“A whole raft of analysts believe that the Cupertino giant is headed for the tar pits, and a new note by analysts at Oppenheimer sees a gloomy ten years ahead,” Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writes for ZDNet. “The problem, according to the Andrew Uerkwitz at Oppenheimer, is a lack of courage to move forward. ‘We believe Apple lacks the courage to lead the next generation of innovation (AI, cloud-based services, messaging); instead will become more reliant than ever on the iPhone.'”
“And this is exactly what we’ve seen over the past few years. Apple is more and more focused on selling iPhones, while letting the remainder of its hardware lineup stagnate through lack of attention,” Kingsley-Hughes writes. “Under CEO Tim Cook’s stewardship, Apple has yet to release a hit product. The iPad — which was released when Steve Jobs was at the helm — is tanking, and the Apple Watch remains little more than a drop in the ocean in terms of both sales and profitability.”
Kingsley-Hughes writes, “The note goes on to say: ‘We believe Apple is about to embark on a decade-long malaise. The risks to the company have never been greater.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Poppycock of the utmost purity.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Patience, Padawans. The best is yet to come.
SEE ALSO:
Analyst bemoans lack of iPhone 7 ‘redesign,’ predicts unit sales decline of 6.4% YOY – August 15, 2016
Pretty accurate assessment if you actually look at what’s going on right now with the company and it’s product line.
Melvin, why stop at 158 downvotes? Rack it on up to an even 200.
Its.
I agree. Something has happened to Apple in the last few years. It reminds me of SONY in the early 2000s. Cool stuff of yesteryear but not forward thinking and then no products. Just rehashing of last years hits. No Mac remakes is getting worrisome. iPad is stale and iPhone 7 is a camera update. I really miss being excited to use my tech. As I type this on my new iMac I’m thinking how much I hate the keyboard. There’s a start Apple, make a better keyboard. It’s annoying from the sound to the feel. How about just making a silent keyboard?
it’s more like “Stink Different” now.
Please. Get some therapy. Your personal problems impede any possibility of rational objectivity. You are obviously in a lot of pain. Or a troll. Try Windows and Android if you’re feeling so personally crucified.
Thank you for your heartfelt concern, bïtch.
“With one month of 2016 to go, the Obama administration has admitted a total of 14,172 Syrian refugees into the United States so far this calendar year, an increase of 625 percent over the same 11-month period in 2015.”
data source: CIA World Factbook
Sure gonna miss ol’ Ferdinand & Imelda Obama.
Who will be left for you to criticise? Oh, the horror, the indolence! It is unbearable!
A young couple who owned a pet shop decided to divorce, the woman was distraught about the fate of the shop inventory. To console her, the man whispered, “We’ll always have parrots.”
To answer your question: I’ll always have Melvin.
You are a racist. Dunno why anyone tolerates you on this site…
…don’t forget homophobic, misogynistic, islamophobic, xenophobic and the rest of the meaningless libtard epithets that I am immune to.
These are not liberal epithets. They are the sad and unfortunate reality of your beliefs and opinions. Furthermore, these words convey important meaning; they are not meaningless, at all. Except perhaps to those who have never drunk the milk of true humanity.
yes, they are…they’re clichéd “trigger words” that impotently attempt to negate reason and logic.
I understand reason and logic. But what you say and do (just look at the “shopped” photo of the President and his wife you posted above) is not reasonable or logical. You _think_ you are level headed. But people perceive you to be a bigot. Moreover, that does not seem to bother you, or cause you to reflect and reconsider why people get this impression about you.
“I understand reason and logic.”
uh, no you don’t…the same bloc of white labor vote that elected the first black president voted for Donald Trump, you fucktard.
They’re pseudo-trump cards liberals use to shut up their opponents when they’ve run out of arguments.
The comparison to Sony is a good one.
In the 70’s and 80’s Sony led the way with innovative products that were just flat out better than the others. That quality came with a higher price, which many were willing to pay.
I bought a 27-inch Sony console TV in 1981 because the picture was noticeably sharper than anything else I had seen. Paid maybe $300 extra for it without hesitation. The quality even went into the cabinet – real pecan, not a veneer, no particle board anywhere.
(For the young ones out there – TVs used to be equal parts “furniture” and “electronics”.)
Now, to me, Sony is nothing special. Good stuff, but easily matched by other manufacturers.
Yep, The comparison to Sony is a good one. Steve Jobs loved Sony and their products led/inspired him to make great products. Sony is a perfect illustration of what some fear might happen to Apple or what is happening to Apple.
You don’t have an iPhone 7 to talk like that.
Complaining about the keyboard. Boy o boy. Mac users (real mac users) teak and customize their rig for productivity/creativity/continuity/flexibility and more.
My guess is your are stuck and want to rant about Apple. Sell your Apple, the best street value, and get a windows machine… Then you won’T have to come here anymore
By the time iPhone 18 is released, maybe, just maybe the Cooktards will realize he might not be the right CEO for the once most successful company in the history of capitalism.
The “malaise” is already underway.
This article is simply another iteration of “great new products in the pipeline” BS.
MDN, who writes your “Takes”? Lately MDN has routinely blasted “pipeline Timmy” and Apple. This time the Take is “patience” and the “best is yet to come.”
MDN has become three-faced (like a politician regularly in the news) – there is what you said yesterday, what you are saying today, and what you will say tomorrow. And they are often at odds with one another. If you take every position, then none of your words have any value.
Also notice how KingMel and Road Warrior are pro-Cook.
This guy has been doing this for years, in an attempt to thwart anti-Cook sentiment in this site.
Hey, you pathetic jerk, how’s that working out for you?
Melvin, is that you running the auto-vote hack?
:::crickets::
“Silence is tacit agreement.”
What’s the matter troll… is your ratings hack also losing its value too?
😝
What’s the matter troll… is your ratings hack also losing its value too??
😝
WRONG!
Absolutely nothing MacDailyNews has written about Tim Cook’s Apple contradicts. MDN can both criticize the current situation (they do) while expecting (or knowing) that the future is bright.
These two views do not conflict, unless you’re “KingMel” and lack the ability to comprehend what you’re reading.
* “Pipeline Tim.” That sticks until the vaunted pipeline actually delivers. Until then, Apple has made a number of mistakes, all of which look like laziness from the outside… – MacDailyNews
* Slow and steady wins the race. Patience, Padawans. The best is yet to come. – MacDailyNews
Superior’s statement: agreed. A simple mind, or a frothing fanboi, can’t meld the two seemingly contradictory thoughts-which they aren’t. One relates to the state of things (current) and the other one has to do with Apple’s reputation (past) and ability to innovate. If one can’t admit that things seem curiously clumbsy and or there’s a drought in innovation, my head shakes in a bit of bewilderment. Here’s where it gets a little complicated for the frothing fanbois/gurls…I haven’t given up the hope or the expectation that Apple will surprise me and the market.
It’s actually kinda funny if you pretend to hear it in a Christopher Walken voice.
That’s the beauty of these articles, cause you can’t turn the tables around. I mean an article at what a jouranalist lacks would be like way too long and an article at what a modern day jouranalist actually has in terms of positive qualities would be shorter than this post.
Iceland!
I am contrite that we quarreled needlessly. No-one needs a shouting woman in the next room, even though she were provoked. I would prefer an even-tempered discussion over a good wine at a respectable restaurant.
We might discuss, for instance, the sorry state of classical liberal journalism, and how it has been largely supplanted by a brand of slanted sensationalism that has been bought and paid for, with considerable success.
We might find that we agree upon many points, particularly the inevitability of mayhem, murder, and war. Our respective reasoning on their cause, and our proposed solutions, would likely diverge, and afford many hours of charming conversation.
Dear Herself, you are one of the people I have for great respect for not only to mention and certain tingle all over that goes so well with an enchanting evening. You know how to have a conversation that is worth mulling over again and again, all during the late hours of the evening until the twilight of dusk turns into down and the cows coming home are content and that you are sleeping soundly wrapped in arms, arms of the warm healing supportive nature of a light being who cooks you breakfast and charms up the conversation with a fresh peace of danish, that goes well with juice and the beauty of a flapping Dannebrog.
I like grapefruit, a poached egg and a cup of muesli with cream, if you please. 🙂 🥂
Your dish is my demand. Such a lovely breakfast choice too. Almost as yummy as you.
Enjoy your weekend.
“Under CEO Tim Cook’s stewardship, Apple has yet to release a hit product.
SUGGESTION: If you know of another company that creates products more insanely-great tech gear than Apple, support them!
If no one else is making insanely-great tech gear, maybe there’s something more going on in the technology field than merely Tim Cook. – – Don’t you think? Or don’t you?
Simple thinking leads to simple minds.
It’s easy to be a critic. We all know that, and all these sorts of writers, staring at a deadline and bereft of ideas, know that better than anyone. Therefore, in the absence of any actual news of any kind whatsoever, reliable click-bait attack memes propagate. It is lazy, it is reprehensible, it is unconscionable, but it puts dinner upon the table for their families.
But all the judgmental, vitriolic doom-saying could be true, couldn’t it? — Yes, it could be possible. But is it probable? And here, I think you’ve hit the nail upon the head: no-one else is making insanely great tech gear. And one point you left out: the richest publicly-traded corporation shouldn’t be expected to comprehend the need for excuses to pacify a roil of Lilliputians. That some of us do expect it suggests that some of us are living in the past.
Buggy-whip leathersmiths, and wheelrights, hated Henry Ford with a passion.
Thank you bright shepherd. I hope your clan is having an inspiring holiday season.
Meanwhile, back on topic: This past week Tesla autos got pwned via their Android app. Oops. So much for their sainthood. It goes to show that we are chattering about, among other things, bleeding edge technology where things are constantly going wrong. Lately, we’re talking about artificial intelligence (AI). But it’s being written with archaic coding tools that are guaranteed to induce critical security holes. Much as many of us demand, or love, or really really like perfection: There isn’t any. The best we can do is keep working the process:
• Identify a problem
• Create a solution
• Enact the solution
• Verify the solution
. . .
• Identify a new problem
• Create another solution
• etc.
Break the chain and we break our progress. That verification step is as critical as any of the others. That’s where the critics step in and provide some perspective for the next round of progress. It’s free speech. It’s speaking truth to power. It’s enlightenment. Without it, we fail.
I’ve been criticizing Apple a lot myself recently, there are so many issues, yet I am not ready to say that ‘Apple is Over’ or it can’t bet better.
When ‘Apple’ i.e Cook and SVPs focus they can produce great things. No other phone matches the iPhone and it makes more money than most (entire) companies (forget the ‘tech specs’ critics of the phone. Apple has shown with more advanced and synced tech it can out perform in real world with ‘less cores’ ‘less megapixels’ etc . It’s simply the best phone out there).
For the rest of it: people like me and other Apple fans can keep criticizing with ‘factual complaints’ and hope that Apple will address the issues.
I’ve some HOPE as issues which I was interested in as a Marketing/ Graphics/ ad person and HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING A LOT over the years Apple has started to (if ever so tentatively ) to address.
EXAMPLE:
I’ve for years complained about NO MAC ADS, in dozens of posts.
Apple has finally launched a ‘serious’ Mac ad the Bulb Ad. (it’s controversial, some like it some don’t but at least it’s an Ad. Controversy in a way is good too as it’s getting write ups in the press i.e ‘Halo’ mileage . Remember 1984, Think Different were also controversial ) Here’s hoping Apple will get serious on Selling Macs again (jobs as I said ran ONE NEW mac ad a month (66 Mac PC guy ads in 4 years that continued until Cook became CEO ) .
I’ve also complained that Apple PR was ‘asleep’. I notice that today PR is responding quicker and getting in front of some customer complaints to say ‘were working on it ‘ or something. When I was criticizing PR they took week or months to even acknowledge an issue like the Wifi problems , they didn’t even warn the public Apple Watch had sold out before the launch (people drove to stores on launch day and found they could buy nothing) etc.
I’ve said Apple Advertising in general sucked (there was a dismal time a few years back: remember the painful ‘Apple Genius’ ads?) ) Jobs was the marketing genius at Apple . Tim Cook has finally woken up that ads are in trouble and has at least hired a few people like Tor Myhren and the recently the Creative Director of Wired. Myhren reports directly to Cook. some of the Watch and Phone ads have been ok.
AS FOR HARDWARE.
Hardware takes years to get out. The problems we are seeing NOW like lack of new Macs were created years back. I believe that Tim Cook and Gang judged wrong a few years ago . Apple was booming, they believed in the Watch and iPad etc. Now that they see that iPad is stalled (sales HALF peak numbers and earning less than Mac) and Watch making little profit relatively perhaps they would wake up . PROBLEM IS to FIX might take a while, hopefully they already have stuff in the pipe line.
(They need of course to fix all the other hardware issues as well besides ‘major platform pipeline stuff’ . Ergonomic problems like the TV remote are inexcusable. )
Tim cook has toned down his social activist work (at one point practically every month he was making social non apple statements, flying around to conventions etc. He even made statements on bathrooms in far away states). I’m not saying social activism is necessary bad (or that he wasn’t just using his PRIVATE time ) but I think he now realizes he needs to ‘give the IMPRESSION’ to his troops that they too need to focus on Products (at one point Apple PR was more interested in Social activism statements than PRODUCT statements, see my PR point above).
Like I said Hardware issues (and they ARE plenty to complain about now) are long time in the making. Here’s hoping Cook and Gang will wake up and fix them.
The team at Apple ARE talented, probably more talented than any tech team out there, they just need to focus and DO.
Agree 100%. The PR and some of the ads have been better recently, but some of the hardware and software offerings remain mediocre. For me, the biggest disappointment hardware wise was the 2016 Apple Watch. I thought there would be some new health related aspects like pre heart attack detection, but that tech didn’t happen.
The biggest disappointment on the software side remains SIRI. I was shocked when those former SIRI creators showcased their almost conversationalist voice assistant. Apple has a lot of resources and should of been significantly enhancing SIRI over the years. That showcase had to be embarrassing for Apple. Another shocker is when Apple failed to buy these guys out, and now that tech is going to Samsung. To further pour salt into the wound, Amazon’s Alexa some say is superior to SIRI, Google has released a new phone around their supposedly better voice assistant, etc.
I really don’t understand why they have not poured the resources into this tech. It’s tent pole to me. I use SIRI far more than text messaging or many other mundane activities. Additionally, why can’t SIRI answer most questions asked? Why are we still typing queries into the address bar? This activity is archaic in 2016/17. Why is it still using Bing? I just asked SIRI to give me links to Apple news sites and it showed only 6 links, which didn’t include this website. I just asked this same query a second time, and it didn’t return the links for Apple news sites. It returned some Apple news links, not news site links. This is just one small example of fail. There needs to be a moon landing effort at Apple to turn SIRI into something exceptional, anything less is throwing the future away.
APPLE SHOULD READ FACTUAL COMPLAINTS LIKE YOURS.
(I must admit I’ve been disappointed with SIRI so much since it’s first announced potential that I don’t use it much at all).
Apple seems to spend millions on staff and consultants etc but they can learn so much from reading forum posts. Many of the posters are ACTUAL high end USERS.
some forum posters if they were actually hired would be commanding big bombs of money for their advice.
(sadly I also never see Apple senior staff visiting users like Studios, Labs, businesses , Mac user groups etc like I see them visiting Fashion shows, social activism rallies, rock concerts, designing Christmas trees etc. they need to get back to products )
The Mac Pro issues forum posters (some of whom run shops with dozens of Macs) write about for example should be enough data for them to create a great ‘real’ Pro machine.
Here are a few more examples on how SIRI can be much more useful:
“Forty per cent of adults (aged 16 to 60) in OECD countries can’t use a computer well enough to delete an email.”
Wouldn’t it be much easier to just verbally say delete that email instead of hunting for the method to delete the email? Plus, there shouldn’t be any special command to invoke the virtual assistant. It should be automatic. The system should be smart enough to know that a face is near the screen, and which app is open.
Another example: This is the link where I found the above tidbit of information –
View at Medium.com
There is some interesting stuff on that page. It would be much more easy to say something like, “Send that paragraph to Dave,” or “Copy that quote to a note.”
The current method is selecting the paragraph (time consuming at times), copying the paragraph to the clipboard, pressing the home button to get to the app screen, opening the notes app, creating a new note, pasting the paragraph into the new note, saving the note to a new or current note. This is horse and buggy.
The system should know exactly what paragraph I’m viewing on a page and complete the rest with follow-up questions if needed like, “Please select or say the particular note you want the quote saved to.”
The bottom line is Iron Man was released almost 9 years ago. JARVIS is so late to the party that the fruit punch is beginning to ferment.
I often call Siri an idiot. Sorry for the repeat, but when the co’s virtual assistant recites “mack” instead of “mac” for a user’s .mac address, synapses are bent. I experience the above on a reg basis.
Unless you’re a financial stakeholder, why care about ads?
I more often don’t buy abounds oduct simply because it’s bs-ing me with ads.
I hate autocorrect!
why care about ads?
if they don’t market they might not sell and the product might not get updates or even be discontinued
also the more they sell the more money they have for more and better products
For example if they were not selling well do think they could have bought the ‘A’ chip company?
Jobs was very interested in advertising, do you think he was wrong?
For his business he was right. For me as a consumer I don’t care, and if I do, it’s not for the better.
Frankly, aspirational ads like a 65-70 year old high diving at a swimming pool and impressing 20-somethings would happen if he had an iPhone or not. The iPhone part is just BS. If it’s meant to convey that cool people own iPhones, that’s elitist and even worse BS.
“For me as a consumer I don’t care, ”
you STILL don’t get it?
say you’re an iMac user: they don’t advertise or they advertisements suck, sales go down … NOT because the product is BAD , it’s just that the marketing is bad ..and when sales go down, they don’t UPDATE the product (falsely thinking there is no demand or money).
IS THAT GOOD for the CONSUMER?
actually I think you understood my reply, you just don’t want to admit you were wrong.
Do you feel the same about your toaster, car, television, tool set, desk, pants, food, etc? The quality of their advertising? Aren’t there other factors that come first?
Competition for our dollars is what should motivate manufacturers to keep their sales up. A piece of that comes from advertising, but advertising adds zero value to the product. The intrinsic value is whatever it is.
Your answer only makes sense to me if it impacts your loyalty. I am notoriously disloyal to brands. For instance, I lease BMWs as my car, currently on my 5th one. If they went away, I would not spend a nanosecond missing them. They can be replaced.
When I buy something, after deciding I like the product, I consider whether the manufacturer will be around for the life of that unit and what is the cost of leaving.
lol.
give up dude
What in the world are you yapping about?
I’m saying : Good advertising = more sales = more and better products.
ONE MORE TIME: Say Apple creates the greatest product and they don’t market and that fails, and they STOP the product or don’t update it and don’t so you as a consumer don’t get future iterations, that’s your plan, thats GOOD for the consumer ?
lol.
TELL me ONE product that succeeded without marketing. (advertising includes just TALKING about it to a reporter or blog, doing a launch etc)
the only reason you’re reading about a product on MDN is that Apple HAS done marketing (launch, ads, speaking to reporters, putting stuff on the internet etc). even Jobs going door to door to retailers and doing Home Brew meets during the garage days was marketing. Without marketing people won’t even know your product EXISTS.
(” piece of that comes from advertising, but advertising adds zero value to the product.” Did I argue ads ‘ADD VALUE’?)
gwad, you lost the argument , have some BALLS and admit it, instead you are screwing yourself deeper into the abyss..
dear lord almighty.
please NOTE my original post I’m talking about APPLE advertising, when they make good products like iMacs but don’t advertise or make ads that don’t do the products justice. I wasn’t talking about companies making shoddy stuff and using ads to ‘trick’ people. I was also taking about APPLE consumers, that these people are better served if Apple sold more so that their favourite products (like Mac Pros or Minis ) get updates and don’t get cancelled.
my theme is easy to understand but Applecynic just wants to pick a fight.
This has been a conversation, not a fight. I did not attack you or make anything personal.
I find it odd that you chose one dimension of a successfully run business to focus on. Actually, consumers can benefit (not a given) from successfully run businesses. When operations optimizes profit, when HR hires the right people, etc. can potentially help customers IF the company cared.
So are you going to tell me that poor or insufficient advertising is the reason not enough people are buying Macs to keep Apple interested? That’s why Pro has become semipro? I don’t think you believe that.
Sorry, I’m old school. It’s Apple’s job to pique my interests with products that afford ME the maximum benefit. They serve ME not I THEM.
@Acynic
where the heck are you going?
go re read my first posts.
you’re picking things which I never discussed.
I was answering your FIRST rebuttal of my post which is “Unless you’re a financial stakeholder, why care about ads?”
(for the umpteenth time here is my answer to your statement which sinks your argument ):
Good Ads help Apple to Sell More which means they will continue their products (including your favourites ) and have money to invent more. THAT is how it benefits me and you as a consumer.
(are you saying that is wrong?)
No you can’t so you go off insinuating things which I never referred to or Twisting my statements segueing into way off directions .
(for EXAMPLE : “So are you going to tell me that poor or insufficient advertising is the reason not enough people are buying Macs to keep Apple interested?” I NEVER said that. It might not be THE reason but I DO believe that Ads can be ONE factor that can help Macs sell. that’s why Jobs ran so many of them, one new Mac ad a month — 66 different Mac Pc guy ads in 4 years. Or are you saying bad or Good Ads have NO EFFECT whatsoever ? i.e Jobs and companies like Apple spending billions on advertising are wrong as ads have no effect on sales at all ?
AND:
“I find it odd that you chose one dimension of a successfully run business to focus on”
huh? In my first post (go read it again ) I rather innocently said I’m glad they are making a Mac ad after so long and the recent ads for iPhone etc are better than the ‘Apple genius ‘ series at the start of Cooks’s tenure. I used it to show that Cook and Team CAN IMPROVE. THAT is ‘choosing one dimension ads to focus on’ ?
The reason I talked further on ads in my replies is because YOU brought up the subject (it’s not me ‘focusing’ on it).
that’s what i mean about you twisting and insinuating things which aren’t there.
actually I’m going to stop replying to your posts. I think I’ve done sufficient to answer them.
“Good Ads help Apple to Sell More which means they will continue their products (including your favourites ) and have money to invent more. THAT is how it benefits me and you as a consumer.
(are you saying that is wrong?)”
That statement may or may not stand to scrutiny.
Ads may or may not make money. Here we are agreed.
You need money to make products. Also agreed.
There is no connection that money will be used to make products YOU or I need. That extra ad generated money can (and does) get used in multitudes of ways.
As a consumer there are other far more significant factors that come way before ad generated revenue in getting products out the door. If they don’t happen first any ads are selling snake oil.
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2012
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2013
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2014
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2015
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2016
“We think Nokia’s business model was
very exciting.” - T.Cook 2017
“We think Blackberry’s business model was
very exciting.” – T.Cook 2017
“We think, um, gosh darn it, we um… – T.Cook 2018