Oppenheimer: Apple 'lacks the courage to lead the next generation of innovation'

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  • Reply 21 of 200
    I"m not even caring that they have failed to innovate.   They can't even keep their current products remotely up to date.  3+ year old MacPro's are unacceptable.  The seamless Mac eco-system is being fragmented and destroyed by the cancelation of key products (Monitors, routers).   Apple monitors are pure source of advertising for a company.  Going into an office and seeing all those lit Apple logo's was fantastic mind share.  Now we get to see plastic LG monitors and have no clue whats running them.  But hey, Apple will only make a hundred million on monitors instead of a 100 billion, so it needs to be axed.

    They have been switching to USB-C for over a year now and yet only 2 models have them.   How am I suppose to buy USB-C peripherals for my company when our MacPro's, iMacs... etc can't use them.   The "Hello" event should have a been a complete transition day for all of Apple's desktops, laptops, iphones, and iPads over to USB-C.  That's how you transition.  I guess, Tim and company really have replaced their computers with iPads because they have no clue how their decisions are affecting people in the real world.
    Roger_Fingasblastdoorkudutokyojimudurandal_1707applecoredadonissmu
  • Reply 22 of 200
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,311member
    Writing about Apple's innovation efforts isn't much different than viewing icebergs; ninety percent is hidden below the surface.

    Using that for the basis of a long term prediction is at best, moronic.

    edited December 2016 kuduration alStrangeDaysjustadcomicsbadmonkadonissmubrucemc
  • Reply 23 of 200
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,311member

    eightzero said:
    There is a ring of truth to this. My AppleWatch suddenly had battery issues under watchOS3. Airplay stopped working in some apps under tvOS10.0.1. It seems one of the best parts of macOS, Time Machine, is going to be outsourced to third party routers. iCloud is...unintuitive at best; the desktop file storage thingy is an absolute hot mess. AppleTV has an app coming that does...what now? Provide a sales platform for others? Airpods are available...when? But hey, the macbookpro is uber thin! and USB-C reasons! and iOS allows me to get spam calendar things, but not delete emails all at once. D

    Don't get me started on Siri. Who actually uses that?

    And here's an ad for a samesung VR device with people enjoying it. 
    Where somehow, all VR devices equal innovation...
    ration al
  • Reply 24 of 200
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    jungmark said:
    Opie: we expect only Apple to innovate. Those other companies that were lagging behind Apple innovation the previous 15 years are poised to leapfrog past. Sure none are making money. But innovate. Innovate. Innovate!
     Have you ever heard the phrase "google can't innovate anymore?" Or Facebook, Samsung or any other tech company?

     I never have. 

    Funny thing is some of these companies never innovate ever. Some are even built on the philosophy of  copying  others and stealing their money.
    edited December 2016 justadcomicsbadmonk
  • Reply 25 of 200
    This is in the grand tradition of "telling Apple what it should be doing" or "listing all the things Apple is missing out on" or "Why Apple will be doomed in the future." Or that troll classic: "Apple relies too much on iPhone."

    What I find amusing about the last assertion is that it is based on the assumption that if Apple isn't advertising what it's working on next, there is no next big thing. If Oppenheimer concludes that Apple will rely on iPhone in its next decade, then that is incredibly short-sighted. In Apple's first decade, it was profitable because of the Apple II. In its second decade, it was the Macintosh. In its third decade, it was iPod + iTunes. In its fourth decade, it was the iPhone. You can't say you know what will drive Apple's profits in the 2020s.

    Apple innovates behind closed doors, unlike other companies that dazzle you with "X labs" (which I call "PR labs" because they're for the tech media to write stories about), but those don't count towards making a profit.
    calikudutmayration aladonissmu
  • Reply 26 of 200
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    This is in the grand tradition of "telling Apple what it should be doing" or "listing all the things Apple is missing out on" or "Why Apple will be doomed in the future." Or that troll classic: "Apple relies too much on iPhone."

    What I find amusing about the last assertion is that it is based on the assumption that if Apple isn't advertising what it's working on next, there is no next big thing. If Oppenheimer concludes that Apple will rely on iPhone in its next decade, then that is incredibly short-sighted. In Apple's first decade, it was profitable because of the Apple II. In its second decade, it was the Macintosh. In its third decade, it was iPod + iTunes. In its fourth decade, it was the iPhone. You can't say you know what will drive Apple's profits in the 2020s.

    Apple innovates behind closed doors, unlike other companies that dazzle you with "X labs" (which I call "PR labs" because they're for the tech media to write stories about), but those don't count towards making a profit.
    Yup.  

     That's another thing I find funny. People pretend like they know everything that Apple is working on. Look at the book or AirPods, no one saw these coming and we definitely won't see what else is.

    "Apple isn't innovating because they won't tell us what they're working on."
    suddenly newtonration aljustadcomicsadonissmu
  • Reply 27 of 200
    Not a touch screen,  but a touch bar?   I'll bet everyone was asking for a touch bar eh?
  • Reply 28 of 200
    JeffPJeffP Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    The bottom line on iPhone's massive revenue success was carrier financing. It was transparent to the consumer (not as transparent now with carrier's having dropped subsidies). Until Apple releases a product that you can so easily obtain, but still commands a premium that is easy to digest over years, they won't see those kind of numbers repeated. It needs to be something of high utility and value (to ensure you have great incentive to not default) and it needs to be something Apple's can deliver via their core strengths. The car really does make tremendous sense ... except for that last requirement, at the moment.
  • Reply 29 of 200
    If you think about it, what has Apple done in 5 years?  They created a watch that people do not really need, and they created a 'trash-can' Mac Pro that has not been touched in 3 years and does not sell very well.  They haven't created anything new that people did not realize they actually need...like they did with the iPod and iPhone.  Siri has been around for five years and not much improvement.  They added a few more 'features' like asking about sports or movies, but it makes mistakes quite often when trying to use it.  My Philips Hue lights work better with the Philips app than they do trying to set them up with HomeKit.
    razormaid
  • Reply 30 of 200

    hypoluxa said:
    Same old same old, doom and gloom. How many times has Apple been copied after they introduced something? They may not have to be first, but try to be the best. They have more money than they can spend last I checked. Plus they are very strategic when spending it. Evolution happens in small increments over time. Waiting on new chips from Intel has probably been their big hold-up. The Mac Pro & iMac are probably on the next updates. Hopefully.
    No.  This is different.  We saw 3 major product announcements which they called "launches", but not a single product?  Angela herself said, "It's undignified to wait in line.  We want everyone to order online".  You know what that kills?  
    WORD OF MOUTH.  
    FREE TV COVERAGE.  
    SHOWING THE OUTSIDE WORLD WHO's LOYAL.  
    All of that gone.  When there's no line because there's no product that's a MAJOR problem.  I went to stand in line at 8:30am on Thursday morning worried about low quantity  - drove home early from my Vegas vacation which was to last till Sunday.  At 9:10am the manager came out and said "No iPhone PLUS at all - not a single one.  Me and the rest of the line left. When there's no product in the store to buy how is that a launch?  

    Hasn't anyone figured out school (elementary, high school, college) all schools start in August/September.  They've been doing that for over 100 years.  But Apple releases a new laptop 2 months into the semester AND its a 4-6 week wait too?  Kids need laptops - it's a no brainer.  If Apple doesn't have one the parents have to buy them something.  This isn't rocket science folks.  And you don't want to send you kids off to high school or college without a means to reach them.  So you set the releaase day of the phone September 21st AND a 4-6 week wait too?? - end of October maybe November?

    Samsung has phones expoding a slam dunk to grab some new customers and they did nothing to increase manufacturing.

    Here's the best... we've waited months for the Jet Black phone - hell any PLUS phone for that matter.  And AI has an article that Apple is pulling back production of iPhone 7 due to "no demand"?  What did you think would happen when you hold a release party with nothing to buy??

    This isn't s "doom and gloom" article - not this time anyway.  There are plenty of us 30+ year users of Apple who are getting VERY VERY nervous.  When all we get are political tweets and politically correct nonsense instead of products?  YOU should be nervous to, otherwise YOU will be caught off guard when YOU need to go replace something like the rest of us.  I'm not attacking you, I just think you should do a little more "read bertween the lines" on this particular story because when a company publically comes out and states "we're going to start refreshing every 3 years..." that's not innovation to me.  That's using the good name of Apple and sitting back on your laurels while others around you DO innovate.
    edited December 2016 altivec88applecored
  • Reply 31 of 200
    I believe this to be true. Apple has done little to excite the tech world since Jobs. We need them to dream the future and push the timeline on when it is delivered.
    I dunno, I think a lot of the work they are doing these days is more exciting than just about anything they did under Jobs. I can think of many a boring Macworld and/or WWDC when he was leading.
    tmayration al
  • Reply 32 of 200
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    They don't need to innovate constantly and no company innovates forever. Do they have a business model that lets them stay in business? I think so. Will other companies, ones that haven't even been formed yet make big new products and create new markets? Yes. They always have. Does that mean Apple will become unprofitable? Apple was a company in search of a business model when Jobs came back. They were failing. They found a few things that let them stay afloat...and by afloat I mean becoming one of the wealthiest companies in history. But nothing lasts forever. Just ask IBM and Microsoft and Yahoo and the list goes on, especially in technology.
    Daimler-Benz has been going for how long? 100-plus years?
    ration al
  • Reply 33 of 200
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  • Reply 34 of 200
    steven n.steven n. Posts: 1,229member
    My question is "Who the flying $#^% wants message bots in the messages app"? This is serious. I have watched the demos and I can think of no single viable reason any sane person would consider these a good idea.  I would actively choose AWAY from ANY messaging system allowing messaging bots.
    ration al
  • Reply 35 of 200
    eightzero said:
    There is a ring of truth to this. My AppleWatch suddenly had battery issues under watchOS3. Airplay stopped working in some apps under tvOS10.0.1. It seems one of the best parts of macOS, Time Machine, is going to be outsourced to third party routers. iCloud is...unintuitive at best; the desktop file storage thingy is an absolute hot mess. AppleTV has an app coming that does...what now? Provide a sales platform for others? Airpods are available...when? But hey, the macbookpro is uber thin! and USB-C reasons! and iOS allows me to get spam calendar things, but not delete emails all at once. D

    Don't get me started on Siri. Who actually uses that?

    And here's an ad for a samesung VR device with people enjoying it. 
    iCloud is not a mess. I use it constantly for myself and to share large files (usually rough cuts of edits). While they could add or change some features, it's hardly a disaster. In fact it works quite well for allot of uses. I would appreciate some examples of how the desktop "thingy" (synching) is a hot mess and not just your word because it's been easy to use and sync for me. 

    Apple TV could very well turn into a hub seeing as that's where the Airport/ time machine team went, but yeah I'm sure Apple is doomed there because they aren't innovating. But let be frank no one pushed TV into the computer space more than Apple. Amazon, google etc wouldn't have shown any interest until iTunes and Apple. The unifying app is something users and content providers have been asking for since ATV4 came out. So Apple releases what looks to be a useful app and yeah "they suck". Please. 

    The airpod delay really is not big deal. No one will care after a couple of months of sales. BT is kind of "THE standard" forward for handhelds. It just makes sense. I've been a very happy with my BT buds and they are other out there. 

    The mackbook pro while not perfect for very very high end users is quite satisfactory and beyond for almost 90% of users. Yes. USBC "universal ports" are the way forward. Why should Apple worry about the port configurations for "every user" when they can just give evry user the ability to set up what THEY need. What's more of an individual expression? Having Apple try to account for every legacy port and being criticized for not including something or give the user the ability to add what they need?

     Though you may not see it thinner, lighter and better battery are key characteristics of making a laptop a pleasure to use day in, day out. even PC manufacturers know, no one wants  to carry around 7+lb laptops that get 3 hours in a charge any more. My only bitch with Apple is that they have USBC and I would like for them to implement an official API for external video via TB3. I would love to see an external cabinet for the iMac and the MBP that could hold a couple of SSD's and a full length video card, with a few legacy ports or at lest more full spec TB3 ports. But it's still early in the game and it's still a niche market. Early adopters will have to be happy with DIY'ing it themselves and maybe doing some hacking. The best we will probably get is third party cabinets and an official API. 

    I got calendar spam once. And haven't since then. Just because a handful of people got spammed doesn't mean it's a disaster. You're statement is hyperbole at best. 

    I use siri more and more despite my reluctance. It's "weird" talking to a computer (and that's true wether it's google or Amazon) but as I use it more I'm constantly impressed by launching apps and performing tasks like "take a photo" "Shazam this song" using Siri to make it much quicker. What would be great is Siri on the ATV with "always on" so I can ask "what's the weather like today" for one example as I get ready for work or "show me a new recipe for x" when I'm cooking dinner etc etc. Siri is quite good despite your narrow view of "it must suck because no one is using it" that's a weak argument. How can one decide how good something is or isn't if they don't use it? No, people aren't using because it's not their habit to talk to a computer and it feels weird. Coming generations will probably embrace it, especially as the tech gets better. 

    Finally i I can show you allot of ads for people enjoying terrible products. It's an ad not a mini documentary and those people are paid actors pretending so what does an advertisement prove?
    kuduration aljustadcomicsiqatedobrucemc
  • Reply 36 of 200
    I think Apple is doing plenty of innovation. However, the issue for me is whether it's in the current management's (and Board's) DNA to do something really bold, something that can move the needle given its behemoth size. I have no clue what that would be, but I could certainly see the car, education, (still) the living room, and India as serious possibilities. I am not so sure about health, since it's an incredibly complicated, messy business. 'Social', music accessories (e.g., Airpods, Beats) and music subscriptions are definitely not 'it' for me.

    Also, I also feel like some really interesting acquisition possibilities -- e.g., Harman Kardon -- have been left on the table or lost to competitors. Even a McLaren (or a Ferrari, now that it's a publicly traded company) would send a tremendous signal.

    One thing I'm not a fan of is the creation of products to get you to buy something more expensive or to fill a certain price point. For instance what exactly is the purpose of the 13" rMBP without touchbar other than a product specifically created to upsell you to the more expensive model or to fill a certain price point? On John Gruber's latest podcast neither he nor Joanna Stern could recommend that machine to anyone nor understand the point of its existence.
  • Reply 37 of 200
    gatorguy said:
    The Apple that developed the iPhone was a different Apple from today's. The old Apple was leaner, a whole lot less wealthy, driven and more desperate for a home-run product. Today's Apple doesn't have the same motivation or urgency IMHO. $200B sitting idle in the bank makes a difference in the way a company conducts itself. This Apple can easily afford to be much more patient, with "betting the farm" no longer a driver to push hard and fast on a new product. Just my .02
    OK.  You said it better than me and without all the anger mine had.  You win.  <grin>  Nice post, thanks.
    applecored
  • Reply 38 of 200
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    altivec88 said:
    I"m not even caring that they have failed to innovate.   They can't even keep their current products remotely up to date.  3+ year old MacPro's are unacceptable.  The seamless Mac eco-system is being fragmented and destroyed by the cancelation of key products (Monitors, routers).   Apple monitors are pure source of advertising for a company.  Going into an office and seeing all those lit Apple logo's was fantastic mind share.  Now we get to see plastic LG monitors and have no clue whats running them.  But hey, Apple will only make a hundred million on monitors instead of a 100 billion, so it needs to be axed.

    They have been switching to USB-C for over a year now and yet only 2 models have them.   How am I suppose to buy USB-C peripherals for my company when our MacPro's, iMacs... etc can't use them.   The "Hello" event should have a been a complete transition day for all of Apple's desktops, laptops, iphones, and iPads over to USB-C.  That's how you transition.  I guess, Tim and company really have replaced their computers with iPads because they have no clue how their decisions are affecting people in the real world.
    You are ignorant of any material reasons for Apple's moves. Example: tell us where Apple would get an extra 3 million or so 27" IGZO-backed  LCD screens to supply a new line of Cinema Displays. You can't tell us. Ergo, you are full of . . . hot air.
    tmayration alpscooter63ai46justadcomics
  • Reply 39 of 200
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    ... charging that the company is headed in the wrong direction and poised for a "decade-long malaise" as a result.
    Must be a (former) "Apple needs to buy Disney" guy.
    edited December 2016 ai46
  • Reply 40 of 200
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    tmay said:
    Writing about Apple's innovation efforts isn't much different than viewing icebergs; ninety percent is hidden below the surface.

    Using that for the basis of a long term prediction is at best, moronic.

    Well said.
    ai46justadcomics
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