Apple Moves Q2 2016 Earnings Announcement to April 26

[thekeyring]

I don't like the new "corporate" Apple, with all their profit-oriented ideas and pushing products and customers to the back seat. I liked the anti-corporation style Steve Jobs had.

And I don't think Tim Cook was right for CEO.

Disclaimer: This is not a typical Apple is doomed, Steve Jobs was everything type comment. I'll reason with anybody about why this is fact-based.

Revenue is up. Brand perception seems to be the same. The company is just as relevant (look at how the 64 bit A7 chips caused competitors to react, and how Google and Samsung reacted to Apple Pay.) Customer satisfaction is up. By all objective data, Apple is doing just as well - if not better - than it was in 2011.

The big change for some people (like visitors to this forum) is that Steve Jobs isn't introducing products anymore. His charm and sales charisma are missing.

Most people I know who aren't massive tech fans don't perceive Apple any differently than they did a few years ago. They get their product info from ads, the website, the Apple store, etc just as they did before.

You could compare Apple from 2001-2011 and say they turned around the Mac, invented the iPod, iPhone and iPad and then ask what Apple is doing this decade (2011-2021), as we're half way through.

Well... Apple Watch, Apple Music and the new Apple TV are all less than a year old. Comparing them to other Apple products: the iPad was still called a 'big iPod touch' and criticised for not running Flash, the iPhone hadn't made Nokia and Blackberry irrelevant just yet, and the iPod didn't work with Windows PCs.
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Just their Mac business alone brings in around 6 billion dollars a quarter in revenue.

Plus competitors would not be doing what they're currently doing with smartphones.

Hard to imagine no iPhone though. If the iPad had been released I'm sure customers would be asking for one that could fit in their pocket!

 

[Mums]

Pretty sure plenty of Steve Jobs' ideas were profit oriented. Tim Cook was also his pick so that means he must have agreed with his style.

You just don't get it - and probably never will.

 

[Terrinb]

There was at least one, Cook pushed him away as he was afraid of loosing power... Typical example of corporate struggle for power.. (Little hint: Apple maps...)

My recollection was he was pushed away because he didn't play well with others and Jony hated him. Further there was an inconsistency with the company's design language.

 

[majkom]

My recollection was he was pushed away because he didn't play well with others and Jony hated him. Further there was an inconsistency with the company's design language.

As I wrote, struggle for power - he vs. cook and ive..

 

[cloudness]

If anyone deserves a revenue drop, it's definitely Apple. The fact that they are selling 16GB devices in the year 2016 is preposterous. It was fine in 2011, but seriously, it's been five years now.

I disagree. Plenty of people are satisfied with 16GB. They never ever go in Settings apart for wifi. All their pictures are clouded. Facebook and texting which consumes 90% of their on-device time doesn't need more storage. They have less than 20 non-default apps. They are satisfied with a few playlists of favorite songs and are not interested that much in syncing their devices every now and then. They see Apple Music as a way to avoid the hassle of managing large mp3 libraries, it doesn't use storage either. Those are the typical parents, girlfriends, friends, teenagers, coworkers I have around me.

Me? I always go for the largest storage. I ran out on 64GB, and am doing good on 128GB. But it would be a waste of storage if because of the minority of people like you and me, Apple would up the prices of minimal storage devices to the vast majority of consumers out there.

 

[nt5672]

. . .
Then you have a narrow idea of what Technology is.
. . . .

Not my best choice of words, but since this is an Apple technology website, I meant that all of Apple's current technologies are or are becoming commodities. That is iPhone, Macs, iPads, etc. The risk Apple runs is that the next big thing might be elusive and therefore they need to take care of their commodity business, not continue to try to treat their commodity products like innovations. This is a real problem that innovators have and that Apple has right now. I am not saying or thinking that there are no more innovations. Thats crazy.
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As I wrote, struggle for power - he vs. cook and ive..

For better or worse, Ive & Jobs were a good team, get along or not. Ive & Cook don't seem to have the same magic and I'm guessing that it's because Cook lets Ive get away with too much based on previous successes of the Jobs & Ive team.

 

[C DM]

You just don't get it - and probably never will.

Right, that must be it.

 

[AxoNeuron]

I disagree. Plenty of people are satisfied with 16GB. They never ever go in Settings apart for wifi. All their pictures are clouded. Facebook and texting which consumes 90% of their on-device time doesn't need more storage. They have less than 20 non-default apps. They are satisfied with a few playlists of favorite songs and are not interested that much in syncing their devices every now and then. They see Apple Music as a way to avoid the hassle of managing large mp3 libraries, it doesn't use storage either. Those are the typical parents, girlfriends, friends, teenagers, coworkers I have around me.

Me? I always go for the largest storage. I ran out on 64GB, and am doing good on 128GB. But it would be a waste of storage if because of the minority of people like you and me, Apple would up the prices of minimal storage devices to the vast majority of consumers out there.

First, there are a ton of people out there who thought 16GB would be enough...but found out t wasn't. When your device has a 4K camera, I don't care who you are, 16GB simply isn't enough. You can only shoot a few minutes of video before you have completely used up all of your storage.

You do realize that it literally would have cost Apple a matter of pennies to move to 32GB, right? When a device costs $650, that's absolutely inexcusable, especially when devices from the competition moved to a 32GB base model a long time ago.

All of my new devices are running Android, both because the most recent versions of Android really are just as good as iOS (more stable even) and also because I am sick of Apple's ridiculous attempts to get people to pay $100-$200 more for $1-$10 more storage. This is coming from a guy who owned nothing but iPhones from the very first model from 2007-2015.

 

[Brian Y]

First, there are a ton of people out there who thought 16GB would be enough...but found out t wasn't. When your device has a 4K camera, I don't care who you are, 16GB simply isn't enough. You can only shoot a few minutes of video before you have completely used up all of your storage.

You do realize that it literally would have cost Apple a matter of pennies to move to 32GB, right? When a device costs $650, that's absolutely inexcusable, especially when devices from the competition moved to a 32GB base model a long time ago.

Oh please, stop exaggerating. Someone worked out that you'd run out of space in around 40 minutes on a 16GB.

Why is it inexcusable? It's not going to cost pennies more, it's probably a dollar more, which is a dollar off the profit margin. Apple are a business, not a charity.

 

[henryaaron]

Pretty sure plenty of Steve Jobs' ideas were profit oriented. Tim Cook was also his pick so that means he must have agreed with his style.

Steve Jobs didn't hesitate at the opportunity to enhance devices with more capacity and capability. Cook very much bases those decisions around profits like keeping the 16GB model in the lineup, so customers succumb to the savings but realize in due time that the phone cannot operate on so little storage, need to purchase a new phone and ultimately become frustrated with the product. Even though the onus is on the customer for being naive, it diminishes brand perception. I have no doubt Cook is the best man for CFO but there needs to be a higher up that can make profits work with customer satisfaction. And Jobs admitted Cook wasn't a products man, he may have been the most qualified but I think Jobs may have underestimated how important it was for a CEO to demonstrate his passion for product. It fosters high brand perception from high level to the low level employees and down to the customers.

Want proof, go to an Apple Store, if they don't care about the products why should we?

 

[C DM]

Steve Jobs didn't hesitate at the opportunity to enhance devices with more capacity and capability. Cook very much bases those decisions around profits like keeping the 16GB model in the lineup, so customers succumb to the savings but realize in due time that the phone cannot operate on so little storage, need to purchase a new phone and ultimately become frustrated with the product. Even though the onus is on the customer for being naive, it diminishes brand perception. I have no doubt Cook is the best man for CFO but there needs to be a higher up that can make profits work with customer satisfaction. And Jobs admitted Cook wasn't a products man, he may have been the most qualified but I think Jobs may have underestimated how important it was for a CEO to demonstrate his passion for product. It fosters high brand perception from high level to the low level employees and down to the customers.

Want proof, go to an Apple Store, if they don't care about the products why should we?

What about an Apple Store?

 

[henryaaron]

What about an Apple Store?

They've gone downhill as well. Especially the ones in the city. I went from asking Genius Bar reps how many months they've been working there to how many days they've been working there. Not to mention they spread a lot of false information, which I catch but hold my tongue just because they should know… I used to love the Genius Bar. Today you get trained union laborers, not the overqualified individuals that used to work there just because they enjoyed it

 

[C DM]

They've gone downhill as well. Especially the ones in the city. I went from asking Genius Bar reps how many months they've been working there to how many days they've been working there. Not to mention they spread a lot of false information, which I catch but hold my tongue just because they should know… I used to love the Genius Bar. Today you get trained union laborers, not the overqualified individuals that used to work there just because they enjoyed it

Seems somewhat anecdotal as I and various people I know have had great experiences there over the years (before and after Steve).