Foxconn Cut 50,000 Contract Workers Months Ahead of Schedule Due to Poor iPhone Demand

[Baymowe335]

So....you can't site your proof, meanwhile, being snarky about it. Gotcha...

I just posted the proof in the previous response...do I need to post it again?

Everything I said is true.
[doublepost=1547849928][/doublepost]

Can you provide links to evidence that records were set in the US? I’m particularly interested in the number of phones sold.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/01/letter-from-tim-cook-to-apple-investors/

RECORD REVENUES:

We also expect to set all-time revenue records in several developed countries, including the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Korea.....Mexico, Poland, Malaysia and Vietnam.

 

[Peperino]

I think you miss the point here. The innovation is still there but it is created and exploited in different way. These smart kids who developed the technology and made the startup become employees of Apple and transferred their intangible assets to Apple in exchange for money. This does not mean there is no innovation. Sometimes innovation comes out from the lab of some big tech company, and other times it comes from a kid with a mac working in his garage. Secondly, many times big tech companies come with an idea only to find out just hours later that it is already patented by another small company. What they do if they want to further develop this idea and implement this new technology? Well, they buy this small company in order to avoid patent law suits in the future and to not starting from a scratch. This ofc does not mean that when they buy this small company it is as simple as porting the software to the iPhone and releasing it. There is a great deal of further research and development, testing and big fixing before it goes on the shelves. We live in a big world. It is really hard, even impossible, to come with a new idea without founding another person somewhere in the world working on this exact same idea.

It is ok to buy other tech companies that have cool features (Hardware or software). There is nothing wrong with that.

What is not ok is Apple delivering the kind of products they are delivering, overpriced, underspec and the lack of innovation.
For example, the entire laptop line up is a mess. The Macbook Pro is a joke. They introduced the touchbar as something innovating, using that as an excuse to overcharge $400.00 you cannot connect your own iPhone and they remove the magsafe. The only innovations has been in the Watch and bearly on the iPhone. The entire computer line up is pathetic.
The Macbook Air, they raised the price 20%, without any innovation whatsoever. And it gets even more confusing since they call it air, but the MAcbook Pro (entry one) is actually thinner.
It clearly shows that many of the latest product designs are not up to the standards that Apple used to be.
[doublepost=1547855942][/doublepost]

First, you failing to recognize the innovation doesn't mean it's not there.

Second, your 100% increase is inaccurate on many levels. No clue what you're talking about. As an example, The iPhone 6 was $649 for a 4.7" screen. The iPhone XR is $749 for a 6.1" screen with the A12 and FaceID. That means the XR is probably more comparable to the 6 Plus, which started at $749...so no price increase. If you want to compare it to the 6, it's a 15% increase.

Innovation is happening everywhere. The silicon is as innovative as it gets in the industry. The best, period. FaceID, AirPods, photography, neural networks, AR, ApplePay, and the insane innovation on the Watch.

*Not caring* about the innovation is a personal issue, but don't confuse that with not innovating.

Last, name a company that innovates and drives the industry more than Apple? Samsung? Microsoft? Google? LG? LOL!!!!

What do you want, teleportation?

The only thing that Apple has been driving lately is the Price in ALL of its products.
And by the way the external design of the Surface Studio beats the iMac hands down. The iMac monitor cannot be moved up down, neither to say bend it down. FYI, It has not been updated in 10 years...

The entire computer line up is outdated, overpriced and underspec.
Furthermore, not only they are obscenely raising the prices, like in Mac Mini over 65%, but also in addition to that,
they are soldering the RAM and SSD to the Logic boards what creates 3 big issues.
1- You are at the mercy of Apple obscene SSD prices, that are over 100% (if not more) more expensive than other general market SSD or RAM of top quality.
2- It makes the computer disposable and again you are the mercy of Apple expensive repair prices if the RAM or SSD fails).
3- In complete opposite of Apple claiming being green, and recycling, It creates more trash since computers are disposable and non-upgradable.

Going back to the iPhones, it is ridiculous that an iPhone cost more or equal to a Macbook Pro.

I guess customers are speaking with their wallets. So if Tim Cook cannot listen, it will be time for him to go.

 

[mikethemartian]

First, you failing to recognize the innovation doesn't mean it's not there.

Second, your 100% increase is inaccurate on many levels. No clue what you're talking about. As an example, The iPhone 6 was $649 for a 4.7" screen. The iPhone XR is $749 for a 6.1" screen with the A12 and FaceID. That means the XR is probably more comparable to the 6 Plus, which started at $749...so no price increase. If you want to compare it to the 6, it's a 15% increase.

Innovation is happening everywhere. The silicon is as innovative as it gets in the industry. The best, period. FaceID, AirPods, photography, neural networks, AR, ApplePay, and the insane innovation on the Watch.

*Not caring* about the innovation is a personal issue, but don't confuse that with not innovating.

Last, name a company that innovates and drives the industry more than Apple? Samsung? Microsoft? Google? LG? LOL!!!!

What do you want, teleportation?

Well IBM and Microsoft both have large investments in quantum computing which includes the subject of quantum teleportation. I haven’t seen anything suggesting that Apple does any quantum computing research.

 

[MoreRumors?]

50,000 workers is a huge number of people out of work from one company. One wonders if people in China sees the reciprocating correlation it has on employment and purchase of iPhones. If sales continue to drop there, who knows if Foxconn may cut more workers.

 

[Baymowe335]

It is ok to buy other tech companies that have cool features (Hardware or software). There is nothing wrong with that.

What is not ok is Apple delivering the kind of products they are delivering, overpriced, underspec and the lack of innovation.
For example, the entire laptop line up is a mess. The Macbook Pro is a joke. They introduced the touchbar as something innovating, using that as an excuse to overcharge $400.00 you cannot connect your own iPhone and they remove the magsafe. The only innovations has been in the Watch and bearly on the iPhone. The entire computer line up is pathetic.
The Macbook Air, they raised the price 20%, without any innovation whatsoever. And it gets even more confusing since they call it air, but the MAcbook Pro (entry one) is actually thinner.
It clearly shows that many of the latest product designs are not up to the standards that Apple used to be.
[doublepost=1547855942][/doublepost]

The only thing that Apple has been driving lately is the Price in ALL of its products.
And by the way the external design of the Surface Studio beats the iMac hands down. The iMac monitor cannot be moved up down, neither to say bend it down. FYI, It has not been updated in 10 years...

The entire computer line up is outdated, overpriced and underspec.
Furthermore, not only they are obscenely raising the prices, like in Mac Mini over 65%, but also in addition to that,
they are soldering the RAM and SSD to the Logic boards what creates 3 big issues.
1- You are at the mercy of Apple obscene SSD prices, that are over 100% (if not more) more expensive than other general market SSD or RAM of top quality.
2- It makes the computer disposable and again you are the mercy of Apple expensive repair prices if the RAM or SSD fails).
3- In complete opposite of Apple claiming being green, and recycling, It creates more trash since computers are disposable and non-upgradable.

Going back to the iPhones, it is ridiculous that an iPhone cost more or equal to a Macbook Pro.

I guess customers are speaking with their wallets. So if Tim Cook cannot listen, it will be time for him to go.

You just restated your opinion, ignoring all my facts and giving more opinion.

Last thing I’ll say before I’m done with you is that Apple just grew sales from $230B to $266B in 2018, so yes, consumers are voting with their wallets. 2019 isn’t over yet, so we will see how they do the rest of the year.

 

[jonnyb098]

Really? It is a more modern phone obviously but at the end of the day, the XR does the exact same things as the 6S. What you can do now with the XR that you couldnt do with the 6S, apart from better photos and unlocking by looking at the phone? Does it worth the 400$ dollars difference?
[doublepost=1547845538][/doublepost] Really? It is a more modern phone obviously but at the end of the day, the XR does the exact same things as the 6S. What you can do now with the XR that you couldnt do with the 6S, apart from better photos and unlocking by looking at the phone? Does it worth the 400$ dollars difference?

You are forgetting the battery life is seriously double that of a 6S if not more. I can’t kill the XR in a day even under heavy use I still have 30 percent left at midnight. So that’s huge. The screen is bigger. The camera is much much better and for someone who does professional photography the new iPhones and pixel 3 are simply stunning in many ways in such a small device. So yes to me all that is worth more money. It was time to upgrade for me anyway so it’s worth every penny. Until last year the phones were 6-800 depending on if you got a plus. $749 for the XR is a really good value coming from older phones.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

Everyone that needs a car has one (generally.) Auto makers aren’t going out of business. Cars age, the become worn, and new models come out with slightly more appealing features. Cars aren’t going to be discontinued. Replace Auto makers with Apple and cars with iPhone. Same stuff folks.

Is that true though; some people enjoy driving therefore they will always want a car; do people enjoy a brand of mobile phones?

 

[Dave-Z]

I remember when I decided to pull the trigger on my 7+, back in late 2016 ... thought it was slightly over-priced @ the time, but pulled the trigger on it anyway, & ended-up being a Happy iPhone customer for two years.

[...]

I give my 7+ a solid A- (slightly too BIG, & slightly too heavy; a 5" version would have been more ideal).

I had a 7+ and now a XR and feel the same way. Unfortunately I gave my 7+ to family member before the new phones were announced and was sort of stuck being forced to upgrade.

 

[Virinprew]

Apple is innovating. All the custom silicon (Ax/Tx), things like the screen, cameras, and FaceId. All of those items make the iPhones more expensive to manufacture. Apple's company margins have remained the same while raising prices. If the increase in service revenue is also factored in, along with its naturally high margin, then the iPhone margins have been shrinking with every generation.

Maybe Apple got too far out in front with innovation causing the phone price to go up too much too quickly. Simply complaining about prices is not understanding the whole situation.

Apple is not innovating. The keynote for XS is a copy-and-paste from iPhone X. FaceID, OLED, stainless steel material. Those are all the same and they spend so much time talking about it instead of showing something new. Price is everything. It is the biggest factor for buying anything. Anyone who downplay the importance of price do not understand the mind of consumers.

 

[Trixster]

Apple is not innovating. The keynote for XS is a copy-and-paste from iPhone X. FaceID, OLED, stainless steel material. Those are all the same and they spend so much time talking about it instead of showing something new. Price is everything. It is the biggest factor for buying anything. Anyone who downplay the importance of price do not understand the mind of consumers.

To be honest, to innovate an existing product category you´ll have to do something truly amazing. It happens, but it´s extremely rare! To say that Apple "have to" innovate, especially during a "s" year, or else they´ll fail is to me just silly talk. simple as that! Phones are evolving, they can´t be innovated, that´s practically impossible. Maybe when the foldable screens are mature enough we can call that an innovation, as that´ll change the way we use our phones in a big way. They might even cancel out the need for the iPad, taking over another product category yet again. As it has done with the camera etc.

I can agree however that the prices they charge are to high, and I´m sure Apple are aware of this, but they can´t just slash the price and be done with it. I would bet that this year apple will release the Xi (possibly with another name) and possibly lower the price just a bit or keep it at the same level, adding more features AND (most importantly) they´ll be keeping the Xr as is but lowering the price of that phone by ~100$.

These days it´s more a business of keeping existing costumers locked in with your brand, something Apple always have been very good at. But like many people here I think they´ve made abit to many missteps lately, loosing long time costumers to other brands. This is a very bad thing for Apple, as their biggest and long time costumers are leaving they lose more then just a valued costumer, they loose their appeal to the masses that look for "us" tech savvy people for advice, and when we´re no longer recommending Apple, the snowball effect can be dramatic.

 

[Abazigal]

If this supposedly lower demand is due to China experiencing a recession, then implementing some of the solutions stated earlier, such as lower prices, might not do anything to revive flagging sales anyways.

 

[Warren Buffduck]

If this supposedly lower demand is due to China experiencing a recession, then implementing some of the solutions stated earlier, such as lower prices, might not do anything to revive flagging sales anyways.

I guess you are on the verge of a completely new economic order, denying Price Elasticity in every possible sense.

 

[Abazigal]

I guess you are on the verge of a completely new economic order, denying Price Elasticity in every possible sense.

I have always considered iPhones to be fairly price inelastic, especially now that Apple is fast approaching market saturation. When just about everyone who wants an iPhone has one, you are not going to sell significantly more units by lowering the price. Conversely, I believe that by raising prices, the higher margins will more than offset the loss in sales, netting Apple more profits in comparison.

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

If this supposedly lower demand is due to China experiencing a recession, then implementing some of the solutions stated earlier, such as lower prices, might not do anything to revive flagging sales anyways.

China is not in a recession.

 

[Heineken]

I have always considered iPhones to be fairly price inelastic, especially now that Apple is fast approaching market saturation. When just about everyone who wants an iPhone has one, you are not going to sell significantly more units by lowering the price. Conversely, I believe that by raising prices, the higher margins will more than offset the loss in sales, netting Apple more profits in comparison.

I beg to differ. I have many friends and colleagues who didn't buy XS/MAX or XR simply because they could no longer justify the the price. Including me, too. It's not even about having or not having money, but simply not seeing enough value. Apparently there are lots of people feeling that way, ergo we have what we have. Market saturation is just a convenient excuse.

 

[chatin]

Where China goes so goes the market. Apple needs to sell the old campus then focus like a laser in the Circle. Drastic but necessary to get ahead of the implosion in demand.

 

[Warren Buffduck]

Where China goes so goes the market. Apple needs to possibly sell the spaceship campus to Amazon and then focus like a laser in the Infinite Loop. Drastic but that's where things are ahead rapidly.

Actually that's a great idea, to earmark a change in values and priorities.
Would you say this would be credible with the current Board who instituted the current framework ?
[doublepost=1547904043][/doublepost]

I have always considered iPhones to be fairly price inelastic, especially now that Apple is fast approaching market saturation. When just about everyone who wants an iPhone has one, you are not going to sell significantly more units by lowering the price. Conversely, I believe that by raising prices, the higher margins will more than offset the loss in sales, netting Apple more profits in comparison.

Price Elasticity is the exact opposite of what you state.
Implying that price increases can only be successfully applied in markets that collectively consider iPhones as "too affordable..." or in case of no competition.
In every other case, sales will plunge

 

[chatin]

Actually that's a great idea, to earmark a change in values and priorities.
Would you say this would be credible with the current Board who instituted the current framework ?

The current board would balk so reductions will probably come at the older facility.

 

[Warren Buffduck]

No, so I changed my post a bit reflecting which campus the current board would consider!

Ah, that makes it problematic, because it would mean dramatic loss of face.
I think a fresh set of values should be reflected (i.e. can only start) with a new Board

 

[Ma2k5]

Yes, you do. You may not realize it because you have a modern device, but both the web and apps are much more demanding in terms of processing power compared to 5 years ago. Try Browsing the web in a A4 device, it's almost impossible.

You are speaking to a developer who factually knows that, actually, no I don’t.

 

[jonnyb098]

Apple is not innovating. The keynote for XS is a copy-and-paste from iPhone X. FaceID, OLED, stainless steel material. Those are all the same and they spend so much time talking about it instead of showing something new. Price is everything. It is the biggest factor for buying anything. Anyone who downplay the importance of price do not understand the mind of consumers.

Apple has been doing S year upgrades for about 8 years now. So how is this something new to you? You could have said the same about the 3GS, 4S, 5S or 6S. As far as price, yes they are expensive. But so was the X and I see tons of them around. If price is a big deal get the XR at 749. That’s what I did and even most reviews say it’s THE iphone to get. You are getting nearly everything the X/XS has for $250 less. Plus gaining hours more of battery life and a larger screen.

 

[I7guy]

I beg to differ. I have many friends and colleagues who didn't buy XS/MAX or XR simply because they could no longer justify the the price. Including me, too. It's not even about having or not having money, but simply not seeing enough value. Apparently there are lots of people feeling that way, ergo we have what we have. Market saturation is just a convenient excuse.

Many of my circle have the X, so an upgrade was understandably not in the cards for them. I just upgraded to the max 256 from the 6s, and it’s a huge upgrade in my eyes worth every penny.

Apparently enough people bought apple products and services to amount to an estimated $84B in revenues. Down from the guidance but seemingly still a good number nevertheless.

So I do believe that what @Abazigal postuated is within the realm of possibility.

 

[Heineken]

Many of my circle have the X, so an upgrade was understandably not in the cards for them. I just upgraded to the max 256 from the 6s, and it’s a huge upgrade in my eyes worth every penny.

Apparently enough people bought apple products and services to amount to an estimated $84B in revenues. Down from the guidance but seemingly still a good number nevertheless.

So I do believe that what @Abazigal postuated is within the realm of possibility.

Since we have no idea how much of the cake is iPhone and which iPhone. Real of possibilities is not really important. All i know is that i'm not going to spend 1179 eur for an iPhone again. Not to mention the fact that half of the stuff service wise is only available in like 5 countries only.

 

[NT1440]

China is not in a recession.

Bookmark this quote and come back to it in 6 months.

All major companies are preparing negative economic outlooks for 2019.

 

[ignatius345]

You’re not ‘Part Of the problem’ per se. Not only because you don’t like the larger smart phones, you’re just not the target demographic for larger smart phones when you prefer a smaller phone regardless. What Apple is facing, is those who do have iPhones in the 6s/7 range who are not upgrading, is because their iPhone does everything they need it to, and they don’t see the value in a $1000 smart phone when an older generation phone meets their ‘everyday’ expectations.

Maybe I'm in some weird sub-set of consumers, but I'd pay up -- even if it was expensive -- for a good, small phone with current tech in it. An iPhone XS Mini, if you will. But I suppose they've done their research and concluded there aren't enough people with this particular preference. Bummer.