Apple's corporate reputation in slow decline, market research suggests

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 78
    mj webmj web Posts: 918member
    I've been losing respect for Apple's output, products, and creativity for many years now, as noted in this forum. I tossed an Apple sticker in the trash the other day and wistfully recalled an earlier time when I proudly displayed that sticker on the rear window in my Mercedes Benz. Must admit I'm still long AAPL, for greedy reason, and I even bought a MBP yesterday, because it was heavily discounted, but I've lost a lot of respect -- and affection -- for Apple.
    edited March 2017 brucemc
  • Reply 22 of 78
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,328member
    So it sounds like Apple needs to hire a reputation management company to bolster its public image! My suggestion would be to include more kittens and puppies in its outward facing media and insist that every in-person Apple Store customer purchase be accompanied by a warm hug and compliment from an Apple Store sales associate. 

    All kidding aside - the continued existence of a business entity that profiteers from this kind of syrupy pseudoscience BS signals an end to logic, reason, and quantifiable measures of success that used to drive businesses to deliver bottom-line results, strive for employee satisfaction, and deliver shareholder value. Now it's all come down to how many Likes, Friends, and Retweets quantified in units of Reputation Institute currency one attains to earn a ride on the magic unicorn of crowd sourced flattery and self adulation. Unlikely that Tim & Co. is losing much sleep over this one.
    cornchipchiapscooter63StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 23 of 78
    In a very charged political and social environment, often times it does not pay in the currency of popularity, to speak up and stand up for the human and civil rights causes that purely 2/5 or more of the population disagree with or do not understand as worthy pursuits.
    Apple loss of position in a popularity contest is a badge of courage in this case. 

    Rayz2016brucemcwatto_cobra
  • Reply 24 of 78
    Maybe Apple should make the next iPhone out of Legos. 
    cornchip
  • Reply 25 of 78
    nubusnubus Posts: 355member
    mj web said:
    I've been losing respect for Apple's output, products, and creativity for many years now, as noted in this forum.
    Indeed. The design on laptops has been around since 2001, and macOS hasn't pushed core usability or productivity for a decade (some might say it was most coherent around System 7... but that is a long time). Last week - and for the first time in 20 years - I ordered a non-Mac computer for work. Not a very happy day.
  • Reply 26 of 78
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    tundraboy said:
    I thought reputation rankings were bogus when Apple was No. 1, still think they're bogus today. 'Reputation' as a measurable statistic is a fuzzy, consultant-invented concept designed to get them some publicity and hopefully some consulting revenues.

    You ask those 10 corporations at the top of the reputation ranking if they'd rather be in Apple's shoes instead of where they are and every single one of them will say 'Yes'.  That's the only measure of reputation that counts.
    Except for maybe this guy...
  • Reply 27 of 78
    larryalarrya Posts: 606member
    lkrupp said:
    entropys said:
    I think it has more to do with a perception of increasing prices for more resticted functionality.  Doesn't have to be true, it doesn't have to be reasonable, but if your long term and otherwise most loyal customers are loudly and publically expressing unhappiness, there should be a developing problem with your reputation.
    Which they are NOT. “Restricted functionality” is a troll buzzphrase. So is “overpriced.” This Reputation Institute is typical of irrelevant entities trying to get attention. Go negative on Apple and get noticed. And trolls such as yourself take the bait every time.

    Overpriced -  hmm. Tonight I saw two purchase orders on my boss's desk. One was for a MacBook Pro for $2799 and the other was for a Dell Latitude for...$1,100.  Admittedly, I did not memorize all the specs, but both would have been configured as developer machines (solid state drives and 16 GB). 

    Looking at Apple's site, this would be a 15", I7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD. 

    The latitude seems to top out at 14", so the differential is exaggerated. The closest pick seems to be an XPS 15 (15.6" screen, i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB PCIe drive).  When upgraded to 4K, it's $2,100.   One could use the spare $700 to buy an iPhone, or accessories for the SD slot. 


  • Reply 28 of 78
    nubus said:
    mj web said:
    I've been losing respect for Apple's output, products, and creativity for many years now, as noted in this forum.
    Indeed. The design on laptops has been around since 2001, and macOS hasn't pushed core usability or productivity for a decade (some might say it was most coherent around System 7... but that is a long time). Last week - and for the first time in 20 years - I ordered a non-Mac computer for work. Not a very happy day.
    LOL.  MacOS is rock solid today in ways that System 7 could never hope to be.  You couldn't pay me enough to go back to those days.  Just one trivial example: I have some documents that I created in TextWrangler 5+ years ago on a MacBook Air that I never saved/named that I can still access today on my MacBook Pro since I was able to migrate everything via TimeMachine backups from one machine to the next seamlessly.  It just works.  Apple's still got it.
    edited March 2017 chiaStrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 29 of 78
    adamcadamc Posts: 583member
    "Reputation Institute" (suppresses uncontrolled laughter)

    Click bait stuff always get the attention of ai.
    randominternetpersonnubus
  • Reply 30 of 78
    flabberflabber Posts: 100member
    Not very surprising, looking at the lack of hardware updates in that department: the MacBook Pro only got an update late last year, but no new iMacs, Mac Pro's or Mac Minis. Partly because of Intel's lack of progress I guess, but still. They also apparently are discontinuing the Airport Extreme, OS X Server appears to be getting less and less interesting... all in all, I think that the (semi)pro-market needs some well deserved attention.
  • Reply 31 of 78
    nubusnubus Posts: 355member
    LOL.  MacOS is rock solid today in ways that System 7 could never hope to be. 
    I expect more from Apple than "it doesn't crash".

    The reputation of Apple is linked to the company being innovative and pushing the envelope on usability and design. Surely it might be a bit rocky and "bleeding edge" doesn't come for free. System 7 was delayed, and certainly not without flaws. Was it coherent and did it push the envelope? Oh yes!
  • Reply 32 of 78
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,139member
    ...does every MacOS and iOS 'upgrade' now potentially encroach further into breaches of personal privacy, becoming more possibly sinister with every release?

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3365153?start=0&tstart=0

    https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/02/congress-contemplating-making-it-illegal-protect-consumer-privacy-online

    https://ssd.eff.org


    edited March 2017
  • Reply 33 of 78
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    slurpy said:
    "perceived corporate reputation"

    What the fuck does this even mean? Is it connected to a single specific aspect? If so, which? What horse-shit. 

    But hey, I guess people need to find something new to frame Apple's "decline", since they can't with things like brand equity, sales, profits, revenues, stock price, or customer satisfaction, no matter how hard they try. 
    It means exactly what it says. The reputation of a corporation as perceived by those who were sureveyed (or whose opinions were sought). 

    Why is that so complicated!?
    There are ways to ask questions (survey questions) that might focus responders on aspects thought to be of importance to the surveyor.  And this would then represent bias on the part of the surveyor which would then weigh upon the conclusion.  And since we already see plenty of myopic viewpoints expressed by analysts and the media, which are undoubtedly consumed by many, potentially even by those performing this survey, it is not without some basis that one would suspect the methodology used.
    pscooter63watto_cobra
  • Reply 34 of 78
    As a corporation, I think Apple may well have took a hit to its reputation with the tax case over here in the EU and the outspoken Tim Cook's views in the US. Not personally bothered by either but I have heard and read plenty of criticism on both fronts.
  • Reply 35 of 78
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    So does this measure consumers feelings about the company/products or is it a corporate governance thing?
  • Reply 36 of 78
    If Rolls Royce come above Apple given the scandals they have been and still are embedded in the rest of the list hardly seems worthwhile
    randominternetperson
  • Reply 37 of 78
    analogjackanalogjack Posts: 1,073member
    tundraboy said:

    You ask those 10 corporations at the top of the reputation ranking if they'd rather be in Apple's shoes instead of where they are and every single one of them will say 'Yes'.  That's the only measure of reputation that counts.
    That reminds me of that old conundrum about how to tell which strain of marijuana is better. You put a bowl of each in a room of dopers and the bowl that empties first is the best.

    edited March 2017
  • Reply 38 of 78
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    mj web said:
    I've been losing respect for Apple's output, products, and creativity for many years now, as noted in this forum. I tossed an Apple sticker in the trash the other day and wistfully recalled an earlier time when I proudly displayed that sticker on the rear window in my Mercedes Benz. Must admit I'm still long AAPL, for greedy reason, and I even bought a MBP yesterday, because it was heavily discounted, but I've lost a lot of respect -- and affection -- for Apple.
      Apple is best in all areas they paticipate, where other companies don't even come close.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 39 of 78
    Swami BaloneySwami Baloney Posts: 19unconfirmed, member
    what does this even mean?
  • Reply 40 of 78
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    The whole thing about Apple not being innovative strikes me as uninformed.  Aside from tossing around just what the definition of innovation should be and whether Apple meets that definition, or whether any other company it competes with does, for that matter, there's another dimension to the argument I imagine few consider.

    Think about what it means to be in the position of absorbing virtually all the profits in one of the biggest global markets.  With a product line (iPhone) that critics and pundits decry as lacking innovation.  It actually means that you can take your time to roll out new features, capabilities, and technologies.  Why load next year's phone with everything you've got in the R&D pipeline, firing all your bullets at once, when you already net most of the profits.  That would be foolish.  If you aren't in that position, and you're constantly trying to impress in order to grab some of those profits for yourself, then sure, you need to throw everything at each new release, hoping that something you do that Apple hasn't done yet will be the magic bullet.  Samsung and others follow this course, but no magic bullet has yet appeared.

    Apple is also in competition with itself for a share of the content of the consumer's wallet.  The company is beginnng to stagger its product releases throughout the calendar year so as not to have their products competing for share of each consumer's discretionary spending budget.  Think about that; it's quite remarkable.  Especially for a company that's no longer innovating, as the pundits and analysts would have you believe.  But of course, they are wrong.  As usual. 
    edited March 2017 StrangeDayswatto_cobra
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