StudioSoup

canukstorm said:

StudioSoup said:

ApplePoor said:

Not a surprise really that Apple got caught with their pants down. Too much time and money wasted on the "never saw the light of day" car.  The "googles" have consumed untold resources, too and have not been a runaway success in terms of sales. Frankly, usable Apple's AI is years away and could become a serious concern financially as investors loose confidence.

Apple has morphed from a small and fast Navy Destroyer to a more than cumbersome Battleship. The latter finally gets up to speed and requires vast space to change course or turn around let alone stop.

The incremental changes or improvements in their "core" revenue source, the iPhone, are an embarrassment when one sees what the competitors are pushing out. 

The comments here in the peanut gallery should be a five alarm file in the Board of Directors meetings such as the lack of more and more folks upgrading annually as there is just not enough change to justify a $2,000 expenditure for the top model with full memory - their most profitable model.

The incremental change of their most popular laptop (MacBook Air) is a chip change from the M3 to the M4. Wow! ???????

Just observations of an Apple user since1990 into computers since the early 1970s.

YMMV

For what it’s worth, as an Apple fan/user since the 1980s and investor since the 1990s, I 100% agree with this assessment. It’s honestly sad to see. I keep thinking maybe this’ll be the year they break out of the incremental rut, only to be disappointed once again. 

Vision Pro seemed like something of a return to form (a bold new product with a lot of buzz), but has seemingly been treated as an afterthought following the launch and I no longer have faith Apple will aggressively refine its form factor and push further development of the spacial platform. Also, although it’s an impressive product, the hardware launched with some design tradeoffs not typical of Apple, such as its weight and external battery situation. And the fact that Apple pursued VR style googles instead of AR style glasses out of the gate is also something of a questionable strategic decision. AR glasses done well clearly have a much larger market opportunity than bulky VR goggles. 

And they are riding the iPhone similarly to how Microsoft rode Windows in the 1990s. Complacent in their success and seemingly too scared or bloated to take risks while the world innovates around them. Let me guess, the next iPhone will feature better cameras, a more powerful processor, and perhaps be thinner or feature a new button or something? Whoop dee do. 

"AR glasses done well clearly have a much larger market opportunity than bulky VR goggles" => I agree with this but the issue with doing AR glasses well, is that the technology has to miniaturize to the point where AR glasses don't look too bulky or dorky.  They have to look fashionable, in addition to being functional.  The technology to do this is still a few years away.

charlesn said:

ApplePoor said:

Not a surprise really that Apple got caught with their pants down. Too much time and money wasted on the "never saw the light of day" car.  The "googles" have consumed untold resources, too and have not been a runaway success in terms of sales. Frankly, usable Apple's AI is years away and could become a serious concern financially as investors loose confidence.

Apple has morphed from a small and fast Navy Destroyer to a more than cumbersome Battleship. The latter finally gets up to speed and requires vast space to change course or turn around let alone stop.

The incremental changes or improvements in their "core" revenue source, the iPhone, are an embarrassment when one sees what the competitors are pushing out. 

The comments here in the peanut gallery should be a five alarm file in the Board of Directors meetings such as the lack of more and more folks upgrading annually as there is just not enough change to justify a $2,000 expenditure for the top model with full memory - their most profitable model.

The incremental change of their most popular laptop (MacBook Air) is a chip change from the M3 to the M4. Wow! ???????

Just observations of an Apple user since1990 into computers since the early 1970s.

YMMV

Another Apple vet here, using Macs at work and home since the Macintosh Classic in 1991. It's not that I disagree, per se, with this assessment, but it's a reminder that perceptions in the tech press and by commenters on tech message boards like this one are often completely disconnected from the reality of how Apple is actually doing as a company. In three words: "Better than ever" by any of the usual metrics by which the performance of companies is measured. Something astonishing, almost unthinkable a short time ago just happened when Apple reported earnings for the holiday quarter: its iPhone numbers were a little soft, which would have normally tanked the stock, but this time, it didn't matter. Why? Because its insanely profitable Services business is growing so rapidly and is essentially a license to print money. Under Tim Cook, Apple has transitioned from a one-legged company whose fortunes rose and fell with iPhone, to a company with three sturdy legs: iPhone, Services (which will surpass iPhone in profit and revenues sooner than later) and Hardware, including Macs, iPads and wearables. Fun fact: even with numbers that were a little soft, iPhone 16 is the best-selling smartphone in the world, while Pro Max, Pro and Plus occupy 3 more spots in the top ten rankings in that order. So you might ask yourself how a phone that is supposedly "an embarrassment" compared to competitors becomes the best-selling smartphone on the planet, especially at a relatively high price point. 

Did I mention that this past holiday quarter was yet another all-time record?  Kind of a yawn, for Apple, I know, because it keeps setting new records like this, but: this only happens because buyers are voting with their wallets to choose Apple products. Here in the technosphere echo chamber, it's the constant sound of doom and complaints about the glacial pace of Apple evolving its products. But the real world of mass market buyers keeps disagreeing. 

Apple does face the problem of being more cumbersome battleship than nimble destroyer--that is the inevitable challenge all companies face when they grow to the enormous size of Apple. Even more difficult: Wall Street continues to price Apple stock like a growth company, so even as it keeps breaking records for revenue and profit, the challenge of continuing to grow those huge numbers just gets exponentially harder... but Apple keeps doing it thus far. Tech message boards have been predicting doom just around the corner for Apple for as long as the company has been in business. It has weirdly become the always-present background noise to Apple's continued success. Just how much more successful does Apple have to be before the doom-saying gets a rest?

ApplePoor said:

Not a surprise really that Apple got caught with their pants down. Too much time and money wasted on the "never saw the light of day" car.  The "googles" have consumed untold resources, too and have not been a runaway success in terms of sales. Frankly, usable Apple's AI is years away and could become a serious concern financially as investors loose confidence.

Apple has morphed from a small and fast Navy Destroyer to a more than cumbersome Battleship. The latter finally gets up to speed and requires vast space to change course or turn around let alone stop.

The incremental changes or improvements in their "core" revenue source, the iPhone, are an embarrassment when one sees what the competitors are pushing out. 

The comments here in the peanut gallery should be a five alarm file in the Board of Directors meetings such as the lack of more and more folks upgrading annually as there is just not enough change to justify a $2,000 expenditure for the top model with full memory - their most profitable model.

The incremental change of their most popular laptop (MacBook Air) is a chip change from the M3 to the M4. Wow! ???????

Just observations of an Apple user since1990 into computers since the early 1970s.

YMMV