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I think the market for high-end phones and devices is probably starting to saturate. Apple has also been relying a bit too much on planned obsolescence, specif
by rplst8 10y ago
I think the market for high-end phones and devices is probably starting to saturate. Apple has also been relying a bit too much on planned obsolescence, specifically through software updates.
Iterating over iDevices and essentially making them thinner and thinner or mini versions of them (i.e. the watch) doesn't really speak of "innovation" to me.
Apple's real prowess has been in economies of scale, industrial engineering, and supply chain management. This is how they extract more profit from their devices.
However, that profit is now largely based on the same principles of why high-fashion brands can charge $500 for a pair of jeans or shoes. It's also a bit perilous in the sense that once demand falls for "the brand" then a lot of margin just vanishes off the books.
- jason_slack 10y agoI have had my iPhone 6P for over 2 years. I would not be upgrading if my sound button wasn't touchy. I don't see a lot of innovation for my needs with a 7P. Could customers just be upset with the supply chain issues too? Apple hypes devices. People order. Then the orders take months to fulfill. Customers get tired of waiting and cancel orders? Example. I ordered at launch. My order failed to complete. I get an e-mail the next day saying that my iphone was held for me, please finish checking out. Estimated delivery October 1 - 15. It is now the 26th and tracking shows it will arrive on Oct 31. A whole month late. Meanwhile I have a nice case here that arrived 1 day over my iPhone order...
- Ntrails 10y ago> I think the market for high-end phones and devices is probably starting to saturate. Apple has also been relying a bit too much on planned obsolescence, specifically through software updates. My iPhone 4 had four years of updates provided instantly and at no cost. In comparison to competitors I'd argue strongly that Apple has historically had better support for old models than most. However. I owned my 4 for a pretty long time, because it did everything I needed (until the home button died). I expect my 6s will last a long time too - probably again limited by a hardware fault. Much like PCs, the improvements get smaller and so the impetus to upgrade regularly drops.
- ksk 10y agoApple absolutely does do planned obsolescence. Apple continuously hammers you with popups to update the OS till you accept. My 4S slowed down to a crawl after I foolishly kept updating the OS. Luckily, I've found a way to block the updates now and hopefully my 6S will give me a much more pleasant experience than my 4S.