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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kind of related, but there are currently no $1T companies after the stock market tumbles of the last year or so. According to the chart in this article on Apple's update, all the FAANG companies are now firmly below $0.8T, and Apple now has the US' fourth largest market cap, behind (in order) Microsoft, Amazon and Google, having fallen somewhat more sharply than the rest.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
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