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Tim Cook to Investors: People Bought Fewer New iPhones Because They Repaired Their Old Ones (vice.com)
On Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a dire warning to his investors. Apple, the world's first trillion dollar company, lowered its revenue forecast for the first time since 2002, thanks primarily to China, he said. But there was at least one more issue at play.
Motherboard: The lengthy letter cites, specifically, that people are buying fewer iPhones because they are repairing their old ones. Apple has long fought efforts that would make iPhones easier to repair: It has lobbied against right to repair efforts in several states, doesn't sell iPhone replacement parts, sued an independent repair professional in Norway, worked with Amazon to get iPhone and MacBook refurbishers kicked off Amazon Marketplace, and has deals with electronics recyclers that require them to shred iPhones and MacBooks (as opposed to allowing them to be refurbished.) The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, has seized iPhone replacement parts from prominent right to repair activists in the United States.
[...] Apple has never clearly articulated why it doesn't want people to fix their own iPhones or to have independent experts repair them. It has previously said that iPhones are "too complex" for users to repair them, even though replacing a battery is pretty easy and is done by average users all the time. But the fact that repair hurts Apple's bottom line came out in Cook's official communication with shareholders, who he is legally obligated to tell the truth to.
Motherboard: The lengthy letter cites, specifically, that people are buying fewer iPhones because they are repairing their old ones. Apple has long fought efforts that would make iPhones easier to repair: It has lobbied against right to repair efforts in several states, doesn't sell iPhone replacement parts, sued an independent repair professional in Norway, worked with Amazon to get iPhone and MacBook refurbishers kicked off Amazon Marketplace, and has deals with electronics recyclers that require them to shred iPhones and MacBooks (as opposed to allowing them to be refurbished.) The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, has seized iPhone replacement parts from prominent right to repair activists in the United States.
[...] Apple has never clearly articulated why it doesn't want people to fix their own iPhones or to have independent experts repair them. It has previously said that iPhones are "too complex" for users to repair them, even though replacing a battery is pretty easy and is done by average users all the time. But the fact that repair hurts Apple's bottom line came out in Cook's official communication with shareholders, who he is legally obligated to tell the truth to.
If they lose revenue when people can't repair their hardware, then the replacement costs are hurting the global economy and this needs to stop. Period.
Why doesn't Apple offer to repair old iPhones? They could make extra money.
I took advantage of the $29 battery replacement on my 6s hoping to add a couple of years of life to it. Might count as a repair since it was sort of "broken" by Apple.
It's not possible that even one converted to Android? No way he'd admit that.
He'll do anything but admit that they fucked up when they priced it at over $/£/€1000. People aren't buying them because they're too fucking expensive.
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
People bought fewer iPhones because they jacked the prices up and, didn't give anyone anything new that would justify such an increase. Thereby, negative return on investment. DUH! For people that are supposed to be smart, they sure say and, do some really stupid shit.
They Suck.
Apple is very similar to BMW and Mercedes when it comes to this "immersive brand experience" thing. None of these companies want people running around with old phones or cars. They want them on the 3-year leasing treadmill. They want you to basically subscribe to their hardware. To accomplish this, one of the things they do is fight efforts to make repairs economical. Apple basically builds their phones as glue sandwiches and solders all the components onto the motherboard for "design reasons." BMW/MB make the out-of-warranty repair experience painful with single-source expensive parts, so even if you find a good mechanic who charges reasonable labor rates, this sensor or that sub-assembly will cost thousands to replace. The only way to own one of these cars long term is to have the money and not care about spending it, or just throw in the towel and rent one forever in the form of a never-ending lease.
I think people in the US and Europe will finally get sick of this and realize they're being ripped off now that there's a huge secondary market for iDevices. China and India have huge middle class populations but they're less likely to blow $1100 on a phone than Americans are.
Saudi Aramco was valued over $1T years ago.
Do I need to remind you that Apple failed looong time ago because they started pushing product that no one wanted (precustomized, never upgradable product)? Sounds familiar?
people bought fewer new iPhones because you let the cat out of the bag on how replacing the battery fixes performance issues. I mean, I guess that is _technically_ a repair...
And I've replaced two iPhones now for what turned out to be a dying battery.
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Why isn't Apple selling more iPhones?
1) Too darn expensive. I'm not dropping a grand on a device that I can lose or break in an instant. I switched over to Android because I can buy a phone with 90% of the functionality of an iPhone for $200 to $300, which is the price point I want.
2) We're at peak functionality. Yeah, apps are bloating and requiring more CPU power, but if I need a phone, email, calendar, a browser, and some basic games, I'm good. I don't need a zillion megapixels or a few more battery stealing CPU cycles, so why do I need a new phone?
3) The "wow" factor is over. Every phone looks the same and does most of the same things. I'm not jazzed by anything on the latest and greatest iPhone. Innovate!
Apple is just about where Motorola was after the RAZR crashed and burned. Motorola didn't take the RAZR profits and invest more in R&D and their customers moved on to the next big thing (smartphones). RIM / Blackberry had the same problem. As has just about everyone else in the space. The only saving grace for Apple is the ecosystem it has for its devices and software. That has built something of a moat around its products, but as long as older products continue to function, there is no incentive for Apple to get hungry again.
People complained about replacable batter, phone jack, ability to fix device and prices. They did not care - people stoped buing products - now they are surprised?How about listen to your customers next time?
Under Steve Jobs, Apple innovated creating whole new lines of products with innovative features. Now innovation at Apple means adding a notch to the screen or removing the headphone jack. The iPhone is a great phone, but enough people already own them and they're not willing to pay $1,000 or more for small incremental improvements.
[Insert pithy quote here]
Higher profit margin. The school that I work at has 200+ perfectly good ipads that just won't update past 10.3.3. They aren't that old and there's nothing wrong with them. Built in obsolescence. Now the apps we use won't work because they do a version check for 11+ So fuck apple, we're getting Android tablets, next round.
Reasons:
1) Apple went full stupid with the pricing on their newest lineup
2) I like my headphone jack thank you very much
3) There is nothing wrong with my iPhone SE nor my Galaxy S5 ( both of which have headphone jacks )
4) Smartphone market is over-saturated, iPhones are no longer the only option
The only reason I have an iPhone SE is the size. I prefer a smaller phone that easily fits into a pocket vs :|
the super sized versions that are so common today. They get any bigger and we'll be able to mount them
via a forearm strap and use them as shields
Were it not for the larger size, I would really prefer to stick with my Galaxy S5. It has a headphone jack,
a removable battery ( I have a few spares ) and is expandable via the micro-SD card. The drag and drop
file functionality is really hard for Apple to beat imo.
Plus, f*ck iTunes. That sh*t is why I grabbed a Galaxy S5 to begin with.
My ideal phone would be:
1) Android base ( not the carrier bloated bullsh*t that's impossible to remove without root )
2) Removable Battery
3) Micro-SD card expand-ability
4) Hardware switch(es) to disable the Mic, Camera and GPS
5) Decent size selection range ( small to large )
6) Headphone jack
7) Dual Sim
Come on, people, the answer to the question 'why Apple (or {insert any manufacturer name here} doesn't want people repairing their products' is simple and right in front of everyones' faces, but nobody wants to come out and actually say it: If you make a product (like an iPhone) so that it can be easily repaired, then you sell fewer new replacements, leading to a loss of profits. It's happened countless times, I'm sure, since the advent of the Industrial Revolution: a company makes a durable, quality product, that lasts and lasts and lasts, and maybe if it does break, it's easy to fix and keep using. Initially they sell a gazillion of them, and make all sorts of money; eventually, however, everyone who wanted to buy Product 'X' has bought one, and since they don't seem to need to replace it, ever, that company goes out of business because no repeat customers! This is why there is such a thing as 'planned obsolescence', too, of which 'lack of repairability' is just another version. Apple, and any other company you care to name, doesn't want to repair, or allow anyone else to repair their products in any substantial way, because they, ideally, want you to buy a new one every year. If Apple, or anyone else, thought they could get away with the entire inside of their products be just one solid block of opaque epoxy (and it wouldn't cost more money to do so), they'd do just that, to ensure no one can 'fix' anything.
It wouldn't be anywhere near as hard as these manufacturers claim to build things like smartphones in such a way that they're more modular internally and more easily repaired. It would cost more money, to be sure, but you could create a smartphone in such a way that it's not only 'field repairable', but upgradable, such that you could keep using the same one for years and years and years -- and a company like Apple would likely go bankrupt, or at least become so much less profitable that who knows what would become of them? At the very least perhaps they'd become less innovative for less profits to invest in research and development of new technologies. Who knows?
One thing is certain: microminiaturization of just about everything has clearly made repairing electronic devices significantly more difficult and in some cases impossible. Back in the early days of television, for instance, up to the end of the CRT TV era, repairing a television set down to the individual component level was not only possible but a regular practice. First with vacuum tubes, then transistors, then through-hole integrated circuits; it was possible for a technician to troubleshoot down to the discrete level, replace a part (or several) and the TV would be good to go again. Even with computers and computerized devices, up until the advent and widespread use of BGA-packaged integrated circuits, it was still possible to field repair PCBs without any too-expensive equipment. But now between the fact that the vast majority of ICs are now BGA-packaged devices, and the package density of PCBs in a device like an iPhone, these PCBs are for all intents and purposes unrepairable; between the need for specialized equipment, costing thousands and thousands of dollars, to remove and replace BGA devices, and the specialized training required to successfully use this equipment, there's still a large chance that the attempts to repair such PCBs will fail, costing the company attempting to repair it money they can't recover. Even the manufacturers themselves don't usually attempt to 'repair' PCBs anymore for this reason, they'll replace them with new. For this reason if 'The People' want electronic devices that can be repaired to the Nth degree, they'll have to settle for overall larger, heavier devices, using technologies that allow component-level repair -- or someone will have to invent a new technology that isn't essentially a straight-line path from raw components to finished device to end-user use to the e-waste bin.
Like with the PC. Where one car maker says "fuck it, we're going open", and creates a bunch of interface standards so that everybody can make e.g. a body or a motor or a suspension system for it.
Obviously it would include all the rules so that any arbitrary combination of parts that are certified to be compatible to this interface are also legal and have a known crash test behavior.
And there would be a few different platforms to serve the different needs. Because a high performance sports car can't use the same chassis as a "Smart" wheelchair^Wcar.
Buying out a bankrupt car maker with otherwise great tech (like Saab used to be), with money from a crowdfunding, would probably be quite realistic. Imagine Top Gear and/or The Grand Tour doing something like that, with their massive "most popular TV show of all time" audience. They'd have the contacts, the backers, the interest and and the ability to do something like that.