Apple-focused analyst Ming-Chi Kuo leaves KGI
Known for often having an inside track on Apple's product plans, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has reportedly left Taiwan's KGI Securities, and is expected to drop his focus on Apple.
Kuo took the lead in claims about the specs of this fall's iPhones.
Ming-Chi Kuo's last day was Apr. 27, according to the China Times. While his destination is unknown, the Times suggested that his focus will probably "extend to more emerging industries."
At KGI, Kuo used his supply chain connections to discern product details that were often unusually accurate, then share his investor memos with AppleInsider and other publications. In 2014, for example, he correctly predicted some specifications of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as the announcement of the Apple Watch, though its launch would only happen in 2015.
Kuo was making Apple forecasts as recently as April 26, suggesting that this fall's rumored 6.1-inch LCD iPhone will adopt new touch technology and might forego 3D Touch to keep prices down. Indeed the analyst appears to have been the first to predict that Apple will ship the 6.1-inch device as well as 5.8- and 6.5-inch OLED models.
He has also predicted things like a cheaper HomePod, and a redesigned Watch with a bigger screen, better battery life, and more health monitoring upgrades.
Not all of his claims have panned out, but the analyst's departure could deprive the Apple rumor mill of some of the early glimpses it has become used to.
Kuo took the lead in claims about the specs of this fall's iPhones.
Ming-Chi Kuo's last day was Apr. 27, according to the China Times. While his destination is unknown, the Times suggested that his focus will probably "extend to more emerging industries."
At KGI, Kuo used his supply chain connections to discern product details that were often unusually accurate, then share his investor memos with AppleInsider and other publications. In 2014, for example, he correctly predicted some specifications of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as the announcement of the Apple Watch, though its launch would only happen in 2015.
Kuo was making Apple forecasts as recently as April 26, suggesting that this fall's rumored 6.1-inch LCD iPhone will adopt new touch technology and might forego 3D Touch to keep prices down. Indeed the analyst appears to have been the first to predict that Apple will ship the 6.1-inch device as well as 5.8- and 6.5-inch OLED models.
He has also predicted things like a cheaper HomePod, and a redesigned Watch with a bigger screen, better battery life, and more health monitoring upgrades.
Not all of his claims have panned out, but the analyst's departure could deprive the Apple rumor mill of some of the early glimpses it has become used to.
Comments
As far as today's news, the suddenness of it makes one wonder if Apple finally rooted out Kuo's "connections" and put the hammer down on his employer to shut down the operation. While having supply-chain leaks is useful for sites like this and entertaining to readers like us, it's undoubtedly corrosive to Apple's business. Apart from the obvious damage done to competitiveness against other tech firms, having a constant stream of info on products months or years before their introduction only contributes to the negative perceptions of supposed 'incrementalism.' It kind of kills the wow factor for product release events when most of the coverage is a comparison to expectations based on leaked info. The kids get weirdly unexcited on Christmas morning when they've already carefully opened and re-wrapped every present under the tree, and they end up being more focused on disappointment over what else they wanted and didn't get.
We all were discussing a watch before analysts told us Apple would make one, and had put in our predictions for eventual watch bands that would add functionality (medical sensing, etc) even before the watch came out.
Screen dimensions were a favorite among predictions prior to the iPhone 6 and folks here did calculations to show what would make sense based upon the way Apple sizes elements like buttons and such. Pretty sure no analyst informed those discussions more than the readers and contributors here.
And then, of course, there’s the big huge blind spot where analysts fail to see the implications of moves Apple has already made. The Beats acquisition comes to mind. Apple overpaid seemed to be the concensus, never taking into account that a few years of Beats hardware, on its own, would pay back the purchase price, and doing nothing but poo pooing the Apple Music UI, failing entirely to predict the 10, 20, 30, and now 40 million subscriber marks that have come in fairly rapid succession.
The importance of Apple as a platform builder, with plenty of integration between their many platforms such that capabilities from one can be transferred to others, and the user experience that can be fairly unified as a result. This has rarely been touted by analysts who only see, and attempt to chop away at, one tree at-a-time, trying to fell the huge and growing forest of Apple works with their hatchet job reporting and ‘analysis.’
Meanwhile, the biggest picture remains intact; Apple speaks to its markets via refined products that deliver convenience and capabilities to people through almost magically transparent, minimalist design. The task at hand is key and central, the technology is mere context within which that task is performed. What would our gadgets and work tools look like today if Apple had never existed. Would another have stepped in and bridged the gap between intuition and functionality? Even if so, then we would have that agent to thank. But it went the way it went and we have Apple to thank, even if many are unwilling to step back sufficiently to see that.
Kuo, with all his hand waving, added little to the important discussion about Apple.
/rant
Someone will fill the void left by Kuo, in very short order.
Let us pause to imagine what the biggest surprise might be in forthcoming Apple products and services. I don't think it is something an analyst can tell us. They are always thinking in terms of the next quarter, using as information products and market information from the most recent quarter. This is too short a time frame to provide context for the kind of change Apple is capable to bring. The question is, will Apple do it?