6 ms·

Apple’s strength is hardware, but you’re right they are behind in these areas

by swlkr 8y ago

wlesieutre 8y ago
Speaking of hardware, Apple's A-series processors have a significant lead over Qualcomm's Snapdragon, which Oculus is stuck with for their standalone Quest headset. If they do make a VR / AR headset, that's going to translate into better performance and/or longer battery life than their competitors.
taeric 8y ago
Watches and fitness trackers are doing well against them. That said, convergence is huge and I wouldn't bet against them.
- npunt 8y ago
  Depends on how you interpret the data. IDC's latest report shows growth from Chinese brands (Xiaomi & Huawei) selling pretty basic wearables to Chinese audiences, but Fitbit & others have been dropping, and Garmin is only slightly up (4.1% to Apple's 38.4% YoY growth). The big split the report cites is as markets mature they want more sophisticated wearables, which plays to ecosystem strengths of Apple. Garmin et al (even Android smartwatches) aren't likely to create / purchase the tech that can compete since Apple seems to be pouring big $ into health tech, so I'm not sure the future looks good for other brands. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44247418 https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44247418
  - taeric 8y ago
    Agreed. This is what I meant by convergence. If things do reduce to a single wearable, Apple is well positioned. I'm not fully convinced, though. Most wearable things from Apple, seem as fashion focused as anything else. That said, my understanding is that folks that like them, love them. So not sure how the others are standing out. And will it continue. I am also very new to this. Started using Strava and so far liking it. Bought a dedicated heart monitor. Curious if that will prove to bea complete waste someday.
  - brlewis 8y ago
    Disclaimer: I work for Fitbit, but don't speak for Fitbit. My personal opinion is that unsuccessful Apple Watches have done much more harm to Fitbit than any successful one will. I'm rooting for the Series 4 to be a market hit. The unsuccessful ones so far have ended up at fire sale prices during the holidays. The last thing Fitbit needs to compete with is a $200 smart watch with an elite brand name on it. Hopefully they'll retain full retail price for their newer models and the two companies can go back to addressing our respective market segments.
    - npunt 8y ago
      Thanks for your insights, really good point! My hunch is the discounts are mostly related to the early, not-that-great revisions of Watch, and that future discounts will be less. That said, with each yearly iteration there is a supply of super old Watches that may wind up in the bargain bin. Series 0-2 really seemed early adopter products in the mold of other 1st gen Apple products (MacBook Air, iPad, etc) and S3 is good but not great. Series 4 definitely seems like a breakout product where capabilities hit some critical use cases - Cellular, GPS, ECG, size reduction (42mm->40mm for same screen size). The platform is definitely hitting its stride. I wonder if/when Apple offers not only last year's model but 2 years ago model to hit a lower price point, as they do with iPhones. That's been part of Apple's strategy to avoid low-end disruption, by segmenting the market such that cheap products cannot moving up-market because of Apple's middle tier on-ramps (like iPhone SE and 6S or non-Pro iPad).
      - brlewis 8y ago
        Good point about the low-end anti-disruption strategy. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Apple’s strength is hardware, but you’re right they are behind in these areas

by swlkr 8y ago

Apple’s strength is hardware, but you’re right they are behind in these areas

Speaking of hardware, Apple's A-series processors have a significant lead over Qualcomm's Snapdragon, which Oculus is stuck with for their standalone Quest headset. If they do make a VR / AR headset, that's going to translate into better performance and/or longer battery life than their competitors.

taeric 8y ago

Watches and fitness trackers are doing well against them. That said, convergence is huge and I wouldn't bet against them.

npunt 8y ago
Depends on how you interpret the data. IDC's latest report shows growth from Chinese brands (Xiaomi & Huawei) selling pretty basic wearables to Chinese audiences, but Fitbit & others have been dropping, and Garmin is only slightly up (4.1% to Apple's 38.4% YoY growth). The big split the report cites is as markets mature they want more sophisticated wearables, which plays to ecosystem strengths of Apple. Garmin et al (even Android smartwatches) aren't likely to create / purchase the tech that can compete since Apple seems to be pouring big $ into health tech, so I'm not sure the future looks good for other brands. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44247418 https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44247418
- taeric 8y ago
  Agreed. This is what I meant by convergence. If things do reduce to a single wearable, Apple is well positioned. I'm not fully convinced, though. Most wearable things from Apple, seem as fashion focused as anything else. That said, my understanding is that folks that like them, love them. So not sure how the others are standing out. And will it continue. I am also very new to this. Started using Strava and so far liking it. Bought a dedicated heart monitor. Curious if that will prove to bea complete waste someday.
- brlewis 8y ago
  Disclaimer: I work for Fitbit, but don't speak for Fitbit. My personal opinion is that unsuccessful Apple Watches have done much more harm to Fitbit than any successful one will. I'm rooting for the Series 4 to be a market hit. The unsuccessful ones so far have ended up at fire sale prices during the holidays. The last thing Fitbit needs to compete with is a $200 smart watch with an elite brand name on it. Hopefully they'll retain full retail price for their newer models and the two companies can go back to addressing our respective market segments.
  - npunt 8y ago
    Thanks for your insights, really good point! My hunch is the discounts are mostly related to the early, not-that-great revisions of Watch, and that future discounts will be less. That said, with each yearly iteration there is a supply of super old Watches that may wind up in the bargain bin. Series 0-2 really seemed early adopter products in the mold of other 1st gen Apple products (MacBook Air, iPad, etc) and S3 is good but not great. Series 4 definitely seems like a breakout product where capabilities hit some critical use cases - Cellular, GPS, ECG, size reduction (42mm->40mm for same screen size). The platform is definitely hitting its stride. I wonder if/when Apple offers not only last year's model but 2 years ago model to hit a lower price point, as they do with iPhones. That's been part of Apple's strategy to avoid low-end disruption, by segmenting the market such that cheap products cannot moving up-market because of Apple's middle tier on-ramps (like iPhone SE and 6S or non-Pro iPad).
    - brlewis 8y ago
      Good point about the low-end anti-disruption strategy. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.