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Google “brand loyalty.” It’s a thing. A HUGE thing in product marketing.
Google “Quarterly Loyalty Results” it’s a nonexistent thing. Quarterly FINANCIAL Results, though, that’s a very real thing. It provides a report of how well a company was able to get individuals/companies to purchase goods and services. Loyalty, without money changing hands, is useless.
 
Yeah, I think, like I wrote, Apple’s decisions appear to be “Marketing-Message Driven,” and from at least since November 10, 2020, when the first Apple Silicon based Mac was unveiled, the Marketing Message was that Apple Silicon (CPU and GPU) was the future and Intel or X86 was the past. And Apple’s M1 did “beat the pants off” anything Intel or AMD had out there in terms of performance, thermals and energy use. I think at the time there were PCs that beat M1 Macs, but these PCs were large, power hungry desktops with thermal issues that caused fans to spin up in no time, resulting in loud fan noise from CPU cooling as well as the fans onboard AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.
...

Very suddenly, Nvidia and its proprietary CUDA technology and CUDA API has been the go-to technology undergirding most if not all of the rapidly advancing A.I. models that seem to be making major news on a practically daily basis.

Does Apple want to yield to Nvidia or stick with Apple M[#] GPU cores for graphics, GPGPU and A.I.?

I think (as I think you do) that Apple will stick with Apple Silicon for high end Macs (Mac Pro) no matter what.
Thank you for the extensive behind-the-scenes look into Apple's chip escapades. Though it doesn't give me much confidence in the next generation Mac Pro, something I've been nervously holding out for. Combine that with Apple Hubris wherein they've been locking down more and more aspects of their product lines to where upgradability/repairability have become almost nonexistent, and now I'm getting super nervous about the M-series Mac Pro.

For Apple to think they can get a leg up over the boys running the chip manufacturing world for decades is extraordinarily hubristic. Indeed, "Pride goes before a fall." Unfortunately, those of us loyal customers who have poured into the Apple ecosystem for a very long time will also suffer in that fall.

Let's hope Apple does something sensible like, as you suggested, offer an Intel or AMD Mac Pro option, along with full upgradability. But not holding my breath.
 
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Google “Quarterly Loyalty Results” it’s a nonexistent thing. Quarterly FINANCIAL Results, though, that’s a very real thing. It provides a report of how well a company was able to get individuals/companies to purchase goods and services. Loyalty, without money changing hands, is useless.
But you’re dismissing Loyalty completely, as if Brand Loyalty plays NO role in QoQ results for “AAPL” — or any other ticker symbol, I mean, company! Do you still maintain that Apple doesn’t NEED loyalty? Shouldn’t want it? You’re treating Brand Loyalty as some abstract concept that bears no relationship to Consumer Behavior, sales and purchase decisions. EVERY company (run by people with any sense) highly prizes “Loyalty.”

From Gitnux:

“Apple is one of the most recognizable and successful brands in the world. It has a huge customer base that is incredibly LOYAL to the brand.”

“The study found that Apple has the most LOYAL customers, with 92.6% of iPhone users planning to stick with Apple for their next phone, compared to 74.6% of Samsung users.”

“This indicates that BRAND LOYALTY is a significant factor in the smartphone market, and Apple continues to lead in this area.”

“This is important for Apple as it shows that their customers are LOYAL and likely to continue to buy their products, which could lead to increased profits and market share.”

I’d recommend reading the below attached/linked article, but at this point, you don’t sound amenable to changing your mind or even being persuadable by any evidence. Good for you! Stick to your guns no matter what! Never give in!

(Sure, Loyalty is completely irrelevant…)

Apple Brand Loyalty Statistics
 
I'm pretty sure Apple defines brand loyalty as users who have bought within the last 3 years: a Mac, iPad, iPhone, & Apple Watch. The opinions of those customers Apple will pay attention to. People who have Macs that Apple no longer supports... Apple barely considers "users" at all, let alone "loyal" ones. :/
 
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But you’re dismissing Loyalty completely
I’m not dismissing it completely, I’m dismissing loyalty where money is not being sent to Apple for goods/services. Once money exchanges hands, then that’s just a financial transaction. And really, at that point, there’s no difference, to Apple, between someone buying an iPad because they’re loyal, and someone buying an iPad and then, disloyally, buying a Microsoft Surface and an Android phone the next day.
 
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I’m not dismissing it completely, I’m dismissing loyalty where money is not being sent to Apple for goods/services. Once money exchanges hands, then that’s just a financial transaction. And really, at that point, there’s no difference, to Apple, between someone buying an iPad because they’re loyal, and someone buying an iPad and then, disloyally, buying a Microsoft Surface and an Android phone the next day.
I think you’re exaggerating the existence of “abstract loyalty” for loyalty’s sake: people who feel loyalty but don’t spend their money on products. I doubt anyone truly believes Apple can pay their bills with loyalty. It’s a straw man argument.

These are tough economic times right now for many consumers in the U.S. and around the world, so if someone just doesn’t have the money to upgrade to a new iPhone this cycle or next, it’s because it’s impossible to do so. They can’t spend money they don’t have. Should you resent their loyalty in the meantime? They can remain loyal between upgrade cycles and then act on that loyalty in the future when their economic situation improves. But that interstitial loyalty didn’t hurt; if they didn’t switch loyalty in-between upgrades that’s a Good Thing™ I would think. If people don’t have the money, it’s impossible for them to purchase an Apple product or service. That’s just economics. It shouldn’t make anyone diss Loyalty.

I just think your complaints about abstract loyalty are out of proportion to reality. I don’t believe there are a consequentially large numbers of Apple loyalists who have lots of money but don’t spend it on Apple products/services.

I don’t understand why you seem so hung up on the concept — even deriding it. Loyalty doesn’t do any harm that I can think of… I’m “pro-Loyalty.”

Most companies would “kill” to have the Loyalty Apple enjoys. Another source of loyalty is something called “Brand Equity,” which does translate in the real world into dollars — equity. Financial analysts can estimate a dollar amount for Brand Equity — they’re often off, but the point remains that it translates to dollars.
 
I think you’re exaggerating the existence of “abstract loyalty” for loyalty’s sake:
I’m not exaggerating the existence of “abstract loyalty”. I’m saying the only time being “loyal” matters to any company is when it leads to a exchange of money for goods and services from that company.

It’s a straw man argument.
It’s not a straw man argument. It’s not even a controversial point of view. You can completely leave off any discussion of loyalty and my prior post reads “What [Apple] need(s) is people buying goods and services.” I don’t think anyone here would disagree with that. Whether loyal or disloyal, as long as money goes to Apple, that keeps Apple in business. The value of any company’s “loyalty” (not just Apple, ANY company) is 100% in whether or not those “loyal” people buy things from that company. What if the person is so loyal, they talk someone else into buying that company’s products? Well, let’s look at what I wrote above…

“the only time being “loyal” matters to any company is when it leads to a exchange of money for goods and services from that company”

As this ends in someone exchanging money for goods and services from the company, then that exchange of money is where the value lies. That’s where it’s always been.

Financial analysts can estimate a dollar amount for Brand Equity — they’re often off, but the point remains that it translates to dollars.
Yes, and it translates to dollars by them making an attempt to define “how likely is it for people to continue exchanging money for goods and services from that company”. Even THEY are only looking at loyalty as a metric related to actual purchases (because it’s understood that loyalty, without money ending up changing hands, isn’t a value worth tracking).
 
I’m not exaggerating the existence of “abstract loyalty”. I’m saying the only time being “loyal” matters to any company is when it leads to a exchange of money for goods and services from that company.


It’s not a straw man argument. It’s not even a controversial point of view. You can completely leave off any discussion of loyalty and my prior post reads “What [Apple] need(s) is people buying goods and services.” I don’t think anyone here would disagree with that. Whether loyal or disloyal, as long as money goes to Apple, that keeps Apple in business. The value of any company’s “loyalty” (not just Apple, ANY company) is 100% in whether or not those “loyal” people buy things from that company. What if the person is so loyal, they talk someone else into buying that company’s products? Well, let’s look at what I wrote above…

“the only time being “loyal” matters to any company is when it leads to a exchange of money for goods and services from that company”

As this ends in someone exchanging money for goods and services from the company, then that exchange of money is where the value lies. That’s where it’s always been.


Yes, and it translates to dollars by them making an attempt to define “how likely is it for people to continue exchanging money for goods and services from that company”. Even THEY are only looking at loyalty as a metric related to actual purchases (because it’s understood that loyalty, without money ending up changing hands, isn’t a value worth tracking).
I’d advise, for your own sake, you need to stop worrying about conceptual loyalty. There’s no usefulness in fretting about it.
 
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