6 ms·

I think the answer is margins. If you're not making 40+% profit margins you're bringing the company's overall margins down and have to go.

scholia 10y ago
You're probably right, but if so, Apple is taking a short-sighted view. We're moving on from product and platform wars to ecosystem wars, and the core feature of Apple's ecosystem is all Apple software and hardware working together (preferably to the exclusion of non-Apple products, but not always). Having control of everything gives you the best chance of making everything just work. Dropping products (X-Serve, monitors, routers etc) and neglecting products (Mac Pro, Mac mini etc) makes the whole ecosystem weaker. For comparison, the main rival ecosystems are Google and Microsoft. Google's is based on doing everything online and creating a complete Google stack. Microsoft's is based on supporting everything cross-platform (Windows, iOS, Android, MacOS and increasingly Linux) both online and offline.
- tomc1985 10y ago
  You could also argue that it makes the ecosystem smaller and easier-to-manage. It can make it so small that the ecosystem fails to be an ecosystem at all.
carsongross 10y ago
That's the bean-counter mindset that ruins companies. (See the auto industry.) Apple had an integrated vision for computing. Wireless routers were never going to be more than a round off error on their balance sheet, but they did it anyway because they wanted it done right. With apple giving up on monitors, it's been a sad year: the bean counters are clearly in control.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  >That's the bean-counter mindset that ruins companies. I was laid off from a semiconductor company years ago because the product we were supporting was aging, and their projections for the successor product did not show a 40+% profit margin, so they decided to simply exit the market altogether and dump their customers, who were really pissed.
appleiigs 10y ago
Maybe it's the margins. But I prefer cash in the bank. Revenue dollars up, net income up. If you add up all the "mini product lines" together that will move the needle. They can't continue to have blockbuster products and too risk to rely on that. Samsung can burn their phones and be OK since they have other product lines.
tammer 10y ago
Its not about margins (well, it is, but not primarily): its about story. The AirPort line was born during a time when your ISP only provided you with a modem, if that. Wireless connectivity was a brand new world that required new hardware. We're not in that world anymore: ISPs set up (and support!) wireless access with their networking at no extra charge. To most consumers, the AirPort went from being the simplest gateway to wireless coverage to being an accessory for the Apple-centric household. That's why you saw so many features added to the AirPort over time (hard drive, print server, airplay server). Bluetooth speakers, airplay receivers, AirPrint, etc. have over time obsoleted these uses. There's another story for the Mac Pro - although many professionals who look to the Mac as an option among many systems probably won't like it.
- newscracker 10y ago
  The ISP story you're talking about does not apply to the entire world. There are hundreds of ISPs who still charge for a WiFi router separately. No firmware updates coming in is a huge concern for all these routers and devices.
  - symfoniq 10y ago
    Indeed. And where I live, pretty much everyone has municipal fiber. There is no ISP-provided default router—just an ethernet jack in your wall.
- acjohnson55 10y ago
  Yeah, but it's not just AirPort that's shrank. Apple appears to retreating on a whole bunch of fronts.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- muninn_ 10y ago
  ISPs also charge you monthly for these services on top of your already existing service.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
acchow 10y ago
Margins don't matter. What matters is ROI and ROA.

scholia 10y ago

You're probably right, but if so, Apple is taking a short-sighted view. We're moving on from product and platform wars to ecosystem wars, and the core feature of Apple's ecosystem is all Apple software and hardware working together (preferably to the exclusion of non-Apple products, but not always). Having control of everything gives you the best chance of making everything just work. Dropping products (X-Serve, monitors, routers etc) and neglecting products (Mac Pro, Mac mini etc) makes the whole ecosystem weaker. For comparison, the main rival ecosystems are Google and Microsoft. Google's is based on doing everything online and creating a complete Google stack. Microsoft's is based on supporting everything cross-platform (Windows, iOS, Android, MacOS and increasingly Linux) both online and offline.

tomc1985 10y ago
You could also argue that it makes the ecosystem smaller and easier-to-manage. It can make it so small that the ecosystem fails to be an ecosystem at all.

carsongross 10y ago

That's the bean-counter mindset that ruins companies. (See the auto industry.) Apple had an integrated vision for computing. Wireless routers were never going to be more than a round off error on their balance sheet, but they did it anyway because they wanted it done right. With apple giving up on monitors, it's been a sad year: the bean counters are clearly in control.

Grishnakh 10y ago
>That's the bean-counter mindset that ruins companies. I was laid off from a semiconductor company years ago because the product we were supporting was aging, and their projections for the successor product did not show a 40+% profit margin, so they decided to simply exit the market altogether and dump their customers, who were really pissed.

appleiigs 10y ago

Maybe it's the margins. But I prefer cash in the bank. Revenue dollars up, net income up. If you add up all the "mini product lines" together that will move the needle. They can't continue to have blockbuster products and too risk to rely on that. Samsung can burn their phones and be OK since they have other product lines.

tammer 10y ago

Its not about margins (well, it is, but not primarily): its about story. The AirPort line was born during a time when your ISP only provided you with a modem, if that. Wireless connectivity was a brand new world that required new hardware. We're not in that world anymore: ISPs set up (and support!) wireless access with their networking at no extra charge. To most consumers, the AirPort went from being the simplest gateway to wireless coverage to being an accessory for the Apple-centric household. That's why you saw so many features added to the AirPort over time (hard drive, print server, airplay server). Bluetooth speakers, airplay receivers, AirPrint, etc. have over time obsoleted these uses. There's another story for the Mac Pro - although many professionals who look to the Mac as an option among many systems probably won't like it.

newscracker 10y ago
The ISP story you're talking about does not apply to the entire world. There are hundreds of ISPs who still charge for a WiFi router separately. No firmware updates coming in is a huge concern for all these routers and devices.
- symfoniq 10y ago
  Indeed. And where I live, pretty much everyone has municipal fiber. There is no ISP-provided default router—just an ethernet jack in your wall.
acjohnson55 10y ago
Yeah, but it's not just AirPort that's shrank. Apple appears to retreating on a whole bunch of fronts.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
muninn_ 10y ago
ISPs also charge you monthly for these services on top of your already existing service.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

acchow 10y ago

Margins don't matter. What matters is ROI and ROA.