Slashdot Mirror
Apple To Cut iPhone Production By 10%: Nikkei (nikkei.com)
A new report from Nikkei Asian Review says that Apple will cut iPhone production by around 10% in the first quarter of 2017. From the report: This comes after the company slashed output in January-March 2016 due to accumulated inventory of the iPhone 6s line at the end of 2015. That experience led Apple to curb production of the iPhone 7, introduced in September, by around 20%. But the phones still have sold more sluggishly than expected. Information on production of the latest models and global sales suggests cuts in both the 7 and 7 Plus lines in the coming quarter. The larger iPhone 7 Plus, which features two cameras on its back face, remains popular. But a shortage of camera sensors has curbed Apple's ability to meet demand for the phones. U.S. research company IDC forecasts global smartphone shipments in 2016 on par with the 2015 level. Even Apple has had difficulty creating appealing new features, stifling demand from customers who otherwise would look to upgrade to the latest device.
Most of that the average consumer doesn't give a shit about, however their music and ability to plug in their expensive headphones and charge the phone matters. The average person would look at your list and say well their are no upgrades there for me at all. The 6s is more than fast enough for most people, graphics are fine and while water resistence is nice it is hardly a killer feature. Improved dual cameras is really the only step up for the selfie obsessed average user. It is not enough to simply incrementally improve a device when you want someone to spend the best part of a Grand year to year on upgrades.
So not sure why this is a big deal, the holiday season is over, the phone has been out a while, and demand is dropping, and really phones are also no longer special anymore.
The simple reality is both Apple and Android phones originally were able to make huge improvements each cycle, simply because phone technology hadn't moved for so long. The problem is now phones have somewhat caught up to as far as technology can go. You can get a slightly better processor, a bit more ram, a better camera, and better screen but for the most part, perhaps a slightly larger battery, but there is nothing new and nothing that people need in a phone. Phones are now to the point where, they do everything and more that most people want, so the demand for newer and better isn't really as high. While we will certainly see some improvements in the next few years, unless something unexpected comes along that can make manufactures have to swing for the fences again, phones, like PCs before them, have become more boring in their lifecycle, which is just the cyclical nature of products, and anyone thinking the Samsung 8, or the iPhone 8 will bring something new and exciting will probably be rather disappointed.
Accessories and software will probably see the biggest changes, things like the AirPods will become more available at a large number of prices ranges, as well as we should continue to see improvements in software, but those things don't require a new phone for the most part unless, something changes such as where there is a new chipset say going faster than LTE, and even that will have a harder time getting traction than the 3g to LTE shift since most people are quite happy with the LTE performance.
Apple Pay
Yawn.
Watch
Double yawn. Niche gimmick, that even the apple faithful are trying to find uses for.
Don't get me wrong there are some uses -- cyclists and a few other places where a wrist device is especially convenient for notifications... and my sister in law loves hers -- her officeplace has a no smartphones while working policy to keep employees from texting etc while they are supposed to be working. The apple watch is one step of ahead of company policy... her phone is neatly put away out of sight, and she can still get messages from friends etc on the watch.
TV
Overpriced and not as good as the more open alternatives. Airplay is nice though, but requires you to be fully enmeshed into the apple ecosystem, which im not. We have a mix of devices and platforms in our home.
several versions of Mac
Sure. If you want a lightweight ultraportable they have lots to choose from. If you want anything else.. an inexpensive durable laptop for students... nope. A powerhouse laptop with lots of ram and connectivity for pros... nope. But a luxury ultraportable with great screen, great battery life (aside from the pro's issues), and no connectivity... they've got 3 lines to choose from.
On the desktop... unmitigated garbage. Overpriced laptops crammed into all-one-screens defeating every possible advantage of desktops... well pro units made to look like garbage cans.
better displays,
They stopped making desktop monitors. The laptop displays from dell etc are just as good... and you can get touchscreens if you want them.
faster SSDs
They aren't that much faster than *other* decent SSDs And they are expensive and soldered in so you can't upgrade them. I'll take a slightly slower one that I can easily replace with a 2TB model in 3 years any time thanks.
free upgrades of iOS and OSX/macOS
And no option to downgrade afterwards if you aren't happen. Even Microsoft, who has gotten so much wrong lately, at least got that right.
I always wondered why one would pay over US$900 for something that has functionality of other devices at half the cost; and would be "obsolete" in a year.
Stability, ease of use, frequency of updates, much better overall security, etc, etc. iPhone is far from obsolete in 1-2 years, they receive updates for at least four.