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Apple Rumored To Be Exploring Medical Devices, Electric Cars To Reignite Growth

An anonymous reader writes "The Apple rumor mill is alive and well. This time around the tech giant is rumored to be looking into exploring medical sensor technology related to predicting heart attacks, and might even buy Tesla. 'Taken together, Apple's potential forays into automobiles and medical devices, two industries worlds away from consumer electronics, underscore the company's deep desire to move away from iPhones and iPads and take big risks. "Apple must increasingly rely on new products to reignite growth beyond the vision" of late founder Steve Jobs, said Bill Kreher, an analyst with Edward Jones Investments in St. Louis. "They need the next big thing."'"

7 of 255 comments (clear)

  1. Not a good sign by Akratist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It always seems that when companies start trying to branch out into wildly dissimilar industries, it's a sign of trouble within the organization. Do what you do well, figure out how to do it better if things aren't going how you'd like them. Don't try making sushi if you've always sold donuts.

  2. Bullshit by Bogtha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    the company's deep desire to move away from iPhones and iPads

    iPhones and iPads make Apple an obscene amount of money and they are in a controlling position in the market. It should go without saying that they don't have "a deep desire to move away" from them. Add new product categories? Sure. Move away from iPhones and iPads? Nope.

    "Apple must increasingly rely on new products to reignite growth beyond the vision" of late founder Steve Jobs, said Bill Kreher, an analyst with Edward Jones Investments in St. Louis. "They need the next big thing."'"

    Growth is a bullshit metric. A company with one customer can grow their user base 1000% by getting to ten customers. A company with hundreds of millions of customers can't grow like that. Growth naturally slows as a company gets larger. Only bullshit artists looking to get page views or prop up a stock price blather on about how Apple need the next big thing to continue growing. They don't need to continue growing. They are raking money in faster than just about any other company. Trying to grow at the same rate as they have done in previous years is not only a ludicrously unachievable expectation to place on them, it's probably bad for business if they were stupid enough to try. Apple's core strength has always been a small, focused product family.

    --
    Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
  3. Re:Take medicine away from the wizards by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, medicine and the treatment of illness is a real global conspiracy alright.

    Keeping the cost of it high seems to be.

    Next time you need a fairly major medical procedure, refuse to pay until you get an itemized bill - you'll be amazed at some of the bullshit they try and charge you for; $50 for the off-brand Sharpie they used to mark your skin, for example.

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  4. Apple has never been a growth-first company by the+computer+guy+nex · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If Apple cared about selling more widgets, they would have created lower-priced versions of all of their products years ago.

    Analysts want Apple to run the company their way, and Apple is refusing to do it. Good for them in my opinion.

  5. Re:Take medicine away from the wizards by ccguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple could be in a position to leverage advances in sensing technology to make medicine cheaper and much more accessible.

    Low prices is Apple's motto all right

  6. Re:Take medicine away from the wizards by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think you don't need a conspiracy to explain the broken conditions in the US. Just an obsession with free market solutions in a field that can never be a free market.

  7. Re:Take medicine away from the wizards by Herder+Of+Code · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I feel like a broken record but its an US thing. In Canada they just fix you up no matter what you have, they never cheap on the treatment because there's no bullshit like a max number of hearth surgeries of type X a year per hospital. If the hospital has to run a deficit to treat everyone they just will. Seriously, even for medicines we have free gov coverage and if you're employed, the employer has to provide a plan with no limit. The best part? Our economy STILL hasn't collapsed or is not in danger because of that. I never IN MY LIFE had to worry about being sick and not being able to get treatment. The only worry you have when you have to see a doc is: "Damn I'm going to have to wait 3-4 hours in a waiting room to see a doc, am I sick enough to want to wait that long.".