Decline in iPhone Shipments Could Make Apple Worst-Performing Top Five Smartphone Brand of 2016

[Dave245]

What's amazing me is that people are already dismissing the iPhone 7 and it's not even been announced let alone released, there have hardly been any leaks and the iPhone is probably not even in production yet. It's a little unfair to judge something that isn't even out yet.

 

[Burger Thing]

You must be new here.

~ Mac Mini
~ Mac Pro

I like that you say "right up there" with Sony and Microsoft - I think you meant "right DOWN there"

If you need more help, ask someone experienced.

"Garçon, can I have some of what this guy had?"

 

[Norcal.]

Apple's success seems to have them complacent. I can see the iPhone going the same way as the blackberry. Technology is changing, and Apple's rivals have much better phones at lower price points. Playing catch up every year isn't going to cut it long term. iPhone 7 must be a radical improvement or I for one will switch to better alternatives.

The same goes for their computer lineup as well, honestly. A $1,500 iMac with a 5200RPM hard drive and integrated graphics is about as insulting as a 16GB $700 "flagship" phone with less RAM and processing power than their competitors. As is a $1300+ MacBook with a mobile processor, a single port, and virtually no graphics.

 

[jmj]

Are we really having the iPhone doesn't have up to par specs in the year 2016? Maybe look at how it does in benchmarks, smack yourself in the face a few times and get back to me.

There are a lot of reasons to criticize Apple and the iPhone. Performance isn't one of them. It's still as fast and smooth as any phone.

 

[LovingTeddy]

I would say in Asia (most developing countries like India and the like) have no official Apple stores for people to test and send for after sales services. If Apple sets up shop, I think the % of phones sold will increase.

Flagship Androids prices are also close to Apple's offerings. It's mostly the budget and mid-range phones that make the bulk of sales.

Lots of people overlook the rise of midrange smartphones.

For example: Nexus 5X or any Chinese brand smartphone, like Xiaomi. Xiaomi M5 includes flagship specifications but at 300 dollars price.

Midrange smartphone will only be better overtime, and many of them are good enough to be daily driver. Nexus 5X is enough for lots of people and priced low enough to undercuts flagship phone buyers.

I would say, Apple will even hard time later down the road when competitions gets better.

iPhone SE is good attempt to lure budget customers. But I don't think it is enough to reverse the trend.

 

[Piggie]

You must be new here.

~ Mac Mini
~ Mac Pro

I like that you say "right up there" with Sony and Microsoft - I think you meant "right DOWN there"

If you need more help, ask someone experienced.

Mac Mini is a locked down, underpowered little toy really.
In no way at all is is anything like a Full Desktop Computer.

Mac Pro is overpriced and out of date, with unsuitable for 99% of people CPU and GPU's
And laughable not even up to the recommended low end specs of this years VR Headsets.

And Zero on any high end Gaming devices to compete with Sony or Microsoft.

 

[MH01]

The record year on year sales were not going to be sustainable, especially as Apple has entered what I call the "Sony" mode at its peak, of evolution of existing product lines instead of innovation. Apple is not doomed, they will continue with impressive profits.

Most interesting is how apple + Intel has resulted in product stagnation due to lack of competition , with the customer the looser. Lack of competition is a bad thing for everyone.

The only thing that would make me upgrade my 6s Plus would be substantial increase in battery life, not interested in gimmicks or adapters in an iPhone.

 

[Howyalikdemapls]

Other reports are predicting a decline this quarter for Apple as well:

Google News link

This will be the first quarter Apple does NOT outsell themselves from the year-ago quarter.

Does this mean Apple is doomed? Not quite. They should still sell close to 200 million units this year which would still make them the #2 smartphone manufacturer in the world by volume. (and the #1 by profit)

All companies hit a growth limit eventually.

Maybe Apple will never sell 75 million iPhones in a quarter ever again. But they'll still sell more than enough.

Apple has been following a rather predictable update schedule, so it's no surprise that this will be a slow quarter. Most people are aware that they released the iPhone 6 over a year and a half ago. Upgraded internally, the 6S was released 7 months ago. Lots of people are still wanting to upgrade their iPhones but don't want to get 7 month old internals inside a 1.5 year old body when a brand new iPhone (inside and out) is expected to be released in only 5 months. It definitely doesn't mean Apple is doomed. Lots of people will still buy a 6S now, but even more people are anxiously waiting with money in hand to see what happens in September.

 

[DevNull0]

I think iPhone share of Apple revenue is 68% - which is a huge piece of the pie.

That piece will fall apart. Maybe this,year. Maybe in 5 years, maybe in 10. The problem is Apple is burning the rest of pie and pissing off the people who used to buy the other pieces.

For every one of their major competitors, smartphones are a line item on the balance sheet. Samsung with no android products would be almost the exact same company it is now.

Apple is the iPhone now. And this is how Timmy has ruined them.

 

[Michael Goff]

If Apple could get their act together and have the SE available to buy, that'd be great. More people would probably buy them, helping their numbers.

 

[pmau]

What's amazing me is that people are already dismissing the iPhone 7 and it's not even been announced let alone released, there have hardly been any leaks and the iPhone is probably not even in production yet. It's a little unfair to judge something that isn't even out yet.

Yes. But what about the leaked designs?

Since they just introduced the iPad Pro with True Tone, we can also assume it will have an IPS panel.
Also, Apple will certainly not suddenly use a standard 4k resolution, meaning that the retina display will be marketed as fantastic as it is right now.

That's all great, I'm not saying this is a bad thing.

The only question I have is: Why should I buy one?

I have an an iPhone 6, I have a blazingly fgast iPad Pro 12,9" with 4GB RAM
I realised I don't really need a lightning fast phone with RAM, GHz and Number Of Cores.

The problem I see with the iPhone 7 is that there's no real reason top buy.
Apple will not give us a large battery, maybe the headphone jack will be missing as well.

Apple buys parts from suppliers and have to do so bz the millions.
The iPhone 4 was revolutionary because they could risk it.

With millions of first-day orders you cannot fail. Therefore Apple is sticking to what it knows best.
Incremental low-risk updates.

But again, this is all fine. I just don't see why I need them right now.
And this is a problem: People can wait ... they already have great phones.

That is the real danger here. Like deflation. People simply defer purchases.

 

[MH01]

Mac Mini is a locked down, underpowered little toy really.
In no way at all is is anything like a Full Desktop Computer.

Mac Pro is overpriced and out of date, with unsuitable for 99% of people CPU and GPU's
And laughable not even up to the recommended low end specs of this years VR Headsets.

And Zero on any high end Gaming devices to compete with Sony or Microsoft.

Mac mini was crippled on purpose by apple, enough said.

Mac Pro was never ever a gaming computer so it's performance as a VR machine is about right.

If you are interested in VR, no apple product is suitable, let's forget about the Mac pros all together and focus at the iMac as the consumer product , the iMac is not going to cut it at VR. Even if and I say if apple upgrades the Mac Pro, a total fool would spend that amount to use it for VR .

Get a PC to get into VR, even if apple had a desktop for VR purposes, why waste your time on poor driver performance with OS X where the Windows drivers get regular updates.

 

[maxsix]

Apple is beginning to feel the effects of buyer boredom. With the innovative new Galaxy S7 series and the soon to be released Note 6, Apple fades into the background. It's quite cold in the back of the room.

 

[Howyalikdemapls]

I wish Apple would do two things it won't do:

1: Release a (dare I say it) Proper desktop computer, like a PC, to compete against PC's.
Not a laptop on a stand glued to the back of a large monitor.

2: Release a high end, world leading games console, to be right up there with Sony and Msoft.

Of course Apple will not do either of these, but hey, I can dream.... one day.... one day....

They tried the gaming console venture with the Bandai Pippin. It didn't do well. That's not to say they won't ever try again, but a lot of people are predicting a decline in console gaming in the coming years, and being that even Nintendo is having a difficult time competing with Sony and Microsoft, I somewhat doubt Apple will try again any time soon.

 

[I7guy]

Lots of people overlook the rise of midrange smartphones.

For example: Nexus 5X or any Chinese brand smartphone, like Xiaomi. Xiaomi M5 includes flagship specifications but at 300 dollars price.

Midrange smartphone will only be better overtime, and many of them are good enough to be daily driver. Nexus 5X is enough for lots of people and priced low enough to undercuts flagship phone buyers.

I would say, Apple will even hard time later down the road when competitions gets better.

iPhone SE is good attempt to lure budget customers. But I don't think it is enough to reverse the trend.

With this trend, Apple is clearly going to have to adjust it's revenue downward to only a few hundred billion per quarter.

The record year on year sales were not going to be sustainable, especially as Apple has entered what I call the "Sony" mode at its peak, of evolution of existing product lines instead of innovation. Apple is not doomed, they will continue with impressive profits.

Most interesting is how apple + Intel has resulted in product stagnation due to lack of competition , with the customer the looser. Lack of competition is a bad thing for everyone.

The only thing that would make me upgrade my 6s Plus would be substantial increase in battery life, not interested in gimmicks or adapters in an iPhone.

If I wouldn't upgrade my 6s, i wouldn't buy a competitors phone either, which is the connundrum. For example the s7 has to have the same type of draw that would entice me to update to the iphone 7. And after playing around with one for a while, it doesn't. Maybe putting gee-whiz bang technology in every iteration is getting harder and harder for every manufacturer.

I wouldn't go to a tier 2 manufacturer because I require very good manufacturer support; I can't wait a week if my device is lost/stolen/fails.

 

[RedOrchestra]

That piece will fall apart.

Well, been a continuos Apple user of one sort or another since the early '90s - i had an iPhone 4, now have an iPhone 6 and probably not another until iPhone 8 - how many more like me are there in the market.

 

[JohnSFO]

Soo true, prices are ridiculous! I'm seriously considering not refreshing my 6 with a new contract this year. That'd be the first time in 6 years I'm not getting another 2 year contract. I don't like to cough up that much money anymore..

I'm surprised high prices didn't factor into the report. I totally agree with the above comment that shelling out big money every year or two becomes a major turn off. I spent over $1000 for a 128GB 6+ and really don't want to do that again. I'm looking for cheaper options. I tried the new SE for a few days, but it's too small for me. Maybe I'll buy a used 6S after the 7 comes out. No way am I spending another 1k!

 

[I7guy]

Apple is beginning to feel the effects of buyer boredom. With the innovative new Galaxy S7 series and the soon to be released Note 6, Apple fades into the background. It's quite cold in the back of the room.

They might have to be content by taking only 90% of the smartphone revenue, instead of 95%. That's enough to get TC fired.

 

[RedOrchestra]

With the innovative new Galaxy S7 series and the soon to be released Note 6, Apple fades into the background.

My brother has a Galaxy S6 and frankly, I think it looks and works pretty damned good - not sure his experience would improve with an iOS device.

 

[KPOM]

That piece will fall apart. Maybe this,year. Maybe in 5 years, maybe in 10. The problem is Apple is burning the rest of pie and pissing off the people who used to buy the other pieces.

For every one of their major competitors, smartphones are a line item on the balance sheet. Samsung with no android products would be almost the exact same company it is now.

Apple is the iPhone now. And this is how Timmy has ruined them.

Mac sales are rising. Most other companies would love to have Apple's "problems." Even without the iPhone, the rest of Apple has revenues twice as high as Nike and larger than IBM or HP.

 

[jamesrick80]

Are we really having the iPhone doesn't have up to par specs in the year 2016? Maybe look at how it does in benchmarks, smack yourself in the face a few times and get back to me.

There are a lot of reasons to criticize Apple and the iPhone. Performance isn't one of them. It's still as fast and smooth as any phone.

The problem with apple and benchmarks is not the amazing speed of its processors. It's that iOS runs fine on devices even made a couple years ago and never utilizes the updated processors and gpus well enough. Opening up safari a fourth second faster is not a big deal to everyone. Apple needs more features like virtual reality, OLED screens, mouse support in its ipads at least, water proof, and more customizable interfaces. They need to put their processors and graphic technologies to good use.

This is what most high end android phones are offering. With iOS, the experience is starting to get completely boring. Why upgrade if all I'm getting is an updated SOC, improved camera, and no headphone jack???? We will all get the new iOS 10......

 

[Dave245]

Yes. But what about the leaked designs?

Since they just introduced the iPad Pro with True Tone, we can also assume it will have an IPS panel.
Also, Apple will certainly not suddenly use a standard 4k resolution, meaning that the retina display will be marketed as fantastic as it is right now.

That's all great, I'm not saying this is a bad thing.

The only question I have is: Why should I buy one?

I have an an iPhone 6, I have a blazingly fgast iPad Pro 12,9" with 4GB RAM
I realised I don't really need a lightning fast phone with RAM, GHz and Number Of Cores.

The problem I see with the iPhone 7 is that there's no real reason top buy.
Apple will not give us a large battery, maybe the headphone jack will be missing as well.

Apple buys parts from suppliers and have to do so bz the millions.
The iPhone 4 was revolutionary because they could risk it.

With millions of first-day orders you cannot fail. Therefore Apple is sticking to what it knows best.
Incremental low-risk updates.

But again, this is all fine. I just don't see why I need them right now.
And this is a problem: People can wait ... they already have great phones.

That is the real danger here. Like deflation. People simply defer purchases.

I think it will come down to personal preference but also what features Apple put into the iPhone 7, the dual camera feature for example will be enough for me to upgrade from my iPhone 6 Plus. I also think that there will be other features we don't know about yet, we are still 5 months away from a September announcement.

 

[rasputin1969]

Sounds about right.

 

[John Mcgregor]

What's amazing me is that people are already dismissing the iPhone 7 and it's not even been announced let alone released, there have hardly been any leaks and the iPhone is probably not even in production yet. It's a little unfair to judge something that isn't even out yet.

No one is dismissing anything. Macrumours does not reflect real world.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

This makes a lot of sense. Combination of factors

1) iPhones are only high end smartphones. That market is quickly getting saturated. I know people have been saying that for years, but at some point it's true.

2) Smartphones are getting so good that the upgrade cycle is lengthening. I've been on a regular 2 year cycle since 2008, but I plan to hold on to my iPhone 6 for 3-4 years. I don't see Apple releasing anything this year that would make me change that

3) There was a LOT of pent up demand last year for large screened iPhones. That pent up demand is all gone.

4) Vast majority of 1st time smartphone buyers won't be getting an iPhone. if you've held off the smartphone bandwagon for a decade (for whatever reason), I can't imagine you dipping your toe into smartphones for $400-$650 starting price. They'll be getting a $100-$200 phone.

5) Warranted or otherwise, the iPhone doesn't seem as new, different, and revolutionary as many of the high-end android products coming out. It just doesn't have that excitement.

With those factor's (and the rumors of a minimal update with iPhone 7), it's very easy to see why iPhones won't be flying off shelves this year.