“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.
