“The iPhone is 7 years old. The iPad was introduced 4 years ago. Since then… nothing,” Jean-Louis Gassée writes for Monday Note. “Apple’s growth is gone: a mere 9% revenue uptick in 2013; only 6% for the last quarter.”
“It’s time to acknowledge the painfully obvious truth: Innovation has deserted Apple. Something must have gone seriously wrong if the company can no longer break into new categories,” Gassée writes. “This is the refrain that echoes through the Web… and this is the toxic waste of success.”
“Putting hopes for Apple’s future on a magical New Category misunderstands the company’s real direction. Instead, Apple stays the course and continues to play its Ecosystem Game. Many interpret this as a company in death throes,” Gassée writes. “In 2013, Apple increased its R&D spending by 32%; 2012 was +39%. In the previous two fiscal years ending last September — and without entering any new category — Apple increased its R&D spending by 83% to $4.5B, 3% of revenue. And then it increased it by another 33% in the December, 2013 quarter. Accelerated R&D spending can only mean one thing: Apple is widening the range of products under development. Let’s just hope company execs continue to be as good as they’ve been in the past at saying No, at not shipping everything they engineer.
Read more in the full article here.