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The true answer doesn't have to be the interesting one, this is basic Design in the Commercial World stuff. If the change in dock connector for the new phone wa

by ktizo 14y ago

The true answer doesn't have to be the interesting one, this is basic Design in the Commercial World stuff. If the change in dock connector for the new phone wasn't coupled to restrictions on 3rd party suppliers and an increase in basic costs across the board, including internally at Apple as it has been suffering from labour shortages, partly because of this decision to bring the cables in house, then I wouldn't necessarily put it down to pure profiteering. But from where I am sitting, there is no clear technical advantage to this behaviour, but there is a clear financial one over time. [edit] Also, if I wanted to predict where this is headed, if all cable production can be brought in house, then why not go the whole hog and chip the cables [edit - I just looked up the spec, given that thunderbolt is an active cable, this has to be the direction they are headed], with some introduced functionality to sweeten the deal on the consumer side and then you can get total lock-in on peripherals, if you like.

jpxxx 14y ago
Having to set aside less volume for the connector in your devices is a technical win, and I don't think the financial benefit adds up to enough to significantly matter to Apple. But I'm interested: by labor shortages do you mean internal engineering shortages or Apple being unable to source enough cables from OEMs for various reasons?
- ktizo 14y ago
  This was the main thing I was referring to about the labour shortages - Additionally, last week Chinese state-run news media reported that several vocational schools in the city of Huai’an, in eastern China, required hundreds of students to work on assembly lines at a Foxconn plant to help alleviate worker shortages. According to one of the articles, Huai’an students were ordered to manufacture cables for Apple’s new iPhone 5, which is expected to be introduced on Wednesday. http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile2/54873765-218/foxconn-students-apple-labor.html.csp http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile2/54873765-218/foxconn-stud... [edit] Also, the financial benefit to apple of doing this is not just in the sale of cables, but also in the control of licensing for third party peripherals, which it is losing a grip on as there are so many people geared up to produce their old connector. There is also a possibly huge lump of money from content producers if you can sell them the promise of being able to restrict the devices you can plug their content into.

by ktizo 14y ago

jpxxx 14y ago

Having to set aside less volume for the connector in your devices is a technical win, and I don't think the financial benefit adds up to enough to significantly matter to Apple. But I'm interested: by labor shortages do you mean internal engineering shortages or Apple being unable to source enough cables from OEMs for various reasons?

ktizo 14y ago
This was the main thing I was referring to about the labour shortages - Additionally, last week Chinese state-run news media reported that several vocational schools in the city of Huai’an, in eastern China, required hundreds of students to work on assembly lines at a Foxconn plant to help alleviate worker shortages. According to one of the articles, Huai’an students were ordered to manufacture cables for Apple’s new iPhone 5, which is expected to be introduced on Wednesday. http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile2/54873765-218/foxconn-students-apple-labor.html.csp http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile2/54873765-218/foxconn-stud... [edit] Also, the financial benefit to apple of doing this is not just in the sale of cables, but also in the control of licensing for third party peripherals, which it is losing a grip on as there are so many people geared up to produce their old connector. There is also a possibly huge lump of money from content producers if you can sell them the promise of being able to restrict the devices you can plug their content into.