sacto joe

Interesting. I just posted something about this on Braeburn Group.

Here are the iPhone sales numbers since Q1 fy ‘11, with Q1 bolded.
16,235
18,647
20,338
17,073
37,044
35,064
26,028
26,910
47,789
37,603
31,241
33,797
51,025
43,719
35,203
39,272
74,468
61,170
47,534
48,050
74,779
51,193

BIG jump (128%) when Apple moved the iPhone release date 3 months closer to the holidays in 2011 (Q1 fy '12). Then only a moderate jump in '13 (29%), and a smaller jump in '14 (7%). Q1 '13 and Q1 '14 were the 5 and 5s models respectively. Finally, another big jump in '14 with the 6 (47%) and flat in '15.

IMHO, this, and Apple's lack of ability to match demand for the SE, reveals the "smoking gun" of what happened to production in '13 and '14; the 5 series was just flat harder to produce than the 4 series or the 6 series. My guess of the problem: The highly milled edges of the aluminum housing. As an ex-CNC machinist, I can guarantee you that you can't make those edges quickly.

Note that the 6 series doesn't have milled edges, and hence is far easier to ramp up production on.

BTW, I think the 5 series was one of the most beautiful iPhones ever produced. Just a shame that it's so hard to make....

Check out this article and interactive graph on PED's new site: http://ped30.com/2016/04/29/apple-iphone-yo2y-compare/

It goes hand-in-glove with DED's story.

If that graph is right, AAPL is about to come off the bottom in the next quarter or two - possibly in a big way.

Oh, and all the signs point to a HUGE buyback of stock by Apple this quarter....

So that's that until a newer iPhone fails to yield up it's secrets. Rinse, repeat. BTW, I'd be willing to lay odds that this involved copying the data and replicating it many times over, then "tricking" the iPhone into thinking the replicated data is the original data. Basically, an assembly line process. Bump the number up to, say, an 8 digit code, and the cost of this approach starts to become excessive. In the instance of really crucial info, still possible, but expensive. Not something the average iPhone user would ever need to be concerned about. And going to an 8 digit code is a very easy fix for Apple to instigate.

This may be about the crappiest article I've ever read in AppleInsider. What editor here let this hack job on Tim Cook pass muster? 
Two thumbs down.

On the anniversary of Steve Jobs' 61'st birthday, his protege, Tim Cook, did Steve proud.

And as Apple customers since 1984, Mr. Cook did my wife and I proud as well.

Thank you, Mr. Cook!