Ben, in his article: > Secondly, thanks in part to the lack of information, this miss is catnip for confirmation bias: everyone has their pet theory about what

Ben, in his article: > Secondly, thanks in part to the lack of information, this miss is catnip for confirmation bias: everyone has their pet theory about what Apple is doing wrong or how they will ultimately fail, and it has been striking the degree to which this revenue warning has been breezily adapted to show that said critics were right all along (never mind that many of those critics trotted out the exact same explanations in 2013 and 2016). HN, in its comments on Ben's article: - Apple downgraded its forecast because it needs to refresh the iPhone SE - Apple downgraded its forecast because its phone prices are too damn high - Apple downgraded its forecast because its phone lineup is too confusing - Apple downgraded its forecast because iOS 12 has improved performance and postponed upgrades for another year These confirmed biases all have a "developed market" vibe. I believe they're also meaningless in the context of last year's iPhone X launch. Apple killed their estimates last year. Everyone is forgetting this! None of these theories address Ben's point about the lack of smartphone differentiation in China (arguably Apple's most important market), which is (IMO) a more interesting discussion and a stronger headwind to Apple's financial prospects. I agree with Ben that the "S" designation is probably hurting the company, as it introduces 8-quarter "seasonality" into their financial projections because Chinese consumers are only buying heavily-differentiated form factors. I disagree that consumers will always buy the flagship iOS device. Then again, this earnings report just confirms my own bias for phone pricing. :)