even then, it's not that safe. Anyone with crafty kids or roommates should be cautious about using it.

Cnet Forums are full of people saying "It's nice, but I'll keep my [iPhone] 5."

And the stock is down -2.28%.

What Apple should have done is intergrate the iPhone 4 and Mini into a cheaper phone and sell it in China and South East Asia for $199~250. They're never going to take serious market share back from Android (especially Xiomi) unless they can curtail prices. Average incomes in East Asia (with exceptions for Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong) cannot afford to spend materially large percentages of their incomes on phones. Remember, it's pretty much just the US that subsidizes phones.

LOL - it doesn't matter, people will buy it up, anyway, because they enjoy the extent to which Apple's products dictate their phone usage habits and forces them into a box.

 

[obvious Child]

And right when Amazon is threatening to give out free phones.

Unless Amazon is lying, that's just a rumor.

It's going to marginalize Apple phones to the most devoted and well paid users.

Not necessarily. The whole Forked Android and Amazon's crappy walled garden has turned off a lot of users. I'd rather spend $250~300 on a better phone and avoid the mess that is Amazon. Amazon's benefits are from walling you into their portal to their goods. That annoys many people and free I don't think will end that.

 

[tacomancer]

Its that the smart phone market is becoming a commodity rather than a luxury item. Apple doesn't have a business model to defend against that.

The same thing happened with PCs a couple of decades back.

 

[obvious Child]

Its that the smart phone market is becoming a commodity rather than a luxury item. Apple doesn't have a business model to defend against that.

Apple was a status symbol in America and Europe when it was relatively rare. Now they're ubiquitous. This is the same argument as when everyone is special, no one is. It's not that people can't afford them, its that they don't want iPhones. iPhone 4/4s had a huge run when they went free, this suggests that those who couldn't afford the down payment are getting in, and thus even the lower economic classes have iPhones by the millions. I agree with you, Apple has no business model to deal with this. iPads haven't been affected too badly by this at the full size, but the Mini is seriously eating out the core of the full size iPad. Now that I look at the margin declines and sale declines, it MIGHT have been better for Apple to simply have ceded the small size tablet to ensure the survival of the larger, highly profitable iPad.

 

[RDS]

Just flash your credit cards and Apple has hoodwinked you guys for the past decade.

 

[PirateMk1]

Even then $300 is high. Someone wrote up a good article about how Apple got here. They survived on high margin markets and moved to dominate them. But they never focused on the lower margin market share. That was always an afterthought. So now with Android taking the lower cost market share by fist fulls, Apple doesn't quite know how to respond. Nor do they want to cheapen their brand with cheap products. Sure, they moved down into the lower cost music market with the shuffles and nanos, but that ain't the same as the smartphone market where other firms actually compete with good products.

Google is selling the Nexus 4 for $199. I can buy three for the price of a single iPhone 5S.

Even after the China Mobile deal, I can't see Apple taking market share in the market it needs for the future.

Apple is not interested in the low margin market. Never have been. They operate more like Amazon or Costco, short term share price and market valuation is not what they are interested in. They are a technology innovation company. That's what they do and what they are pretty good at. That's what they are concentrating on.

 

[Fiddytree]

I had to chuckle when listening to Johnny Ives say, "iPhone 5c is beautifully, unapologetically plastic" in the advertisement. After listening to his calm voice for many years, I would have to say, that was probably something you would not ever expect him to say with affection.

 

[Smeagol]

Anyone paying attention to the new Apple release?

Seriously, what hell is Tim Cook doing?

iPhone 5C selling off contract for $549? How the hell does he expect Apple to grab market share in China at that price?

That finger print sensor better work 100% and even then, it's not that safe. Anyone with crafty kids or roommates should be cautious about using it.

Cnet Forums are full of people saying "It's nice, but I'll keep my [iPhone] 5."

And the stock is down -2.28%.

What Apple should have done is intergrate the iPhone 4 and Mini into a cheaper phone and sell it in China and South East Asia for $199~250. They're never going to take serious market share back from Android (especially Xiomi) unless they can curtail prices. Average incomes in East Asia (with exceptions for Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong) cannot afford to spend materially large percentages of their incomes on phones. Remember, it's pretty much just the US that subsidizes phones.

I'm a little disappointed. I didn't upgrade to the 5 for 2 reasons:

1. I want a bigger phone, not just a little taller but wider too. I'm not expecting a mini tablet like a Galaxy Note but something around the size of the Galaxy 3 or 4 would be nice.
2. To me the 5 was a downgrade in terms of sturdiness going from brushed steel and glass to tin; durable elegance to flimsy, at least in its casing. Of course EVERYBODY gets a case but still to me being made of a more solid casing gives me the sense of it being of high value.

I guess I'll wait to see what the 6 has to offer. Apple's recent history is to come up with an internal upgrade with its "S" models then a new body style and hardware changes with the next number up.

 

[obvious Child]

Apple is not interested in the low margin market. Never have been. They operate more like Amazon or Costco, short term share price and market valuation is not what they are interested in. They are a technology innovation company. That's what they do and what they are pretty good at. That's what they are concentrating on.

The key problem with that is you forfeit growing markets to your competitors who will build brand loyalty and lock users into their ecosystem. Apple's business plan for the future only works if China, India, Brazil and Russia don't get richer. Apple likely realizes this and hence why the iPad mini came out. They realized that by letting Android have the lower margin smaller size market, people were more likely to stay on Android once they started and thus the fight for the smaller size, lower margin tablet wars were started.

 

[austrianecon]

Who gives a ****, Apple produces a crap product.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Anyone paying attention to the new Apple release?

Seriously, what hell is Tim Cook doing?

iPhone 5C selling off contract for $549? How the hell does he expect Apple to grab market share in China at that price?

That finger print sensor better work 100% and even then, it's not that safe. Anyone with crafty kids or roommates should be cautious about using it.

Cnet Forums are full of people saying "It's nice, but I'll keep my [iPhone] 5."

And the stock is down -2.28%.

What Apple should have done is intergrate the iPhone 4 and Mini into a cheaper phone and sell it in China and South East Asia for $199~250. They're never going to take serious market share back from Android (especially Xiomi) unless they can curtail prices. Average incomes in East Asia (with exceptions for Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong) cannot afford to spend materially large percentages of their incomes on phones. Remember, it's pretty much just the US that subsidizes phones.

Well - I imagine he's laughing all the way to the bank, not giving a rats ass about things like costs, China, and crap, as he sells out his customer's private information and communications to our big brother government.

That, I think, sums up what he's doing quite nicely.