“Aside from some end-of-year tax selling and concerns regarding the fiscal cliff, shares of Apple took a brutal beating towards the end of 2012,” Richard Saintvilus writes for Forbes. “The reason – there is a broad belief that the company no longer knows how to innovate. But it’s not true. Instead, what has hurt Apple has been the complete opposite.”
“The company’s 6-month refresh cycle and avalanche of products seems to have backfired – allowing rivals such as Google and Samsung to steal market share,” Saintvilus writes. “Apple’s ‘misdirection’ with its disappointing map app didn’t help the situation either. For this, CEO Tim Cook offered an apology.”
Saintvilus writes, “Consequently, Apple now finds itself in an unfamiliar territory – having to prove itself… For the company to truly move forward as a tech power, Apple should hang-up on the iPhone after one more iteration – presumably the iPhone 6. You might disagree. Granted, the phone is still selling well. However, aside from a different chip and larger screen, the change from the 4S to iPhone 5 was not that significant.”
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, he’s never really used an iPhone 5. As Day One users of every iPhone ever made, the difference between the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 is stark. Besides the larger screen and faster performance, the iPhone 5 is markedly thinner, ridiculously lighter, and its build-quality is extremely high with very tight tolerances. The 4S is a brick-like tank vs. the svelte, lightweight iPhone 5.
Saintvilus writes, “Instead, Apple needs to focus on its TV ambitions… The company should start focusing on ways to dominate the smarthome and the smartcar… Also, for quite some time, the company has hinted on wearable technology. “It’s time” for the iWatch or its iWear line of devices.”
Read more in the full article here.
Well, he does have some very valid points! Apple is starting to look very stagnate and they haven’t come out with anything really new in over 3 years. I’d say that if they don’t really have another revolutionary product to launch in the next year or so, Apple has peaked and will fall into the “also ran” clan.
Yeah, because a watch is going to sell better than a phone. Idiot.
While I think it’s ridiculous for the writer to suggest hanging up on iPhone, as painful it is for me to admit it he’s right about the lack of innovation at Apple. As a current owner of BOTH an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 4S, I can tell you that there is no significant value added to the iPhone 5. I think that you can be a fan of a company (which I am) and remain objective at the same time. In my opinion, the iPhone 5 is what the iPhone 4S SHOULD have been. Same thing with the iPad Mini. I hear that the next one will include the retina display. Do you honestly think that Apple could not have included it in the first iteration? Of course they could have. Like it or not, Apple has begun to take its customers for granted….
smacsteve and Jdub sitting in a tree… F-U-C-K-Y-O-U