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Apple Forecasted to Report First Full-Year Revenue Decline Since 2001
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When Steve Jobs was at Apple, he WAS god. I remember him saying he was a "marketing team of one" or something like that.
Steve was a leader, a dictator. As in: "you'll do what I say".
Yes, he had plenty of failures. No, he was not my god.
But when he was on, he was ON, and changed the world (of music, print, personal computing, movies, mobile phones, electronic/mobile purchasing, etc, etc).
So I agree, the figurehead doesn't do it alone. But Apple was an extension of Steve's WILL.
His absence is FELT and OBVIOUS in the products (and lack thereof) that came after.
Yup. Only 5M for Macs. 43M for iPhones or nearly 3x more than iPads, Macs, and Watch combined. They should just change their name to iPhone Inc. Apple Computer is long dead..
Wherever direction iPhones go is where Apple goes financially. But smartphones is a more competitive market while tablet, computers, and smart watches aren't as competitive and saturated. I find the irony that while iPhones makes Apple the most money, they make better computers and tablets for their respective markets. While iPhones are very good devices but arguably no longer the best in a more competitive market. Popularity helps from Americans who deal with postpaid plans and installments over one-time fees.
Been using the iPhone 6 Plus as a loaner and have barely touched it the last couple days except to answer to calls and texts. I don't think having an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus would change my habit anytime soon. My two Androids with Flud and MacBook Air with Transmission are the three devices I rotate with to check on my movie downloads. Glad I went for a MBA over another silly smartphone. Drag and drop rules...
Really!
Prove it.
I find my current MB, IPhone, Watch and Mini far superior to those same models 10 years ago. Oh there wasn't a watch ten years ago.
You people who keep singing the song, "the past was better than today," need to really see what the past had to offer.
What's happening is the excitement of owning an iPhone over a flip phone has worn off because everyone has a iPhone or equivalent these days.
Would you buy a car without a Bluetooth connection today? Even the lowest car sold sold on the market has such a feature.
That may be a very small part of it but the iPhone is the cash cow and smartphones are a mature market. There is just not that much room for growth in this segment. It had to plateau at some point. iPad sales are declining because there is simply no need to update that often. I am still happy with my iPad Air which is now three years old and I don't see getting another one until sometime next year when I give this to my granddaughter. I don't need a new iPad but I will buy one so she can have my current model. I didn't update my iPhone 6 because it still does what I need it to do even though it's two years old. I know many others who are of the same mindset. However, I will update next year and so will friends of mine. It's not that they don't like the new iPhone 7, they just don't need it. If their phones needed replacing they would get a 7. Not everyone is running out to have the latest and greatest. It's not a small investment.
As I've said a couple times now... no company can grow forever. I know everyone expects infinite growth... but that's a fantasy.
Apple will probably never again sell 230 million iPhones in a year or make $235 billion revenue in a year like they did in 2015. Those might have been their peaks.
But they aren't gonna decline all the way to selling zero iPhones in a year or making zero dollars in revenue anytime soon.
ALL companies experience growth and decline. We're making it sound like Apple is the only company who does this.
Apple started from nothing and happened to become the biggest company in the world. It took 40 years... but they got there. That was their growth period.
Now they've just had their first yearly decline. I think it's too soon to make any kind of judgement yet.
Apple has got to find someone to come out with that next big, culturally changing device. iPod, iPad, iPhone... those things changed our world. Right now, they're still eating off those old devices and that's the problem.
That describes me. The reason is that Apple has only dumbed down, reduced options, and eliminated ports for MacBook pros. That not what Pros expect. I would have bought 2 of the most expensive MacBook Pros by now, if Apple had put performance and flexibility forefront. They did the opposite. Why? Because teenagers don't need anything more and Apple thinks most people are too ignorant to question the brand. Granted the top end is a small market, but it is a market that drives other markets.
Apple needs to maintain momentum with minor spec increases (once a year) as well as significant updates (or redesigns - every 3 years) to keep momentum going and interest in their products. Right now they've neglected most of their Mac products, unless of course they're priming them for a processor change.
A downturn in annual revenue is not always a big deal, as some have said. However, when you consider how much expansion has taken place (more products, in more countries) lends me to believe either they're spreading themselves too thin, or the numbers reflect a transition period.
Unless something big happens this Thursday, my 2012 cMBP will be my last Mac. I won't feel confident investing in their products anymore. I'll likely build a desktop hackintosh instead. This way, I have one food out the door.
Problem is, nobody is making something that is better at the moment. However, I really have hope for Google. They have been showing some promising innovations.
I really hope I"m wrong and Apple surprises us all. I'd love for them to turn everything around.
A downturn in annual revenue is not always a big deal, as some have said. However, when you consider how much expansion has taken place (more products, in more countries) lends me to believe either they're spreading themselves too thin, or the numbers reflect a transition period.
Unless something big happens this Thursday, my 2012 cMBP will be my last Mac. I won't feel confident investing in their products anymore. I'll likely build a desktop hackintosh instead. This way, I have one food out the door.
Problem is, nobody is making something that is better at the moment. However, I really have hope for Google. They have been showing some promising innovations.
I really hope I"m wrong and Apple surprises us all. I'd love for them to turn everything around.
You don't understand the concept. I understand that they can't keep growing the iPhone. Thats the whole point, it won't keep growing and they have NOTHING to come in behind it at this point to make up for it's decline. If you're saying it's ok to keep declining in revenue and profit you are grossly underestimating the repercussions of that. They have a lot of money offshore that they can't do anything in the US with, thats probably why they are starting to setup shop in other countries.
No, I'm not making it sound like Apple is the only one declining. Of the major tech competition that they face they are the only ones that don't have any other products to take the place of the revenue they are losing... Take a look at what Microsoft has done.
The 13" Macbook Pro was updated in March 2015 and the 15" in May 2015. While it's not your ideal 12-month schedule... it's not that bad.
The iMacs are more recent. They got updated in October 2015. So it'll be roughly a year between those models and these new upcoming models.
The Macbook Pro and the iMac are Apple's volume sellers. That's why they get updated more frequently.
The Mac Mini and Mac Pro are waaay behind, no doubt. But for as much as people here say they want them... I doubt Apple ever sold that many. Even when they were brand new.
I never got why they didn't let users upgrade internal stuff, but only to support their crack head profit margins by buying their stuff. Yes, the Apple fanboy Sheeps will defend their Apple Goddesses by saying it only maintains the magical and must courageously experience. this stiffens competition because it's only them. Competition is great for consumers, hence how we gotten this far. If it was up to Apple, our food to our babies will be sold by Apple. Must worship the Apple Goddess brand.
BTW: I don't speak for no one but myself so stop Apple fanboy sheeps say I'm incorrect. My opinion and my personal opinion alone. Let's hear you sheeps, baaahh
It's money. If Apple is having trouble keeping up with macs like Mac Pro, they should have allowed 3rd party companies to build upgradable gpu and etc. keeping us locked in without upgradable parts or refreshed computers would only cause people to leave. This is one those company that probably loves to abuse their spouse with strangulation and says to the police,"there is no problem."
This is the first time it has happened to Apple in the last 15 years. It's kinda hard to talk about trends at this point.
Sure... if Apple KEEPS declining year after year... then yes it'll be a problem.
But I think Apple's revenue will eventually level-off somewhere. It shouldn't keep dropping forever.
Speaking of Microsoft... they hit a revenue-peak of about $95 billion a year.
But they've since dropped to about $85 billion a year.
So perhaps Microsoft isn't the best example?
This. Apple's been upsetting recently with its lack of updates to the Mac line (and whenever there is an update, it's incredibly lackluster). I've been on my 2011 Macbook Pro waiting for the big refresh to happen but it doesn't look like it will be that great. With CPUs that will be obsolete within a few months, soldered components, butterfly keyboard and lack of various ports, it's not really a "Pro" laptop anymore. I've actually considered switching to Windows laptops based on whatever's going to happen on the 27th (and THAT is a tough thing to say).
I'm not surprised to see this. Frankly, I am seriously considering never buying an Apple product again after the debarcle that was buying an Apple Watch. I knew it was early adopter territory when I bought it, but to see "Series 2" add water-proofing barely 12 months later (a feature present in watches and timepieces since the 1940s) I knew I had literally been screwed.
I've been an Apple fan forever, but I've really been seriously burned by this.