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Apple Expects First Ever Decline of iPhone Sales Next Quarter

This shouldn't be surprising. Rules are rules. Everything must come to an end, including iPhones. However they still have good ideas left to keep the iPhone alive:

1. Smaller bezel
2. Camera upgrades
3. Thinness
4. Auto stereoscopic Display
5. Integrated TouchID
6. Bendiness
7. Shatter proof display
8. Shatter proof body
9. Faster processor/graphics
10. iOS Device to PC docking transitions
11. Hologram projector
12. Smarter Siri

I probably just leaked Apple's iPhone Roadmap. So they are pretty much set for the next couple of years.
 
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nviz22 said:
Some Canadians are also receptive to buying new phones because their dollar is struggling.
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After tax, a new 16gb iPhone 6s will cost $955 CAD if purchased through Apple.

Considering the state of our economy right now, Canucks aren't going to be a big part of iPhone sales numbers in the near future.

Especially with the rate hikes we've been promises to our mobile data plans and less subsidies that the carriers have already scaled back on.
 
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echo44 said:
It depends on what Apple's focus is; as their reported earnings today Apple generated the most revenue in the history of the company with the current product line, and sold the most iPhones in the history of the company. Therefore if the success of the company is graded by the number of products sold and their profitability they are on the right course. If the goal of the company is to produce a product that satisfies your individual taste they may have to rethink the business.
also reported today by Tim Cook Apple saw record number of Android switchers to iPhone last quarter
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Yeah right, as if they didn't forecast a decline in iPhone sales and revenue for the next quarter.
 
gugy said:
Well I still have the iPhone 5S and it works great. Like me I am sure a lot of people hold to their phones for awhile. The every year upgrade is great but honestly I don't have that money to burn and my current iPhone works like a charm. So for me a 3 year upgrade window works well.
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And unless there is a 4" model with top of the line specs, I am going to explore how well a 4 year upgrade cycle works.
 
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Analog Kid said:
Still using an iPhone 5, and aside from the battery getting too old to hold a charge, I'm still happy with it.

I think there's at least three things going on here:

1) as stated, the US Dollar is getting too strong and exports suffer. Yes, it's complicated, but this is almost certainly a factor.

2) utility of the iPhone has plateaued. They add features, and processing capability, and such, but there aren't any new use cases driving me to upgrade. I can still make calls, send text and data, kind of browse the web, and play some games. Newer models mean I can do those things faster, but there's not much I can do with a new phone that I can't with an older one.

3) I have 3 products to upgrade, and don't need to keep them all at the latest and greatest. I have an iPhone, and iPad and a Watch. Each time I added a device, I gained utility, but now it's pretty much incremental, except, I hope, for the watch. So, when I ask myself whether I need a new phone, the question is why? I don't need a bigger screen, or faster games because I tend to use iPad for those purposes. Will 3D touch be more worth the money than updating my Watch to the second gen? Who knows, but I'm guessing not.

So, I'm probably part of the reason the iPhone sales are declining. If Apple releases a 128GB 4" phone, I'm in. If not, I'll probably see if I can just get the battery replaced in my current device and see what the new Watch has to offer.
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I also am still on an iPhone 5 for various reasons. Part of it is we have a very cheap unsubsidized plan with AT&T so the longer I go before getting a phone the more I save for other things. But you also mentioned the utility plateauing and I mostly agree with this as well. When my wife got an iPhone 6 I played with it for awhile and decided a couple things. First, the size irritated me; second, there really wasn't much that I use my phone for that was improved by a new phone. The only two things I wanted from it were the better camera and Apple Pay, but unfortunately in my community in the U.S. there is STILL no place to even use Apple Pay 1.5 years after launch!!!! At this point my 5 is running about as good as it has in a long time with far more functionality than it launched with and I feel like just hanging on to it till I see the phone that I REALLY want.
 
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This is all speculation, but I can't say I've been impressed by the MBA mentality that has over taken most decisions at Apple. It is not a company that aims to be a disrupter today. Now its about maximizing every last dollar made even if that is only off iterative changes. Changing entire ecosystems requires a vision - Steve Jobs had that. Without him Apple is hobbled to sticking to iterating what he started.
 
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Well I THINK that sex sells and the ip5 is sexier than the ip6. I have high hopes for the ip7 even though it'll be another post Steve thing. I also happen to think that the lack of a black ip6 cost them billions. The ip6 is a shrunk iPad bc Ive is OCD and wanted consistency across apple product offerings. What he doesn't understand is that the iPhone is an iconic thing that that needs differentiation from all other products including apple's.
 
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In Turkey, due to the devaluation of our currency, iPhone prices rose up 25% compared to last year. I'm sure many other countries saw such price changes. No wonder people bought less. It's damn too expensive.
 
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Americans have been fooled by contact prices of cellphones. We were blissfully ignorant to the fact we paid more that the sticker price for our iPhones over the coarse of the contract.

Now that's gone people will realize how much iPhones actually cost.
 
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animatedude said:
"Cook said that 60% of customers who have owned an iPhone prior to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have not yet upgraded"

Wow! no wonder they are releasing a 4-inch iPhone again.
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If it had only been one model year, that might not be so bad, but there have been two full models since they went to the phablet lineup and we are getting into the anticipation phase on the next model after that already. Given the long historical trend of a typical two year upgrade cycle, having 60% of your upgrade market still holding back means the new models are not satisfying the market. This stat screams that the decision to go all phablet was a failure. The market is very obviously demanding a top of the line phone at the 4" screen size. Steve Jobs was absolutely right. Tim Cook was wrong.
 
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iCloudStrife said:
Hey Apple. If you want me to buy an iPhone every year (and I may be willing to do it), the only way it's gonna happen is if you give me a full-featured 4" phone.

Easy, right?
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If Apple was to do a 4", 4.7" and 5.5" what's left to do? Sales will continue to slow because adding a different size is just a temporary band-aid. We are at the point where the features Apple add are not really necessary for over 90% of what we do with these phones. Apple better find a money maker quick.
 
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Alienzed said:
1) Steve Jobs was right. Phablets are stupid and DROPPING the 4inch phone from the upgrade cycle from also really stupid. I personally do not want a giant phone, if anything I'd be very happy with a tiny one.

2) The new products are not aesthetically pleasing... the new iPhone looked weird, face it. What are those lines? They don't look good, it's not "simple". Ivy wagwon?

3) Apple keeps handicapping it's computers... The iMac is a desktop, it doesn't need tapered edges, it doesn't need to be [that] thin. We don't get CD/DVD drives anymore and have to deal with mobile processors and mobile GPUs because you want the 27inch computer in a monitor to be thin? That's stupid.

4) Single port laptop, including the charging port?

Stupid moves make for declining sales. Smarten up Tim.
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It's because design has taken over functionality. I thought the days of the one button mouse were behind us. Looks like they are back!
 
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Cook may have said:

Nevertheless, Cook said that 60% of customers who have owned an iPhone prior to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have not yet upgraded, meaning there is a large base of potential customers that could upgrade to newer models, including the iPhone 7 expected in September, over the coming year.

But I can assure you that many of that 60% are not going to buy an iPhone 7. I'm a 6s user and I will be buying an iPhone 7. Then someone will be using my iPhone 6s. I don't know yet if this will be a family member who I give it to or if I will sell it. But whoever ends up using it, they are probably in that 60% and they aren't paying Apple for an iPhone 7. If it isn't a family member, then that sale from a member of the 60% is going to me. Apple will get its upgrade from the 40%. I think this is part of the process and has been for awhile.

That said, I do think the 7 will outsell the 6s by a hefty amount (and also the 6 sales). I just don't know what Android manufacturers are going to do to compete agains the wave of used iPhone 6 that will become available when folks who are on the two year upgrade "plane" make the move to the 7.
 
GhostRaider said:
This shouldn't be surprising. Rules are rules. Everything must come to an end, including iPhones. However they still have good ideas left to keep the iPhone alive:

1. Smaller bezel
2. Camera upgrades
3. Thinness
4. Auto stereoscopic Display
5. Integrated TouchID
6. Bendiness
7. Shatter proof display
8. Shatter proof body
9. Faster processor/graphics
10. iOS Device to PC docking transitions
11. Hologram projector
12. Smarter Siri

I probably just leaked Apple's iPhone Roadmap. So they are pretty much set for the next couple of years.
Click to expand...

You forgot the most important improvement, significantly improved battery life and I mean significantly. That trumps pretty much everything on your list, including that hologram projector one.
 
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I think people are starting to wise up. Because if you look at the real picture here, you are paying nearly $849+tax (that's a 64GB model not the 16GB model for you 2010 users) and you can buy a nice laptop regardless of brand/make/model and it outperforms an iPhone.

I stopped at iPhone 5 because of how Jony Ive and marketing team destroyed iOS literally obliterated how it looked post iOS 6.0 - All that white space, all that plain jane (look at the notes vs iOS 6) - and finally I got fed up with these really terrible UI designs and worse nothing was really innovative post jobs era. Not to forget how small the iPhone screen was and it was really pathetic.

I hopped over to the android spectrum and it has been great! Except for the constant privacy issues such as google looking at everything you have on your phone and serving up guddamn ads all the damn time every website I go to there is an ad that targets me because I received an email that had keywords such as a box of condoms or something rare.

And not to forget about the lack of security updates and it's just a huge pile of dung android is at the moment and probably would never be fixed unless you go for a feature-less nexus line device which I will never buy because of lack features vs samsung/lg/moto/ for the sake of "pure android" - what garbage that is.

Anyway, if the iPhone 7 really does arrive with entire hardware design changes I'm going back. But the current iPhone 6 generation really is terrible looking (yes you may argue with a cover on the phone you won't see the antenna bands) - but I have to say it's really an ugly design of a phone. The screen resolution is a paltry 1080p for the plus in 2016. And no NFC capabilities to program with except to be used as apple pay in which NONE of the places I visit even accepts it.

You also have the crappy pricing again that brings up a huge problem for a majority of folks - it's the price of a laptop and it can't even do 1/4 of what a real computer can do. At least with android the sky's the limit- almost. But for the price of privacy and security, I will definitely pay attention to the iPhone 7. Let's just hope someone at apple has stopped Jony from making a thinner device; and please have at least a better screen resolution for the next generation of iPhones.

I haven't even started with the camera's on the iPhone's apple is just not #1 anymore.
 
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Seiga said:
Except when tech trends change, you'll fall behind. You remind me of a COBOL company in 1995 that thinks their system will last for 50 years only to realize your system is hit with the Y2K bug 4 years later. If you don't keep up (regardless of the industry), whatever market you are in, enjoy last place.
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I have a multichannel network with 600 independent channels and 223 of our own, we are between the 1% most profitable Youtube networks... sorry what did you say? Last place of what?
 
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