Phil Schiller Says Apple Wouldn't Sacrifice Quality for Market Share in a Cheaper iPhone

AZREOSpecialist · Jan 10, 2013

I don't see anywhere in the translation where Schiller says "Apple won't sacrifice quality for a cheaper iPhone", as the headline claims. Instead, what I see is a statement by Schiller stating flat-out that Apple will never address the lower end market. He said that's not the future of Apple.

imacintosh.0 · Jan 10, 2013

AppleScruff1 said:
Sorry, I was being sarcastic. Many here said that the retina screen was unnecessary and that the screen on the mini was good enough.

Many? Who said that? I actually only heard complaints that Apple didn't use the retina, and I think it was dumb of them not to. Even if some people did say it was "unnecessary" I guarantee it wasn't many unless you have some proof to back up your statement.

KnightWRX · Jan 10, 2013

AZREOSpecialist said:
I don't see anywhere in the translation where Schiller says "Apple won't sacrifice quality for a cheaper iPhone", as the headline claims. Instead, what I see is a statement by Schiller stating flat-out that Apple will never address the lower end market. He said that's not the future of Apple.

Like the iPod Shuffle. It's not lower end, you can get much lower end PMPs. But it is a cheaper priced product. Apple won't just make a cheap product for the low-end, cut throat margin market. Apple doesn't play in that sandbox.

What they will make is a high-end offering with good margins for the lower-price segments (the 199-399$ off contract phone segments). Notice how Phil doesn't outright deny all of this.

JHankwitz · Jan 10, 2013

apple-win said:
You forgot the antenna problem

Why do people keep bringing up this bogus antenna problem? Every phone on the market loses some reception when you hold it in your hand. The problem was that Apple's strength meter didn't compensate for this like other manufacturer phones did which allowed this condition to be displayed. The metering has been fixed, but there's still no way you can prevent blocking reception with any hand-held device unless you use an external antenna or hold it in such a way you don't wrap your hand around and block the internal antenna.

Chupa Chupa · Jan 10, 2013

Schiller's comments are empty words so I'm unsure why people are getting all wound up. What Schiller said has been Apple's position for a long time and emanated from Jobs himself. Apple has always maintained it will not make, what it believes to be, an inferior product just to fill a space.

But Apple's history has been of making less expensive versions ones the flagship model starts to become saturated. All the iPods that came after the original, including the ultra-affordable Shuffle. The Mac mini. The iPad mini.

I wouldn't be too shocked to see a stripped down $99 PayGo iPhone soon.

bobenhaus · Jan 10, 2013

Mr.damien said:
Hahaha, you are so wrong. Apple get 80% of all the mobility market profit.

Why do you think that Samsung want to increase their margin ?
To be able to compete in the future ...

On the other side, if they start to build crap products, their image will be broken and people won't see any reason to buy expensive products anymore.[/QU

Margin share but not Market Share. Believe me Apple will change or wont be able to compete. You can have your ferrari car and I will keep my Ford.

krravi · Jan 10, 2013

Rogifan said:
But you can buy an external drive to play all those pesky DVDs/CDs.

I tried that with the very Apple "Super Drive" on my iMac 2011 which has a drive built in. And guess what? It would not work.

Wanted to do a DVD -> DVD copy.

Had to do a hack to get the SuperDrive working. How very super of Apple.

Here is how to get it working, just in case anyone is curious...

http://www.hardturm.ch/luz/2011/10/how-to-make-the-macbook-air-superdrive-work-with-any-mac/

bobenhaus · Jan 10, 2013

nexusrule said:
In the same way they go cheap in computers to compete with dell, hp etc? Companies like Apple (and porsche, bmw, rolex, cartier, prada, any luxury brand) are not about market share, they give up market share when they chose to go for top models only; they aim for profits and they make as much profit with a unit than competitors with 5. In fact you can see how apple with an average of 15-25% share on their markets (phones, computers, tablets) routinely catch 70-80% of the markets profits.

Until apple grow continues at current rates they don't need to fight for market share, also if their competitor get more market than them. Once the markets will stabilize they will be good with their 15-25% market share.

Mercedes C class??/

Rogifan · Jan 10, 2013

KnightWRX said:
No one said that they would or should. But the point remains, everything Apple does is in the end for one thing : growing their revenues/profits. That's what Wall Street investors want.

They do that by doing what they always say they do : "Making the best products we can and selling them with good margins".

A lot of you people think Apple is different from other publicly traded companies. They follow the same rules as everyone else. Pleasing investors and Wall Street people however does not mean driving products based on their whims, that's a ludicrous link to make.

Wall Street investors don't always make sense. Apple has never participated in a race to the bottom to gain market share. But it seems some on Wall Street are suggesting just that, I guess because they're freaked out about Samsung. I think Apple's bigger focus right now should be on software and services not more gadgets. But to Wall Street there's nothing sexy about iCloud, they just want the next gadget.

hamkor04 · Jan 10, 2013

iAco said:
That has nothing to do with build quality.

Apple's build quality is superb.

I bet you it's better than 99% of the apliances/electronics you run into your daily life.

That's normal ware and tare. I wish it would be made of a much more durable material, but if Apple plans on releasing a new phone every year, then it doesn't make economic sense for them.

Either way, phones come and go. If you don't like the scuffing, get a gigantic condom for it. I don't like condoms.

so ware and tear, huh?
the best 2013 consumer electronics review so far

Rogifan · Jan 10, 2013

KnightWRX said:
No, the fact is, Apple has never had problems with Polycarbonite use in their products (their type of plastic). Apple uses what Apple wants to use. If it's aluminum now, it doesn't mean they won't go back to polycarbonite in the future (they still use it in the Time Capsules and Airport products, in their power chargers, in all their iPod/iPhone accessories).

Only the Apple forum community seems to have a problem with plastic. Does your 85W MacBook Pro charger feel cheap ? Plastic. Does your Time Capsule feel cheap ? Plastic. Does your Lightning cable connectors feel cheap ? Plastic.

Yet none of it feels cheap. That's because plastic in and of itself isn't a cheap material as its made out to be around these parts. Thank God Apple knows this and doesn't make their products based on the whims of a few forum goers with an anti-plastic fetish (even though they use and love plastic products from Apple everyday).

I know they use plastic (sorry that's what I'm calling it) in some of their products right now. Of course I have no way of knowing if they'll ever use it in one of their flagship devices again. It's just my personal opinion that we won't see another plastic iPhone anytime soon. Their whole product line has trended towards aluminum and glass. I just don't see what would make them move away from that back to plastic.

whatever · Jan 10, 2013

KnightWRX said:
That is false. The iPhone alone represents over 50% of their revenues. Apple lives and dies by the iPhone at the moment. Combine the iPad, and iOS devices are 70% of Apple revenues. It's absolutely crucial they keep this side of the business healthy and growing.

I'm not talking about today, but in the future.

The iPod was as important to Apple years ago as the iPhone is today. In ten years we will be talking about product XYZ from Apple and the iPhone will be an afterthought.

576316 · Jan 10, 2013

bobenhaus said:
Blackberry 10 will be released very soon and that will send shivers down Apple Back.

Blackberry will continue to be as insignificant as it is now. Didn't RIM say they wanted to get back into aiming it at a business audience again? Seeing as every 14 year old and his dog got one about a year ago.

KnightWRX · Jan 10, 2013

whatever said:
I'm not talking about today, but in the future.

The iPod was as important to Apple years ago as the iPhone is today. In ten years we will be talking about product XYZ from Apple and the iPhone will be an afterthought.

I don't think the iPod ever represented such a big portion of Apple's revenues. The iPhone being 50% of their revenues is something that hasn't ever happened to Apple as far as I know ( outside of the Mac line-up)

KTF · Jan 10, 2013

its no high quality in the ipad mini specs have the the iphone 2g SCREEN + 3 year old tech or more!

sorry for be honest :apple:

JHankwitz · Jan 10, 2013

Rogifan said:
It's just my personal opinion that we won't see another plastic iPhone anytime soon. Their whole product line has trended towards aluminum and glass. I just don't see what would make them move away from that back to plastic.

Cost.

swagi · Jan 10, 2013

KnightWRX said:
I don't think the iPod ever represented such a big portion of Apple's revenues. The iPhone being 50% of their revenues is something that hasn't ever happened to Apple as far as I know ( outside of the Mac line-up)

Well...maybe that's due to the poor neglect Apple shows on the desktop front.

I won't argue on their notebooks. They still are great (though compared to early-2000 engineering marvels like Pismo they suck).

The Mini and the iMac don't make any sense without an optical drive to me. And the Mac Pro...don't get me started.

For the record, I'm fine with using an external optical on a notebook. But on a desktop - gimme a break.

Apple themselves forced the "post PC era"-mantra and now it's ridiculously biting their backs. iPhone is not the top-dog anymore, and people slowly realize they still want their own PC and stuff the OWN rather than have a cloud-thingy running with things they LICENSE.

So - just to prove the point - is there any info on Chromebooks and how they are selling?

NutsNGum · Jan 10, 2013

JHankwitz said:
Cost.

Hasn't ever really been a motivating factor before, has it?

----------

KTF said:
its no high quality in the ipad mini specs have the the iphone 2g SCREEN + 3 year old tech or more!

sorry for be honest

Have you tried one?

Jetson · Jan 10, 2013

Rogifan said:
But you can buy an external drive to play all those pesky DVDs/CDs.

Yeah just like the SuperDrive in the Mac Mini was quietly eliminated. You can buy the external drive. But WHY ???

If Apple elected to stop shipping keyboards and mice and you'd find people here saying that's alright with them and why would you dare question it

KTF · Jan 10, 2013

mdelvecchio said:
oh, the one that never bothered ANY of the iphone4 users i knew, and was demonstrable on any phone w/ similar deathgrips?

riiight.

return it 6 days later IP4 antenna sucks still Sucks even Scott Forstall agreed :apple:

i love apple now should i drink the apple kool-aid? NO!

rjc74 · Jan 10, 2013

Who proof read this post?

I'm left to decipher what I think the author intended since nearly every paragraph has problems. Sheesh!

AppleScruff1 · Jan 10, 2013

imacintosh.0 said:
Many? Who said that? I actually only heard complaints that Apple didn't use the retina, and I think it was dumb of them not to. Even if some people did say it was "unnecessary" I guarantee it wasn't many unless you have some proof to back up your statement.

Go read the iPad forums. There's ample evidence there.

Eric E. Schmidt · Jan 10, 2013

production of the high quality plastic parts apple would require ain't necessarily cheaper than the current aluminium parts. and even if it was it is not enough to turn it into a "budget phone". to go budget all internals will need to be cheaper. and that means last generation tech, or second rate of the current.

or sell at cost. but why would apple ever go that route?

NorEaster · Jan 10, 2013

iAco said:
That has nothing to do with build quality.

Apple's build quality is superb.

I bet you it's better than 99% of the apliances/electronics you run into your daily life.

That's normal ware and tare. I wish it would be made of a much more durable material, but if Apple plans on releasing a new phone every year, then it doesn't make economic sense for them.

Either way, phones come and go. If you don't like the scuffing, get a gigantic condom for it. I don't like condoms.

Really? Last time I checked, the buttons on my stove, microwave, dish washer, fridge, washer, and dryer haven't failed me in the 8+ years that I've had them. The home button on my iPhone on the other hand.....not so much. Same goes for my - volume button.

Mr.damien · Jan 10, 2013

mrsir2009 said:
Yeah, but what happens when everyone that can afford an iPhone buys one? Therell only be a certain amount of people who will upgrade every year. The rest will keep their iPhone for three, four years before buying a new one. So Apples profits will drop.

Those past 5 years is proving the contrary.

----------

NorEaster said:
Really? Last time I checked, the buttons on my stove, microwave, dish washer, fridge, washer, and dryer haven't failed me in the 8+ years that I've had them. The home button on my iPhone on the other hand.....not so much. Same goes for my - volume button.

Then you are cursed. Got multiple iPhone and iPads + those of my work, none of them failed.

Phil Schiller Says Apple Wouldn't Sacrifice Quality for Market Share in a Cheaper iPhone

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