Munster: 4" iPhone doesn't make sense for rumored Apple event in March

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 68
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    msantti said:
    Aple needs to knock something out of the park this year.

    New 4" iPhone, and iPad Air 3, and watch bands ain't it.
    they will be if they generate billions and billions in sales. because, you know, profits matter.
  • Reply 22 of 68
    josujosu Posts: 217member
    mazda 3s said:
    Gruber said the same thing about the iPad Pro at the iPhone 6s event... we see how that turned out.
    And the guy apologizing for his mistake, something than not everybody does.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 23 of 68
    schlackschlack Posts: 719member
    ooh..some common sense finally. watch hardware will be improved...ipad changes are obvious...better internals...better sounds...and pencil support...no need to introduce a phone. should wait till fall and have design (and internals) match that of the iPhone 7
  • Reply 24 of 68
    mnbob1mnbob1 Posts: 269member
    A new smaller iPhone does make sense for a few reasons. a) iPhone users who preferred the smaller size will be attracted to it. b) depending on the price it could attract some Android users who want a phone that's not a peice of junk. c) It may be designed for foreign markets. Size doesn't matter sometimes especially when it's executed well ;-)
  • Reply 25 of 68
    mtbnutmtbnut Posts: 199member
    If the new Watch doesn't have built-in GPS, I'm dumping the platform and going back to my Suunto. 
    freshmaker
  • Reply 26 of 68
    schlack said:
    ooh..some common sense finally. watch hardware will be improved...ipad changes are obvious...better internals...better sounds...and pencil support...no need to introduce a phone. should wait till fall and have design (and internals) match that of the iPhone 7
    I hope not. I don't think Apple should announce all its products in the fall. The only thing missing from this rumor is new Macs. So is Apple going to wait until WWDC to update? Or is it just going to be a Skylake spec bump and announced via press release?
    cali
  • Reply 27 of 68
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    A 4" iPhone makes more sense now than ever. Since iPhone is doomed this would definitely revitalize sales and a mid-cycle iPhone release would mean no slow down times for Apple. A March release would be perfect as it's exactly 6 months from flagship releases.
    palomine
  • Reply 28 of 68
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    I see Apple's rumored iPhone 5SE as an affirmation that the 4″ form factor will be carried forward with the rest of the iPhone line. 

    The updated 4" iPhone will likely contain iPhone 6 internals, a full 18 months after that model shipped.  But by remaining 18 months behind the flagships, a cheaper 4" model gives Apple a volume product to utilize fully amortized technology.  And being always 18 months behind, it doesn’t compete against the flagships' newest capabilities, yet offers a track to move forward for those who prefer either a less expensive iPhone and/or a smaller form factor. And it gives the company a mid-year iPhone update each year.  It’s brilliant, really.
    palomine
  • Reply 29 of 68
    I see Apple's rumored iPhone 5SE as an affirmation that the 4″ form factor will be carried forward with the rest of the iPhone line. 

    The updated 4" iPhone will likely contain iPhone 6 internals, a full 18 months after that model shipped.  But by remaining 18 months behind the flagships, a cheaper 4" model gives Apple a volume product to utilize fully amortized technology.  And being always 18 months behind, it doesn’t compete against the flagships' newest capabilities, yet offers a track to move forward for those who prefer either a less expensive iPhone and/or a smaller form factor. And it gives the company a mid-year iPhone update each year.  It’s brilliant, really.
    Except for those who want the smaller form factor but would still like a flagship device that's not 18 months behind.
    mac fan
  • Reply 30 of 68
    iPhone 4... yeah, call it iPhone 4G upgrade processor, battery, etc... as i dont want to carry a monster screen/case as size of "4" fine with me, just give me "upgrades" & i will look at gettin it... 'nough said!
  • Reply 31 of 68
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    I see Apple's rumored iPhone 5SE as an affirmation that the 4″ form factor will be carried forward with the rest of the iPhone line. 

    The updated 4" iPhone will likely contain iPhone 6 internals, a full 18 months after that model shipped.  But by remaining 18 months behind the flagships, a cheaper 4" model gives Apple a volume product to utilize fully amortized technology.  And being always 18 months behind, it doesn’t compete against the flagships' newest capabilities, yet offers a track to move forward for those who prefer either a less expensive iPhone and/or a smaller form factor. And it gives the company a mid-year iPhone update each year.  It’s brilliant, really.
    Except for those who want the smaller form factor but would still like a flagship device that's not 18 months behind.
    It's better than a discontinuation of the 4" form factor, and it'll be new enough to provide most of the capabilities needed to participate in Apple's future. Plus it at least gives users who prefer the smaller size an upgrade path, if I'm correct that this is just the first of the 4" form factor upgrades.
    palomine
  • Reply 32 of 68


    Were Apple to launch a phone in the spring, it would quickly look outdated following the iPhone 7's expected September launch, Munster wrote in an investor memo obtained by AppleInsider. He also remarked that having two iPhone events per year would detract from the releases of other products.

    Agree that diluting/detracting as well as bringing down ASP (& margins) is a concern.

    However, Apple is at a point (as it was with iPod) that it makes sense to expand on product options in order to increase # of users...before competitors do.

    In a way, it's similar to Tim's prior remarks that cannibalization isn't by itself a bad thing.

    Monetizing off it's strong (and getting stronger) platform is more important at some point in their product's cycle than selling less units (at higher ASPs).

    1 Billion active devices is HUGE.
    This is where the fireworks will really start...expanding on services while still profiting on hardware.
    Who knows what's next?....search and ads?!
    edited February 2016 calipalomine
  • Reply 33 of 68
    I was reading in some financial blogs that the 4" version is needed to better penetrate the Indian market.  The larger versions just are not getting the adaption in that market.  That market is potentially huge.  I don't know why Munster thinks the 4" version doesn't make sense if you look at it from this perspective.  And if he isn't looking at it from that perspective, why is he an analyst?  Should be looking at a company's moves from all angles.
    calipalomine
  • Reply 34 of 68
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    schlack said:
    ooh..some common sense finally. watch hardware will be improved...ipad changes are obvious...better internals...better sounds...and pencil support...no need to introduce a phone. should wait till fall and have design (and internals) match that of the iPhone 7
    Probably has some sense, then all three sizes are coordinated in looks. If they coordinate looks with the 4" coming out months and months before the "other" series 7 then when they do get revealed there will ver a tad sense of "we've seen that" attached from the 4".

    Other than that a 4" sooner wouldn't be a bad thing just to capture that sizes sales...

    ETA: Though coordinating for now with the current 6s series would have all the available options now be coordinated in looks... Everything iPhone doesn't HAVE to pop in the fall.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 35 of 68
    A lot /of things in this world do not make any sense, to include the Wall Street Hedge Funds love affair with Google.
    calipalomine
  • Reply 36 of 68
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    I see Apple's rumored iPhone 5SE as an affirmation that the 4″ form factor will be carried forward with the rest of the iPhone line. 
    Yes, I do too. However, I expect given the disparate feature rumors, that there might be a "5se" and a "6c" at two different tiers, with emphasis on the "6c" at this event (Apple's not going to only announce an entry level phone at an event). At a minimum, we'll see the "5se" quietly introduced now and a "6c" will come out 6 months after the 7 comes out, but it will be updated to more current specs closer to the 7. So not 18 months behind, but only 6. And by the time the 7S comes out, you might see an entire family in all three sizes released at the same time. Giving Apple 3 price tiers with 3 sizes in each.
  • Reply 37 of 68
    josujosu Posts: 217member
    sog35 said:
    A lot /of things in this world do not make any sense, to include the Wall Street Hedge Funds love affair with Google.
    Wall Streets love affair with Google is warranted.

    They are growing revenue's 15%-20% like clock work. Every quarter. Year after year. Their revenue stream looks bullet proof.
    On the other hand Apple is showing 10% negative revenue next quarter. 

    Google is trading at a forward PE of 20.  With 15% growth that is not expensive at all.
    Apple trading at a forward PE of 10 is not cheap at all if it continues to have shrinking revenue.
    Till is stops, they can't grow that way forever, add to that that is a company with little more than a decade and seriously they probably got a problem in the near future, no company grows forever, Microsoft had a much more relevant position in the PC business and they needed 35 years to become the most valuable company ever, if Google had made so fast is something that can't be sustainable in time. Microsoft only retain the crown for a few weeks to lose it to Cisco that also was short lived at that position. Google will fall in single digits grow sooner than later, is the law of the big figures, in this case not only revenue, but market share, too big the market share to grow. And assuming an stagnant mobile market,that the ad revenue stagnates is only a matter of time, a few time.

    Don't let your anger against Apple blind your judgment, you are better than this. Is Wall Street game, well not exactly, is stock market game, get private investors in a sea of fears so they give up and then profit from it. It has happen forever.

    Anyway, if a company grows at a fast and constant pace for a very long time, maybe is not only luck, is manipulated, we had seen that before, not, do you remember Enron...

    And about the sinking revenue of Apple, do you got any hard facts that support it. The same hard facts that supported that analysts were manipulating the stock because Apple was still growing fast you argumented in December, swinging sentiment to gloom and doom is the best way to get ruined in the market. I had passed through that. In 1996 my stock advisor called me urging to sell my positions because the political uncertainties. Few days later the stock market tanked, I got scared and get out, few years later that stocks where trading ten times the price I sold them. Don't panic on bad news, is the worst think to do. Apple has a solid balance sheet, they had expanded its stock option program and are still investing heavily, no company with a growth problem makes that. Case in point, in the worst of the financial crisis here, they stopped all their plans to open retail stores, that ended the opening of one in my home town, they are not reducing their openings in emerging countries or in China, they will add some more in Turkey, seven more in China till the summer. Hardly a sign of stagnation. A bad quarter is possible but a bad year not so. Even less a long term decline trend.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 38 of 68
    josujosu Posts: 217member

    A lot /of things in this world do not make any sense, to include the Wall Street Hedge Funds love affair with Google.
    Or that a company that not much than a decade ago was a college project becomes the most valuable company on earth straight from the college, its remarkable that performance, but contrary to all the hype, unsustainable long term, they will hit a wall. I must recognize that I thought they had hit it by now. But is like Chinese growth, the later they hit the wall the harder it will be, and more hurting it becomes. From startup to 23 billion profit non stop, unsustainable.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 39 of 68
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    sog35 said:
    A lot /of things in this world do not make any sense, to include the Wall Street Hedge Funds love affair with Google.
    Wall Streets love affair with Google is warranted.

    They are growing revenue's 15%-20% like clock work. Every quarter. Year after year. Their revenue stream looks bullet proof.
    On the other hand Apple is showing 10% negative revenue next quarter. 

    Google is trading at a forward PE of 20.  With 15% growth that is not expensive at all.
    Apple trading at a forward PE of 10 is not cheap at all if it continues to have shrinking revenue.
    And when Apple, every quarter previously, didn't show a dip in revenue what was the P/E? Anyway near 20, or Amazons ludicrous numbers? And that "if" is a big one, doom having been forecast for a lot of years....
    palomine
  • Reply 40 of 68
    Sorry Gene adding new band options to the existing watch doesn't make it an 'S' model. 'S' models are mostly internal changes and none of the rumors suggest new SiP for the watch.
    clemynx
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