Apple to Cut Back on New Hires Following Disappointing Holiday iPhone Sales

[Juicy Box]

I think it is not only that the older iPhones are so great that fewer people are upgrading, but the newer iPhones are not that much better than the older ones that it just isn't worth upgrading.

TL;DR: iPhone sales aren't dropping because the price is rising. Prices are rising because Apple knows they've reached the point where upgrades (and therefore sales volume) is decreasing, and are raising unit prices to compensate.

I am not disagreeing, but raising of the unit price also leads to people holding off to upgrade too.

If someone was on the fence about whether to upgrade or not, the increased price of the new iPhone could make the difference and lead to people choosing to stick with their old iPhone.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

Billions upon billions of untaxed cash sitting in Ireland, but let's have a hiring freeze to appease investors.

How about just cutting the prices of Macs and iPhone?

This doesn't appease me as an investor this makes me worry they are slowing down. People that don't own stocks are very misinformed about what people think who do. Go buy a couple of shares just for the fun of it they are cheap enough right now. Watch your way of thinking about things change. Suddenly the boring things like Apple Pay in Germany, insurance companies paying for Apple watches and movie content become a lot more interesting.

Investors want to hear Apple ramps up hiring and some news of why an how that will drive growth. Anything involving contracting anything isn't welcome news.

 

[eatrains]

Reduce staff to maintain profit. Anybody who has studied business knows Albert Dunlap ("Chainsaw Al").

He was an executive, professional downsizer, and believed in profit at any price.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_J._Dunlap

Where do you see Apple reducing staff?

 

[Cosmosent]

RE: "an opportunity for innovation"

You don't just Flip a Switch !

True innovation is rare, requires developing the skill early in life, & requires ALOT of grunt level work (& personal sacrifice) later in life !

 

[timborama]

5 years too late. Apple is way over bloated with employees, especially at the exec level. Not hungry like they use to be. We’re now seeing the real Cook, destroying Apple. Apple is the next Sony, a shadow of its former self.

 

[TVreporter]

This is what happens when you don’t update the iMac!

 

[dan110]

Sometime last year, I posted that this was on the horizon.

In that post, I mentioned that I planned on selling my Apple shares because I didn't agree with Tim Cook's/Apple's decisions/direction. This is a clear sign that Apple has major internal/systemic issues that have not been addressed for far too long.

I'm glad I realized my profits and reinvested them in a real growth stock.

#TimMustGo

 

[apolloa]

I love the hyperbole of MacRumors editors / writers in their headlines...

Disappointing iPhone Sales, what FUD! 80+ million iPhone's sold in the quarter with a massive ASP, that make Samsung, Sony, LG, and others have wet dreams hoping they'd be able to sell that many high-end models! Yet, only because it's Apple, it's "disappointing", what a joke!

The 400 odd billion US dollars wiped off its company value since November by investors would say the headline is valid....

 

[Michael Goff]

Apple has so many employees, yet they are way too slow to adapt to changes, provide fixes or introduce innovative solutions. Stop using “diversity” as a factor for hiring individuals. If they're qualified, hire them based on that, and not because they're Muslim, lesbian, liberal or black.

Apple will hire any qualified person. Don’t pretend they’re going to say “well, you would be a great fit but you’re a straight white conservative male so nope”.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

Perhaps Apple should move to an ~18 month cycle like the iPad if they can't innovate fast enough.

I've owned nearly every iPhone generation except one year when I had my first kid and bought my first house after graduating from college so I didn't get around to it because my life was so crazy. So for the first time since launch I'm purposely considering not upgrading. Why? Well it has to do with both price and a lack of new features. When I upgraded from the X to the XS, I think I made an exhaustive list on the forums with every new feature. And while I found there were lots of new features, for the most part the thing still feels like the X. The camera is better in dynamic range, and the battery life seems better, but otherwise it's mostly the same phone. I didn't even notice a performance difference because the X was already so fast.

At this point the iPhone is so incredibly refined that there aren't a lot of things that I can even think of that I'd want in a new iPhone. It used to be so easy to rattle off a list on the forums because there was so much low-hanging fruit. Sure there are new technologies like 5G, but LTE is already plenty fast for mobile use (websites load in a fraction of a second with a content blocker) and it's going to take a while to roll it out. And what in the world am I going to do with WiFi 6 up to 10Gbps on a phone? And beyond that, the iPhone isn't even rumored to get 5G this year. The one thing I want the most is my iPhone to unfold into an iPad, but that is many years away and will probably increase the cost by 50%. But the fact remains that if they had kept the price lower and kept chipping away with small new features every year, I'd probably still keep buying it. But I just don't know anymore. The thing that keeps me hooked is the iPhone Upgrade Program, because I have to keep making monthly payments towards my old iPhone when I could just switch to a new one and make the same payments. So IDK what I'm going to do. I should probably get off the upgrade train.

You might be right. I am beginning to think Apple should skip 2019 altogether and just lower prices by a large margin. Get those devices out there in record numbers for their services sector that is coming. Put the new stuff in 2020 with 5G, added battery, no camera bump and make the price what the X sold for or less.

You can not gouge on your delivery devices if you are going to be a services company. Apple is also in desperate need of an acquisition if they have this kind of money and don't know how to keep their current employees busy.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Actually apple make great phones which is why sales are down. Many are happy with their older devices that they don’t see the point in upgrading as they do what they are suppose to

I disagree.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Apple has also cut iPhone XR and XS production by 10 percent due to flagging iPhone sales

Have they? It may very well be true, but it’s just a rumor afaik. I know this is MacRumors but that’s no reason to state a rumor as fact.

 

[Michael Goff]

I disagree.

And you are welcome to your subjective opinion.

 

[mi7chy]

Now it makes sense why they haven't paid their bills to Qualcomm. It's because they can't while other reasons stated are merely excuses.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

Sometime last year, I posted that this was on the horizon.

In that post, I mentioned that I planned on selling my Apple shares because I didn't agree with Tim Cook's/Apple's decisions/direction. This is a clear sign that Apple has major internal/systemic issues that have not been addressed for far too long.

I'm glad I realized my profits and reinvested them in a real growth stock.

#TimMustGo

Can I ask what you bought?

 

[Sasparilla]

IMHO, the leveling off / reduction of sales is a systemic thing (not a surprise) since peak Smartphone worldwide was 2016. Apple had other disappointments (from a sales perspective) going back with the 5s (I think) and the 6s as well - both being sales disappointments (although great phones). But tightening back on new hires may not be a terrible thing for a while.

I stand corrected bitching about the Apple Xs and Xr battery cases - the amount of power they deliver is still as big or bigger than previously - they apparently have 2 batteries wired in series in each one at double the voltage (giving basically double the overall energy first quoted).

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/1/16/18185283/apple-iphone-battery-case-size

 

[dan110]

Can I ask what you bought?

Shares in a Canadian Canibus company.

 

[dandy1117]

Apple has so many employees, yet they are way too slow to adapt to changes, provide fixes or introduce innovative solutions. Stop using “diversity” as a factor for hiring individuals. If they're qualified, hire them based on that, and not because they're Muslim, lesbian, liberal or black.

"Diversity" only means that they ARE hiring a greater number of qualified Muslims, lesbians, liberals, and Blacks in addition to others. The diversity programs started many years ago, and arguably, it is that diversity that has allowed them to adapt to change and embrace the products and policies that got them to a trillion dollar company!

 

[Michael Goff]

Now it makes sense why they haven't paid their bills to Qualcomm. It's because they can't while other reasons stated are merely excuses.

Some day you will have something insightful to say. But it is not this day.

 

[12vElectronics]

• Older phones are holding up better than ever.
• Newer phones are getting significantly more expensive.
• There are less subsidiaries from carriers.

The company is doing great they just need to lower future projections.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

Have they? It may very well be true, but it’s just a rumor afaik. I know this is MacRumors but that’s no reason to state a rumor as fact.

As far as I know the rumor was already known cuts and not in addition to. It was already widely known that Apple had cut production and the Nikkei story was taken out of context and people thought was additional cuts. Believe me I follow the stock and if one company gets punished it is Apple. The street wouldn't have shrugged off the news otherwise.

 

[routine_analyst]

It’s not just greed, if you look at the smart phone market, it’s completely saturated, which is a result of slower upgrades for those who used the battery exchange program and iOS 12 was a major contributor to the performance factor with older iPhones.

... so make new products other than the damn phone?

 

[ryanwarsaw]

Shares in a Canadian Canibus company.

Fair enough. TWLO is my latest thing.

 

[Hanson Eigilson]

5 years too late. Apple is way over bloated with employees, especially at the exec level. Not hungry like they use to be.

That's strange though, lots of apple API's seems to me like 1 person is doing several of them at the same time

 

[routine_analyst]

I foreshadow a grizzly future for Apple if they do not try to reform new markets.

Think of Apple as a momentous train, speeding in the direction set forth by a late war time genius... uphill in explosive growth all propelled by past invention. Fast forward to present day and that steep hill has never leveled out but the momentum has faded. One day that train will require another explosion to keep climbing otherwise it could very well stall on the tracks and begin its backward descent.

For now the money is good. But that's why keeping a war time CEO at the helm even during peace time is the right strategy. The only constant is change.