Sweet and naive but you would be right for most other apple products, however the vision pro has so little appeal that the apple marketing machine will have little choice but to leverage the sales in any way they can. Prepare to be drawn next Tuesday under a massive flow of vision pro features linked to the iPhone “pro”/ultra.
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Future 'iPhone Ultra' Model Could Capture Spatial Photos and Videos for Vision Pro Headset
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Thing is - people are not leaving iPhones for android phones. They are still using iPhones, and Apple continues to earn by way of sales of additional hardware, services and accessories.
Whatever is happening with Apple, it’s not benefiting the competition, that much I can assure you.
Does no one find it contradictory when Apple is Apple is criticised both its users upgrading too quickly (implying some form of forced obsolescence) and when their users don’t (because their devices are just that durable and well-supported)?
How do you know 'people are not leaving iPhone's for Android'? Could the number of iOS users globally be maintained or increased because of the recent news that iOS adoption in China has grown significantly in the last 12-18 months?
People certainly are switching in my part of the World and I am sure its not just isolated. People are shopping for better deals and Apple doesn't pitch itself within markets that offer carrier deals on their devices. In Europe Android is perhaps more aggressively marketed than it would be in the US for instance.
I am going by their earnings Q&A with analysts.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call August 3, 2023 5:00 PM ETCompany ParticipantsSaori Casey - VP, FinanceTim Cook - CEOLuca Maestri -...
seekingalpha.com
Based on my best attempts to understand the transcript, I can surmise the following:
1) iPhones are doing well in emerging markets. France, Netherlands and Austria were amongst the European countries cited as having record quarterly sales. Because these countries previously had low iPhone install bases, my assumption is that the majority of iPhones were sold to people already owning an android handset.
2) The situation in the US seems more challenging. For one, I understand there is growing economic anxiety caused by rising interest rates and inflation) - correct me if I am wrong, because I don't live there. Second, I imagine that as outdoor activities resume, people will shift expenditure from electronics (of which they would likely have already bought their fill off during the pandemic) to events like travel and eating out and attending Taylor Swift concerts. There is probably also less growth be had from "switchers" because the iPhone user base is already so saturated.
This is a happy problem to have. People are not buying less iPhones because they are switching to folding phones. They are buying less iPhones because they are holding on to their iPhones for longer.
It's possible that in the area you are living in, there are people moving away from Apple, but based on their earnings and reporting (which I am assuming to be accurate), my takeaway is that more people are switching from android to iPhone than the other way around.
I can also see how Apple intends to tackle this phenomenon (higher prices, more hardware, more subscriptions). In this context, it's not that hard to understand why lower prices is not the solution for Apple. People just aren't upgrading as often.
Actually it would be Star Trek for me. 🖖
But I’ll admit I can go both ways sometimes and watch Star Wars. 🤓
So emerging markets are accounting for much of the global growth which is what I expected.
I'm not sure how higher prices and people keeping their phones longer are related though. Are you suggesting those people who keep their iPhones for 4 or 5 years and happy to pay £1200-£1700 for an iPhone when they do upgrade, because they keep the phone longer anyway? There is still the initial outlay for the device and this isn't spread out over several years, its usually paid off over 2 or 3 years maximum. I don't think we can justify higher prices with longer upgrade intervals to be honest.
Well duh, this coming to phones was never in doubt. You need to be able to easily create content to view on the headset.
Presumably it’ll come to phones further down the lines a few generations later.
If there’s going to be a bump at both ends of the phone I wish they’d just make the whole phone thicker and flat on both sides. I hate the bumps.
Presumably it’ll come to phones further down the lines a few generations later.
If there’s going to be a bump at both ends of the phone I wish they’d just make the whole phone thicker and flat on both sides. I hate the bumps.
First off, thank you for bearing with me as I articulate my thoughts. Sometimes, ideas that sound good in my head suddenly don't make as much sense after I type them out, and this gives me an opportunity to go back and revise them.
All I know is that this is very reminiscent of 2013, when the overwhelming dominant narrative was that Apple was doomed and that it would be disrupted by Android at at time when Android was pumping out an endless torrent of cheap handsets. The problem I have had with this line of reasoning, which you will find me reiterating from time to time, is that conventional disruption theory does not apply to the mass consumer market where the buyer is also the end user. And we know how the last decade has played out. How many android OEMs went out of business while Apple would go on to become even larger and more successful.
The key to understanding this is first acknowledging that the consumer is not rational by nature. I don't mean this in a bad thing, like they are wont to make poor purchasing decisions on a whim. What I am trying to say is that because I am buying for myself (as opposed to a business manager negotiating a contract for his entire department), I am free to value certain features which matter more to me, even if they cannot be quantified on a spec sheet.
This forms the basis of the saying "Not everything which matters can be measured. Just as not everything which can be measured, matters." I feel the moment you try to compare the iPhone to an android phone by claiming how the latter is cheaper, or comes with more ram, or has a charger included, then I feel the plot has been lost, because you are focusing only on tangible benefits, without realising how Apple is able to set itself apart from the competition in other intangible ways (such as the ability to spark joy with their products through the careful integration of hardware and software) that matter to their user base, even if you can't assign a numerical value to say, satellite SOS or crash detection, or "coolness".
What I am fairly certain is that Apple is likely aware that iPhone sales will dip slightly (and will likely continue to dip in the near future as upgrade cycles lengthen) and are banking on higher margins to maximise profits. Again, it's not a bad thing to have flat sales when global smartphone sales are dropping.
On the consumer side, It appears that Apple is banking on trade-ins and instalment plans to make the otherwise higher price of an iPhone more palatable to consumers. I know trade-ins were key to growing Apple's install base a couple of years ago (collect used iPhones to refurbish and resell in the grey market); I am not sure how relevant that still is today.
As to how it can be justified, my thinking is that while it may cost more upfront, I would think that I am ultimately getting a better deal because I know it will last longer (better build quality and repairability) and am assured 5-6 years of software updates on average. I bought my 13 pro max with the expectation that I would hold on to it for at least 4 years (am planning to get the battery replaced later this year, once it dips below 80% health). So it's a pretty good deal overall, I feel.
I guess what I am trying to say is that there really doesn't seem to be any one factor as to why people continue to buy iPhones in spite of cheaper alternatives, in spite of folding phones etc. Just that they are. These just represent my best guesses to date.
I saw a few people make the suggestion that VP would replace the iPhone, but none of those suggestions was particularly convincing.
Were you actually made to believe that?
iOS and iPad OS should have a viewer for spacial photos where you can see the 3D effect by tilting your device slightly. Or they track your head and you move side to side.
Someone will build viewers on other 3D headsets to see the pictures.
No, I was being a bit sarcastic…
Thing is, prior to announcing VP the community here seemed like 80% positive and now it feels the other way round…
And mostly cited was the iPhone launch, which in fact actually got on the “need mobile phone” trend at the time whereas VP is not replacing any device that people have already…
I am hoping I can convert my 30-year-old four-lens 3D negatives into spacial photos. And my 12-year-old 2-lens digital 3d pictures as well. I have pictures from the Grand Canyon in 1993 and the Great Wall in 2011.
Years ago when the Apple Watch and VP were both just rumors, I thought (and probably went on record) as saying that I was not interested in either, because I had stopped wearing a watch in the 90s and had stopped wearing glasses in the 80s (I wore contacts, and had Lasik in 2000). Having to strap something on wasn't going to happen. At that time the rumors were that Apple's augmented reality would be more like Google Glass.
I had smart watches in the 90s that you programmed with phone numbers and calendar appointments using flashes from a CRT screen or a special flashing accessory. I don't know why those didn't catch on. Once I had a cellphone in my pocket always, I didn't need a watch for that, or even to tell the time.
But I saw how useful a smartwatch was from a friend who had an android version, and I became a fan. And I've loved the idea of VR since the 80s, but haven't been impressed yet, until I saw people's reactions to the VP. And Apple isn't even claiming to be doing VR.
The Apple Watch didn't replace anything for me. It added functionality that I appreciate. The iPad didn't replace anything. I already had an iPhone and the iPad was just a bigger iPhone without the phone. I don't think Apple will be cannibalizing any of its other devices (much) if they create demand for the Vision Pro.
Dude, please dont be pathetic.
A German…. What else. Let me guess, you are one of these dumbs who purchase their iPhone still for RRP after 1 year at Apple 😂
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I’m in the same boat, I don’t like the Pro Max size and will always prefer the Pro size. The Ultra will probably be same or bigger size than Max, I don’t see myself walking with an iPad Mini Mini like in my hands. If anyone has any info on phone size, it would be useful.
This forum has been negative on every Apple product launch for as long as I can remember. Based on their track record, I will say that the more negative Macrumours is on the AVP, the more of a success you can expect it to be when it launches.
This is what happens when people do not reflect and learn from their own misconceptions and misunderstandings about Apple, and instead choose to double down in the hopes that they just might be right one day.
now this I carried around in the 80s ... it was a suitcase by itself, had a 80286, no camera, no mic ... you're a whiner
Compaq Portable II - Wikipedia
No, just someone that can't carry too much weight.now this I carried around in the 80s ... it was a suitcase by itself, had a 80286, no camera, no mic ... you're a whiner
Compaq Portable II - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I had the commodore 64 version of that that goes back a lot longer. It was probably lighter than your compaq, but I never carried it anywhere.
And not the regular iPhone 15. That's quite stupid, in my opinion, since Apple should try and entice most people possible to the Apple Vision.
This forum has been negative on every Apple product launch for as long as I can remember. Based on their track record, I will say that the more negative Macrumours is on the AVP, the more of a success you can expect it to be when it launches.
This is what happens when people do not reflect and learn from their own misconceptions and misunderstandings about Apple, and instead choose to double down in the hopes that they just might be right one day.
People are negative about Apple Vision Pro because it’s priced so high. I’d go as far to say it’s being marketed at all but clearly not viable for the domestic market due to its cost. It may well be a huge success by whatever metric Apple have determined.
It's more than just the cost for me -- the whole idea is a non starter. I wouldn't pay $100 for it.
It may, I don't know about that, but I know I don't want one.