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As an Apple shareholder, there have been multiple red flags in the last 6 months, this is yet just another. - Missing deadlines of product realeases. - Seriou

As an Apple shareholder, there have been multiple red flags in the last 6 months, this is yet just another. - Missing deadlines of product realeases. - Seriously getting product design wrong and missing what users want. See Apple Watch, See iPhone 7, See MacBook Pro. - Tim Cook being passive and an operations guy with no founder vision or drive. - Failure to acquire new and innovate companies, instead doubling down on "strange" investments such as Didi Chuxing, and Softbank (both 1 billion). I've been a huge Apple supporter and "fanboy", but the signs are starting to really add up. Soon enough the finance guys will start to see the patterns as well and there may be a significant correction.

mathattack 10y ago
Most good points. One I'd object to: "Failure to acquire new and innovate companies" Acquiring innovative companies can be a good sign for innovative buyers. (Cisco was a machine at adding to it's product lines) For non-innovative companies, it's a death knell.
- nodesocket 10y ago
  I'd rather see them acquire small and scrapy 10-100 people companies, though those people and founders would probably leave once their options fully vest after acquisition.
spike021 10y ago
Missing what Apple Watch users want? It seems for the most part that these are the most common issues: it isn't a phone replacement (no cellular connectivity) and the battery life is terrible. For me as a Watch owner the battery life could be better but I don't want or have a need for it to have a cellular connection. Just curious about how the product design of the watch is seriously wrong (same with the iPhone 7 other than it lacking a headphone jack).
snowwrestler 10y ago
As an Apple shareholder, this seems like a bunch of vague gripes. - Apple has missed plenty of ship dates in the past; I refer you to the Saga Of The White iPhone. - The Watch is selling well (dominating its category), iPhone 7 selling well (same), new MacBook is too early to tell. - No drive? I wonder how well-informed you are if you think Tim Cook has no drive. He's not a product guy but contrary to popular belief, a CEO does not necessarily need to be. - FoundationDB? Tuplejump? Turi?
- nodesocket 10y ago
  I appreciate your points and I've been mostly ignoring the posts here and on social media constantly complaining about the new MacBook Pro. Howerver, as a whole there are signs things may be heading downward for Apple. > The Watch is selling well (dominating its category), iPhone 7 selling well (same), new MacBook is too early to tell. Apple Watch revenue barely shows up on their 10Q and 10K (see the mysterious other category), it is basically a non-factor to their performance and stock. I question why they even released the watch. iPhone actually is not selling as well as expected, they have cut orders[1] multiple times. There are widespread reports of users returning their new MacBook Pro's as well and switching to PCs/Linux. FoundationDB was acquired in 2015 nearly 2 years ago. The others I can't speak too, but doesn't seem like it will make any impact. Think about this, Apple could and should have acquired either NetFlix or Tesla if they wanted too either last year or the year before... Now, both are too large and expensive for Apple to buy. [1] - https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+cuts+iphone+orders https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+cuts+iphone+orders
  - Uupis 10y ago
    > There are widespread reports of users returning their new MacBook Pro's as well and switching to PCs/Linux. Without any data to back the claim up, I'm reasonably sure this is just a loud, extremely small, minority. There are some things wrong with the new MacBook Pros, but, in my opinion, they are still, very likely, the best laptops out there.
    - nodesocket 10y ago
      Then there is Consumer Report not recommended the MacBook Pro for the first time ever! Today, Apple claimed there was a bug in Safari[1] which caused the very poor battery life in their report. Sounds very fishy. [1] - http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/10/14225716/apple-macbook-pro-consumer-reports-battery-life-issue-update-bug http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/10/14225716/apple-macbook-pro...
      - Uupis 10y ago
icanhackit 10y ago
> Missing deadlines of product realeases. Remember the white iPhone 4? Hell, I remember the time during the switch from PowerPC to Intel meant you couldn't get your hands on an iMac for a month or two (late 2005). > [...] missing what users want. See Apple Watch, See iPhone 7, See MacBook Pro. Recently purchased the iPhone 7 after having stuck with a 5S for three years. I've got to say it's an excellent phone and I don't understand the whingeing. You get headphones and an adapter in box which works fine with my other headphones, though I stick with the supplied lightning cable ones. The shallow depth of field pictures it takes makes me feel like I've got an SLR with a prime lens in my pocket wherever I go. I've played with the new MBP and it felt more Star Trek than any touchscreen laptop I've used. The NVMe storage in it largely negates the need for more than 16gb RAM. > Tim Cook being passive and an operations guy with no founder vision or drive. I'd say his passion for user privacy and commentary on his sexuality has shown him to be someone who cares for peoples rights. A good attitude to have when you're the CEO of a tech giant. > doubling down on "strange" investments such as Didi Chuxing, and Softbank (both 1 billion). Softbank completed a $31 Billion purchase of ARM recently. Still thinking Apple shouldn't have put a $1 billion shoe in the door? If memory serves they were also the first major distributor of iPhones in Japan when NTT Docomo were more interested in pushing flip phones.
- nodesocket 10y ago
  > I'd say his passion for user privacy and commentary on his sexuality has shown him to be someone who cares for peoples rights. He's not running for office he running a public company. As a shareholder those things are not priorities, but to him they are. Thus the problem I have.
  - icanhackit 10y ago
    And so you ignored the larger point that he's more than capable of making smart investments like Softbank who now own ARM, similar to Apple's prior investment in Imagination Technologies Group who design the GPUs for the A-series SOCs. Apple was first out the door with a 64-bit ARM chip in a smartphone - they need this investment to stay at the front of the pack. It also helps to invest in a company that shuttles more iPhones than any other distributor in a market as difficult and lucrative as Japan. Getting back to my comment you quoted -- given the growing concern over user privacy, being in the position where you can serve both users who care AND those who don't is a very nice position to be in. His being gay while growing up in a conservative state no doubt influenced his desire to protect users privacy. The culture of the company is important if it's to attract new talent.
downandout 10y ago
>Seriously getting product design wrong and missing what users want. See See iPhone 7 Hmm...after reading [1] and [2], it seems that at least some users wanted the iPhone 7. [1] http://bgr.com/2016/12/22/iphone-7-popularity-revenue-record/ http://bgr.com/2016/12/22/iphone-7-popularity-revenue-record... [2] http://bgr.com/2016/10/20/iphone-7-sales-figures-september-quarter/ http://bgr.com/2016/10/20/iphone-7-sales-figures-september-q...
intoverflow2 10y ago
>Tim Cook being passive and an operations guy with no founder vision or drive. I'd disagree with this, he has vision and drive he's just not got a great vision and sees no value in the Mac line yet pushed out weak products like the Watch and the iPad Pro. iPad Pro might have made sense if launched at the start but launched when all the pro apps have left the iPad platform it just seems like he doesn't even understand his own ecosystem. Thankfully they seem to have dropped the fantasy of shipping a car.

mathattack 10y ago

Most good points. One I'd object to: "Failure to acquire new and innovate companies" Acquiring innovative companies can be a good sign for innovative buyers. (Cisco was a machine at adding to it's product lines) For non-innovative companies, it's a death knell.

nodesocket 10y ago
I'd rather see them acquire small and scrapy 10-100 people companies, though those people and founders would probably leave once their options fully vest after acquisition.

spike021 10y ago

Missing what Apple Watch users want? It seems for the most part that these are the most common issues: it isn't a phone replacement (no cellular connectivity) and the battery life is terrible. For me as a Watch owner the battery life could be better but I don't want or have a need for it to have a cellular connection. Just curious about how the product design of the watch is seriously wrong (same with the iPhone 7 other than it lacking a headphone jack).

snowwrestler 10y ago

As an Apple shareholder, this seems like a bunch of vague gripes. - Apple has missed plenty of ship dates in the past; I refer you to the Saga Of The White iPhone. - The Watch is selling well (dominating its category), iPhone 7 selling well (same), new MacBook is too early to tell. - No drive? I wonder how well-informed you are if you think Tim Cook has no drive. He's not a product guy but contrary to popular belief, a CEO does not necessarily need to be. - FoundationDB? Tuplejump? Turi?

nodesocket 10y ago
I appreciate your points and I've been mostly ignoring the posts here and on social media constantly complaining about the new MacBook Pro. Howerver, as a whole there are signs things may be heading downward for Apple. > The Watch is selling well (dominating its category), iPhone 7 selling well (same), new MacBook is too early to tell. Apple Watch revenue barely shows up on their 10Q and 10K (see the mysterious other category), it is basically a non-factor to their performance and stock. I question why they even released the watch. iPhone actually is not selling as well as expected, they have cut orders[1] multiple times. There are widespread reports of users returning their new MacBook Pro's as well and switching to PCs/Linux. FoundationDB was acquired in 2015 nearly 2 years ago. The others I can't speak too, but doesn't seem like it will make any impact. Think about this, Apple could and should have acquired either NetFlix or Tesla if they wanted too either last year or the year before... Now, both are too large and expensive for Apple to buy. [1] - https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+cuts+iphone+orders https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+cuts+iphone+orders
- Uupis 10y ago
  > There are widespread reports of users returning their new MacBook Pro's as well and switching to PCs/Linux. Without any data to back the claim up, I'm reasonably sure this is just a loud, extremely small, minority. There are some things wrong with the new MacBook Pros, but, in my opinion, they are still, very likely, the best laptops out there.
  - nodesocket 10y ago
    Then there is Consumer Report not recommended the MacBook Pro for the first time ever! Today, Apple claimed there was a bug in Safari[1] which caused the very poor battery life in their report. Sounds very fishy. [1] - http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/10/14225716/apple-macbook-pro-consumer-reports-battery-life-issue-update-bug http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/10/14225716/apple-macbook-pro...
    - Uupis 10y ago

icanhackit 10y ago

> Missing deadlines of product realeases. Remember the white iPhone 4? Hell, I remember the time during the switch from PowerPC to Intel meant you couldn't get your hands on an iMac for a month or two (late 2005). > [...] missing what users want. See Apple Watch, See iPhone 7, See MacBook Pro. Recently purchased the iPhone 7 after having stuck with a 5S for three years. I've got to say it's an excellent phone and I don't understand the whingeing. You get headphones and an adapter in box which works fine with my other headphones, though I stick with the supplied lightning cable ones. The shallow depth of field pictures it takes makes me feel like I've got an SLR with a prime lens in my pocket wherever I go. I've played with the new MBP and it felt more Star Trek than any touchscreen laptop I've used. The NVMe storage in it largely negates the need for more than 16gb RAM. > Tim Cook being passive and an operations guy with no founder vision or drive. I'd say his passion for user privacy and commentary on his sexuality has shown him to be someone who cares for peoples rights. A good attitude to have when you're the CEO of a tech giant. > doubling down on "strange" investments such as Didi Chuxing, and Softbank (both 1 billion). Softbank completed a $31 Billion purchase of ARM recently. Still thinking Apple shouldn't have put a $1 billion shoe in the door? If memory serves they were also the first major distributor of iPhones in Japan when NTT Docomo were more interested in pushing flip phones.

nodesocket 10y ago
> I'd say his passion for user privacy and commentary on his sexuality has shown him to be someone who cares for peoples rights. He's not running for office he running a public company. As a shareholder those things are not priorities, but to him they are. Thus the problem I have.
- icanhackit 10y ago
  And so you ignored the larger point that he's more than capable of making smart investments like Softbank who now own ARM, similar to Apple's prior investment in Imagination Technologies Group who design the GPUs for the A-series SOCs. Apple was first out the door with a 64-bit ARM chip in a smartphone - they need this investment to stay at the front of the pack. It also helps to invest in a company that shuttles more iPhones than any other distributor in a market as difficult and lucrative as Japan. Getting back to my comment you quoted -- given the growing concern over user privacy, being in the position where you can serve both users who care AND those who don't is a very nice position to be in. His being gay while growing up in a conservative state no doubt influenced his desire to protect users privacy. The culture of the company is important if it's to attract new talent.

downandout 10y ago

>Seriously getting product design wrong and missing what users want. See See iPhone 7 Hmm...after reading [1] and [2], it seems that at least some users wanted the iPhone 7. [1] http://bgr.com/2016/12/22/iphone-7-popularity-revenue-record/ http://bgr.com/2016/12/22/iphone-7-popularity-revenue-record... [2] http://bgr.com/2016/10/20/iphone-7-sales-figures-september-quarter/ http://bgr.com/2016/10/20/iphone-7-sales-figures-september-q...

intoverflow2 10y ago

>Tim Cook being passive and an operations guy with no founder vision or drive. I'd disagree with this, he has vision and drive he's just not got a great vision and sees no value in the Mac line yet pushed out weak products like the Watch and the iPad Pro. iPad Pro might have made sense if launched at the start but launched when all the pro apps have left the iPad platform it just seems like he doesn't even understand his own ecosystem. Thankfully they seem to have dropped the fantasy of shipping a car.