Cook talks slumping iPhone sales in interview, to reportedly hold 'all-hands' meeting with...

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  • Reply 41 of 48
    hucom2000 said:
    I don't agree with the end-of-the-world tone of some of the posts. That's just dramatizing for attention.

    I do notice however, that I'm having a tougher time defending Apple's product prices. In discussions with friends I mostly share my outrage about them. I think twice about buying something and often don't do it, because I can't "justify it". That's a big change for a 30+ year loyal Apple-fan-boy. 

    From my perspective, it's about time Apple's hits a rough patch. It can only benefit us, it's customers. They've clearly gone too far. Innovation & expensive is ok. Greed is not. A correction is very much needed. If they are stubborn about it, the market will do the work for them.

    It's like they are too concerned with themselves (as a company). Reminds me of good old Rome. Building palaces right up to the fall.
    Spot on! This is exactly how I feel and talk to my friends  about Apple now. I’ve got a 2008 Macbook and an iPhone 6. If Apple hadn’t kept pushing and pushing the price on the MacBooks, I would have bought at least 2-3 replacements by now. Regarding iPhones, I bought the 3,4,5 and 6.... then I skipped 7,8,X and XS. I was so ready to buy an X or an XS as I want several features as well as a major speed boost from my groaning iPhone 6. But their current prices, let alone how that translates here into Australian dollars is truely mind melting. 

    I’m totally disgusted with Apple now. I view myself as a pragmatic buyer who sees the value in getting what you pay for and particularly sees the whole value proposition in the Apple ecosystem but now it seems like buying Apple products  is more akin to buying Gucci or Prada. 

    10 years ago, you could really see Apple’s market share expanding on the street here, where it critical mass was lifting and including 
    more people than just  professionals and well healed buyers. 

    I want Apple to succeed but currently, I hope they hurt just to give them a slap and wake up before things really go off the rails. 

    There is no chance of me switching from iOS to Android but as I switched from MacOS 9 to Windows in 2001 (and back to MacOS in 2008)
    the Mac pricing/value proposition is what might make me change this time, not the crashing OS. 





    edited January 2019 muthuk_vanalingamcolinnghucom2000
  • Reply 42 of 48
    1st1st Posts: 443member
    1. VC and wall street chaps are short of cash in 2018 - result of trade war or other issues (some big mouth speak under the influence?).  So they scream new iphone price is too high rather than my bonus is too small (or not existence).  
    2. due to item 1.  shortage of cash cut back Xmas or new year party - lack of chance to show off new gadget - can't justify to pay 1000 for phone when you don't have groupy admire around to cheer up... can't tell them you shortage of cash, can't you? (including the chaps prepare for shut down - need to conserve cash for mortgage rather than a phone). 
    3. Tim just need few AR/VR hot shots - few pokemon would turn things around - for the chaps willing to exchange their kidney for it... young chaps don't care much about heart beats, but pokemon is different super potato.  
    4. Cash is king right now.  try to get chaps loose their grip is hard - may be go easy on next two new campus? (things can  turn on a dime like Nokia and BB... but Apple got better war chest... if it spread itself too thin - danger  ahead - BB got into 6 or 8 design centers before it crashing down in flame... so far no phoenix yet). 
  • Reply 43 of 48
    base jasebase jase Posts: 3unconfirmed, member
    My kids who have grown up with iphones, absolutely DO NOT want an iphone or any phone without a headphone jack. Their friends convey the same exact sentiment. Now the headphone jack isn't huge for me, but the one thing I can say is that when you lose the kids, you lose the future.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 44 of 48
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    base jase said:
    My kids who have grown up with iphones, absolutely DO NOT want an iphone or any phone without a headphone jack. Their friends convey the same exact sentiment. Now the headphone jack isn't huge for me, but the one thing I can say is that when you lose the kids, you lose the future.
    And, oddly, mine don't care. It's almost like opinions vary, and even out across a whole population.
  • Reply 45 of 48
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    tailstoo said:
    Apple is putting out products that aren’t that much better than the rest of the market, and raising their already high prices.  When there are very good phones for less than $700, Apple isn’t going to sell many (compared to cheaper years past models) at $1,100.  Apple wowed the world when the iPad came out at $499. Now the entry to the Pro model is $799.  

    iPad now starts at $329.
  • Reply 46 of 48
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    ne1 said:
    colinng said:
    From 2011 through 2017, many so-called analysts who didn't understand Apple, said that Apple stopped innovating, and the other players in the market caught up. They said Apple could not innovate without Steve Jobs. 

    It turns out that you can innovate without Steve Jobs (look at WayTools, Telsa, and other companies). You just really have to want it. Referring to what Steve said, R&D isn't about writing a cheque. You have to think on behalf of your customers' best interests, all-round, including fairness and providing value. 

    When the original iPhone dropped in price the year after it was released, Apple issued a $100 refund for every single early buyer. Apple took a small hit on the bottom line to be loyal to their customers. And that's why the Apple brand name was so strong in 2012. 

    2018 rolls around and finally the so-called analysts are right. Apple now increments but charges category-defining prices. iPad Pro 12.9" (512GB LTE) went from CA$1606 (2017) to over CA$1900 (2018). The damn pencil went up by 50%!!! Same goes for iPhone, Mac mini, MacBook Air - just about everything Apple makes. 

    If it was $1000 or more, it went up by $200-$300. Overnight. If it was under $1000, it went up to nearly $1000. Base model Mac mini went from $499 to $799. And all they did was put back the quad core that the 2012 model had that they took out in 2014. And the audacity to shout on stage at the keynote, "more cores is faster." No shit? 

    Is it a mystery that people aren't buying? 

    Steve used to say that Apple's customers were smart. If you want to lead, you got to make things for the leaders. i.e. artists, musicians, directors, and other professionals who do amazing things with their systems and push the boundaries. 

    But instead Apple is fooling itself thinking it can chase easy money. They send demo units to "influencers" i.e. people with YouTube channels. They hope that Apple customers are truly sheeple who just buy what "influencers" show off. 

    Apple is failing because it is pandering to fools, hoping that "a fool and their money soon part." They forgot their customers are artists, creatives, directors, engineers, authors, teachers, scientists. 

    We can easily see Intel is polishing a turd when they are at 14nm+++ (i.e. didn't do 10, 10+, and certainly didn't do 7). Nobody is going to buy their crap. Everyone is pissed off at Intel, to the point they are booting up their own silicon teams. 

    Perhaps the only area that Apple is leading in right now - is the A-series silicon. They used to lead in development tools too, like Swift. But hey, they pissed off the people who made Swift so they went elsewhere. 
    Exactly. Add to this the fact that some of us (like yours truly) bought MacBook Pros this summer as soon as they were released only to have a silent graphics upgrade issued for them 3 months later at a nominal price, just in time to avoid mass returns under their “secret” 90 day customer service return policy. This was insult to loyal customers and unlike when the iPhone dropped in price, no check was issued and no upgrade is still yet offered for those who spent thousands and would prefer the upgraded graphics. Apple’s only goal was to milk first adopters during the back to school season before releasing the additional MBP upgrades later.

    Brand loyalty and trust is earned over years, but can be lost in months and under Tim Cook’s Apple, they are starting to lose mine. 
    Conspiracy theory nonsense. People would be griping about how Apple was late in refreshing the MBP if they waiting for Vega availability. If they skipped it and rolled it into the 2019 model, people would Bitch that Apple waits too long to use the newest chips. They literally cannot win with the bitchy minority.

    I’ve heard of people who asked nicely getting an exception and being able to get a full return on their 2018 MBP so they could buy a Vega model. You might have to talk to them in a less conspiratorial tone though.
  • Reply 47 of 48
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member

    ElCapitan said:
    There is also another issue that nobody really wants to talk about in fear of not being PC, but nobody but a small section of the potential customer base want to listen to a potty mouth SJW CEO going on about how their customers should live their lives and what values they should hold. 

    If Timmy wants to be an activist - fine - keep it at the local level where it might be relevant, but the moment he steps outside the US, his message is either irrelevant because many countries gained the rights he keeps fighting for even decades ago, or it flies right in the face or their religion, culture and belief systems.  Incidentally these geographies falls under Apple's definition of emerging markets. So it is not only price and currency issues that discourage customers in these markets. 
    This I agree with wholeheartedly. Tim and his co-CEOs can say/do whatever they want from 5pm - 8am, but the rest of the time, their job is to manage an organization for their customers and shareholders. 

    Corporations have absolutely no business getting involved with setting social policy agendas. It’s a short step from there to fascism. 
    And which social policy agendas has Apple been “setting”?
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