michael scrip

robin huber said:

Perhaps the plant is greasing the wheels for Apple to sell used phones. Would be awkward to have a plant full of Indians unable to afford the product they are building. 

So... exactly like it is in China?

pentae said:

Maybe if they had given us Macbook Airs/Pros with Skylake processors 6 months ago this wouldn’t have happened - too busy putting their top people on the iPad Pro. Nobody is buying new macbooks for the last half a year because everybody is waiting for a refresh - the current lineup is simply inadequate for anyone other than a consumer.

IF they had given us updated Macs 6 months ago... they would have boosted those two quarters. It probably wouldn't have done much for this April quarter.

The most number of Macs ever sold in a quarter was 5.5 million... and 4 million were sold this quarter.  Yeah... an extra million or so Macs would have boosted their Mac revenue this quarter... but the serious dump in iPhones revenue would still be on everyone's minds.

But yeah... updated Macs will help.  Hopefully this summer (and then you'll see the October and January quarters' Mac sales improve)

antonpablo said:

The lame uninspired S model strategy finally caught up with Apple.. 

I know!

After 3GS, 4S, 5S, 6S... and 7 years... it finally caught up!

They might have kept the same case design for two years... but they always upgraded the internals (which are the most important parts of the phone)

So what now... Apple needs to change the case design every year simply for change's sake?

Hooray!

Zarkin said:

The challenge for Apple now is how do you keep everyone on the upgrade cycle every year?

But wouldn't that same question be applicable for every other company too?

You could just as easily say "The challenge for Samsung/LG/Xiaomi now is how do you keep everyone on the upgrade cycle every year?"

The truth is... however... no one expects people to upgrade their phones yearly.  And for the most part... they don't.  While there may be pockets of superfans who buy new phones every year... they are the distant minority.  As important as smartphones are... they do not get replaced that often... iPhone or otherwise.

So we have this:  a person may only buy a new smartphone once every 2 or 3 years.... but people buy smartphones every day. There is always someone who is looking for a new phone.  And companies need to have new models available when those people are ready to purchase.

Apple didn't make the iPhone 6S for iPhone 6 owners.  And Samsung didn't make the Galaxy S7 for Galaxy S6 owners either.  And this idea isn't limited to just phones.  Vizio releases new TVs every year... HP and Dell release new laptops every year... and so on.  But no one expects people to replace any of those item on a yearly schedule.

But, again, those new models must exist for when people do start shopping for a new phone, TV, laptop, etc.

wizard69 said:

Why do they bother to compare this to Apples Mini iPad.   The devices are two completely different concepts, on is a book reader the other a general purpose tablet. 

You're right... they are two different types of devices.

But I think they're trying to explain what else you can get for the same amount of money.  Something with more than one purpose.

An iPad can become a Kindle thanks to the Kindle iOS app.  And tons of other things too.

But a Kindle can never become an iPad.