Apple should mix hardware & services into 'Apple Prime' subscriptions, analyst says

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 36
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    I'm sorry, I'm pretty sure Apple doesn't need outside advice to run its business. 
    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 22 of 36
    He’s correct in the sense Apple continues to need to evolve services.  

    For example, because I have Amazon Prime (& Kindle Unlimited) I use Amazon Music & Video etc. rather than purchasing Apple’s comparable products.

    Just like ITunes is dying out in favor of Apple Music, Apple is going to need evolve and bundle other services to complete with Amazon.

    It’s not like Apple is standing still though, they’re starting to produce original content for Apple TV following in Amazon’s footsteps.

    But, Apple is no longer competing just against Amazon (etc) they’re also increasing competing against ISPs, like T-Mobile offering free Netflix.

    It will interesting to see what Apple does, but change is coming and consumers will benefit.
    edited February 2018
  • Reply 23 of 36
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Oh look, more shitty advice from an Analyst. Love how these people who wouldn't be able to run a lemonade stand, are constantly giving Apple advice, who just again had a record smashing quarter. 

    If you study Apple's history, you'll notice that all its worst and most counterproductive moves (ie. licensing OSX, releasing cheaper products that dilute their brand, etc) are ones that would have been recommended and applauded by analysts and investors. 
  • Reply 24 of 36
    I really get bothered when people talk about ‘growing’ a business. For a business that is already successful, growing it further is the goal of people who are in it primarily to make money and gain power.

    People should be in business because they have a passion for a product(s). If when they succeed they then simply aim to grow the business for the sake of it they no longer are in it because of product passion, and any move they make will not be because they care about their customers but instead because of their own (or their shareholder’s) personal gain. And so then the motivation behind their product is transformed into greed. That is the recipe for eventual irrelevance.

    Of course being in business because of a passion for the product is like a foreign language to many people. They can’t fully understand the history of Apple under Steve Jobs and his interest in the product beyond how much money it makes (not to say Apple isn’t business oriented).
    cornchip
  • Reply 25 of 36
    emoeller said:
    Apple already invented Prime Membership - we as Apple hardware purchasers are all members.   Apple rewards its members with "free services" (basic iCloud, iWork apps, iTunes ecosystem, etc) many of which may be upgraded to expanded (at increased prices) services (increased iCloud capacity, Apple Music streaming service, etc).
    this is exactly why i buy into apple products — there is nothing else you’ll need because everything else in terms of services is already baked in. macs and ios have iwork and ilife and that’s about as basic as you’ll ever need for productivity and leisure. subscriptions to icloud and music (and soon hopefully videos and books) make things better but that’s an add on to what you already get free as a “member” through the hardware.
  • Reply 26 of 36
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,311member
    To you who aren't previously aware of Horace Dediu of asymco.com

    I've been following him for years. He has a detailed understanding of the financials of Apple and of the underlying business model. Before you tar and feather him, you might want to visit his website:

    http://www.asymco.com

    He also is very versed in mobility, especially bicycles and electrified bicycles, and has great insight into urban mobility.


    cornchip
  • Reply 27 of 36
    tmay said:
    To you who aren't previously aware of Horace Dediu of asymco.com

    I've been following him for years. He has a detailed understanding of the financials of Apple and of the underlying business model. Before you tar and feather him, you might want to visit his website:

    http://www.asymco.com

    He also is very versed in mobility, especially bicycles and electrified bicycles, and has great insight into urban mobility.


    Horace is one of the better ones. I've called him on some of his off-base predictions (on Twitter) but he is generally fairly conservative with his comments.
    cornchip
  • Reply 28 of 36
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,311member
    tmay said:
    To you who aren't previously aware of Horace Dediu of asymco.com

    I've been following him for years. He has a detailed understanding of the financials of Apple and of the underlying business model. Before you tar and feather him, you might want to visit his website:

    http://www.asymco.com

    He also is very versed in mobility, especially bicycles and electrified bicycles, and has great insight into urban mobility.


    Horace is one of the better ones. I've called him on some of his off-base predictions (on Twitter) but he is generally fairly conservative with his comments.
    Horace's predictions aren't perfect, but he's a great believer in using available data for predictions, not the vague "rumors" that plagues Apple from many analysts.
    cornchip
  • Reply 29 of 36
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    As someone on the iPhone Upgrade Program, and subscribing to Apple Music and iCloud, I'm pretty much there already.  Hell, if Apple had a MacBook Pro Upgrade Program I'd consider that too.

    The idea of coming it all into one Apple Prime has its appeal, and I'm sure it would be advantageous to Apple too.  I'm sure other people would have other preferences, but I don't think Dediu is saying Apple should only offer this.
  • Reply 30 of 36
    “Apple should” (insert bullshit here), “analyst says”
    cornchip
  • Reply 31 of 36
    Are you serious?
    It would NEVER be called ‘Apple Prime.’

    If Apple offered a "Prime" service, it would be the best, so it would be called "Optimus Prime"!
  • Reply 32 of 36
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    tmay said:
    To you who aren't previously aware of Horace Dediu of asymco.com

    I've been following him for years. He has a detailed understanding of the financials of Apple and of the underlying business model. Before you tar and feather him, you might want to visit his website:

    http://www.asymco.com

    He also is very versed in mobility, especially bicycles and electrified bicycles, and has great insight into urban mobility.


    This is why I said I was surprised to see him make such a suggestion. He’s not your ex-used-car salesman that usually passes for a financial analyst. He’s the real deal, so his idea is certainly worth talking about before binning him with the others. 

    The only thing i would say is say is that the day Apple listens to Wall Street before its core customers is the day they step on to the ledge. 
  • Reply 33 of 36
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    crowley said:
    As someone on the iPhone Upgrade Program, and subscribing to Apple Music and iCloud, I'm pretty much there already.  Hell, if Apple had a MacBook Pro Upgrade Program I'd consider that too.

    The idea of coming it all into one Apple Prime has its appeal, and I'm sure it would be advantageous to Apple too.  I'm sure other people would have other preferences, but I don't think Dediu is saying Apple should only offer this.
    Yes, maybe packaging and marketing what's essentially there in a different way.

    Maybe they're waiting until they get their video services up and running, which seems to be within the next year, before offering something like that.
  • Reply 34 of 36
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    AppleZulu said:
    Apple is a hardware company with integrated, exclusive software that has a reputation of making the hardware function reliably and intuitively. The addition of entertainment content is still intended to drive customers to purchase the hardware in order to access the content. That content, through the App Store, ITunes music and video is also profitable, so the current model seems to work well for Apple. They don’t appear to be in the business of giving anything away, other than perhaps routine upgrades to their software, which is already priced into the hardware purchase.

    The competitors mentioned in the article above are all working lower margins, because hardware, software and even content are often given away as loss leaders to draw customers in as “product” they can then sell to advertisers. That model can work, too, but not so well that there’s any reason Apple would feel compelled to abandon their own highly successful strategy.
    "Apple Prime" if possible, should include only services, not hardware. I would subscribe a standard fee for Apple Music, iTune Video, Pod Cast and such. Let say $15-$20/mo for iTune video and Apple music.
  • Reply 35 of 36
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,275member
    I could see *merchants* offering, let's say, a free year of Apple Music when you buy a HomePod from them (for example), but I don't see Apple offering bundles like that -- there is zero incentive for them to do so as far as I can see. I have a lot of respect for Horace's analytical work, but dipping his toe into "Apple should do this or its dooooomed" territory is best left to the more laughable pundits.
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