More relevant to the Q. “ Will the COVID-19 disaster sink Apple's premium hardware?”
is that we’re waiting, waiting and waiting for AirTile, AirPower, AppleHeadphone, AirPodsPro Lite, AppleGlasses, AppleCar, iTV, iPhone SE2, MacBook 14”, iMac, HomePod 2020.
No, it’s not COVID-19 that is the (main) cause of delays - although it will certainly be attributed being so.
The core problem is the dispersed focus on all the services mentioned, the CEO not obsessed with products, and the money addiction of the immense Tech Bureaucracy he created reaping fruits from Steve’s ideas.
Steve said: “Stay lean and mean, stay foolish, focus on products”
Tim did: “Become large and keep counting, focus on cash”
Hence its inability to act as a lean, mean and innovative aggressor. It has become merely defensive, sadly, where keeping market share is key and innovation considered merely disruptive.
On the individual employee level that translates “Think different” into “Think indifferent”.
I think Tim Cook is a pretty good manager of Apple, maybe the second best ever. After Steve and Tim though, the rest were abysmal. You are right about the Products though, he isn't really into them.
Why only "maybe" the second best ever, if the rest were abysmal?
First of all there is a rude awakening across the planet of the insanity of shipping production of goods and services offshore, and putting all eggs in the Chinese basket. The effect of the COVID-19 crisis is that suddenly all countries starts to act like countries again, and global sourcing has to a large extent collapsed.
With the upcoming financial depression we just have seen the start of, people are going to first cut on subscriptions; cloud services, music, media streaming, software subscriptions, then anything premium.
People are going to get much more aware of purchasing products that creates jobs in their countries and not someone elsewhere. Equally they are going become much more focused on that their hard earned money don't stuff the coffers of international companies that hardly give anything back to their markets (taxes, job creation, local economic growth).
Apple is doing its valuable creative, design, engineering, planning, product work domestically and shipping the routine low-value jobs elsewhere because nobody in the US is qualified to run precision manufacturing and basic labor and there's nowhere to do it and no supply chain to support it.
This is the standard excuse for outsourcing but it doesn't hold true anymore. Sure the software is still mostly written in California, but Tim Cook has shown no reluctance in buying up companies who employ software engineers elsewhere, unlike Jobs who wanted everybody in Infinite Loop.
However are process engineers really a low value job? If so why cant it be done in the US and all the expertise is in Asia? A quick google informs me that
Most entry-level process engineering jobs require a bachelor's degree in chemical, manufacturing or industrial engineering.
Also
Becoming a Process Engineer Typically, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in a related field (such as engineering, chemistry or material science) is required. Management experience or business qualifications with accompanying engineering awareness or experience can also provide a route into these positions
So a process engineer needs at the very least a bachelors degree in one of the hard STEM subjects, and possibly a business post graduate qualification or business experience. That doesn't sound all that low level to me. You used the passive voice there as well as in there's "nowhere to do it [manufacturing] and no supply chain to support it.", but Apple in particular have contributed to this situation.
Its also incorrect to say that the production of the iPhone is low skilled, Apple are clear that the precision processes they use are very high skilled and need to be changed every time there is an iPhone update. This clearly requires engineering talent. Not only that but most of the components in the iPhone depend on high skilled manufacturing processes themselves and most of the is either from Asian products manufactured in Asia, or US products manufactured in Asia. There are a few European products manufactured in Europe. In general US products are manufactured abroad, while most other manufacturers of iPhone components don't outsource.
People are going to get much more aware of purchasing products that creates jobs in their countries and not someone elsewhere. Equally they are going become much more focused on that their hard earned money don't stuff the coffers of international companies that hardly give anything back to their markets (taxes, job creation, local economic growth).
Doubt it. People are going to chase a bargain just like they have always done. Government spending might reorientate to prioritise the things you list, but even that will likely only be a flash in the pan.
Brexit was pretty much a reaction on the above, as was the election of Trump. This virus is going to open eyes all over – actually it already has.
It probably opened Boris's eyes that he's lucky to have Socialized Medicine.
More relevant to the Q. “ Will the COVID-19 disaster sink Apple's premium hardware?”
is that we’re waiting, waiting and waiting for AirTile, AirPower, AppleHeadphone, AirPodsPro Lite, AppleGlasses, AppleCar, iTV, iPhone SE2, MacBook 14”, iMac, HomePod 2020.
No, it’s not COVID-19 that is the (main) cause of delays - although it will certainly be attributed being so.
The core problem is the dispersed focus on all the services mentioned, the CEO not obsessed with products, and the money addiction of the immense Tech Bureaucracy he created reaping fruits from Steve’s ideas.
Steve said: “Stay lean and mean, stay foolish, focus on products”
Tim did: “Become large and keep counting, focus on cash”
Hence its inability to act as a lean, mean and innovative aggressor. It has become merely defensive, sadly, where keeping market share is key and innovation considered merely disruptive.
On the individual employee level that translates “Think different” into “Think indifferent”.
Think back to the time just prior to Steve's illness--could anyone have imagined that Apple without Steve and Jony would be the most successful it has ever been? Not a chance. And yet here we are. Nearly nine years after Steve's death, Apple under Cook's leadership is thriving, and at or near the top of the world's most valuable AND most admired companies. No, Tim has never been Steve and never will be, but he has led Apple to pinnacles of business success that it never achieved under Jobs. Considering that many seriously questioned Apple's future survival when Steve died, and with good reason, Tim has exceeded all expectations as CEO. In the brutal world of tech hardware and software, you can't deliver nine years of the success he has built by being "merely defensive," or making cash instead of products your focus or adapting a mindset of "think indifferent."
Comments
This is the standard excuse for outsourcing but it doesn't hold true anymore. Sure the software is still mostly written in California, but Tim Cook has shown no reluctance in buying up companies who employ software engineers elsewhere, unlike Jobs who wanted everybody in Infinite Loop.
However are process engineers really a low value job? If so why cant it be done in the US and all the expertise is in Asia? A quick google informs me that
Most entry-level process engineering jobs require a bachelor's degree in chemical, manufacturing or industrial engineering.
Also
Becoming a Process Engineer Typically, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in a related field (such as engineering, chemistry or material science) is required. Management experience or business qualifications with accompanying engineering awareness or experience can also provide a route into these positions
So a process engineer needs at the very least a bachelors degree in one of the hard STEM subjects, and possibly a business post graduate qualification or business experience. That doesn't sound all that low level to me. You used the passive voice there as well as in there's "nowhere to do it [manufacturing] and no supply chain to support it.", but Apple in particular have contributed to this situation.
Its also incorrect to say that the production of the iPhone is low skilled, Apple are clear that the precision processes they use are very high skilled and need to be changed every time there is an iPhone update. This clearly requires engineering talent. Not only that but most of the components in the iPhone depend on high skilled manufacturing processes themselves and most of the is either from Asian products manufactured in Asia, or US products manufactured in Asia. There are a few European products manufactured in Europe. In general US products are manufactured abroad, while most other manufacturers of iPhone components don't outsource.