“Apple Inc. signaled that the long wait for new products is nearing an end,” Adam Satariano reports for Bloomberg. “With bigger-screen handsets in development, Apple said yesterday that shoppers are delaying buying new iPhones, which will weigh on sales in the current quarter ending in September.”
“Yet rather than dissuade buyers from procrastinating, Apple stoked anticipation for new devices on a conference call, with Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook talking about an ‘incredible pipeline’ that ‘we can’t wait to show you,’ and finance chief Luca Maestri declaring it would be a ‘very busy fall,'” Satariano reports. “Looking ahead to new gadgets is the main reason investors barely reacted to Apple’s fiscal third-quarter results yesterday. The world’s most valuable company posted a 12 percent rise in net income to $7.75 billion and a 6 percent revenue increase to $37.4 billion, with strong iPhone and Mac sales making up for a drop in iPad demand.”
MacDailyNews Take: There wouldn’t be any dissuading anyway: Every iPhone buyer with a pulse has heard new iPhones with larger displays are coming. We’re all in wait and see mode now. Apple and everyone else knows that there’s no way around it. The late summer pause in iPhone sales has become an expected, routine event.
“Investors were buzzing about Apple’s coming slew of products. The Cupertino, California-based company, which hasn’t released a new mobile device since last year, is working on larger-screen iPhones, a potential wearable device and an upgrade to Apple TV, people familiar with the plans have said,” Satariano reports. “Maestri, who took over as Apple’s chief financial officer this year, said in an interview that the trend of customers waiting for new releases is especially pronounced in English-speaking countries where more rumors are spread online about the company’s product pipeline. He said Apple took that phenomenon into account when crafting its outlook for the current quarter. The company projected sales of $37 billion to $40 billion, slightly below the $40.6 billion estimated by analysts. ‘We’re seeing some purchase delays and we’ve reflected that in our guidance,’ Maestri said. ‘It happens. We have to live with that.'”
Read more in the full article here.
Reveling in the utter folly and short-sightedness of the “After Hours” traders yesterday afternoon. Depending upon the size of their fallback, of course, they could be hurtin’ units today! (AAPL +2.13 at this moment; after hours – .57 or so.)
Make that +2.42 right now! Some people just can’t see the forest for the trees.
Too many nervous Barney Fife investor’s with their finger on the “sell” button. Ye of little faith = ye of little return.
Apple needs to get back to releasing products in June like they used to, Waiting till the fall is a lousy strategy for them because everyone is waiting to see whats really coming. I’m ready for a new iPhone- but I want to see both sizes in person before I buy anything
Yeah man, the whole fall release thing sucks. It was so awesome when new iPhones dropped in the summer.
Agree. Summer is the ticket releases are stretched out too far. Are design, engineering, production and/or execution issues in play?
Is this a hint that there might not be any new products released next quarter?
Or they could possibly release one or two things that they think will only see modest sales; just enough to make up for the iPhone’s annual wait-for-the-new-model sales dip?
Personally, I wish they’d move back to product updates and releases year round. It makes sense for the operating systems to be released in the Fall after the developers conference, but hardware products can and should be released throughout the year.
With distinct models in their iPad and iPhone line, they could stagger product releases throughout the year….
1. New iPad model released during the back-to-school season; mid to late summer.
2. Get back to updating and releasing iPods for the Holiday season. I mean honestly, time it after their iTunes Festival. All iPod’s come with the iTunes Festival preloaded.
3. Keep the flagship iPhone where it’s at in the Fall, alongside the release of iOS.
4. Release an iPad model to mid to late Winter.
5. Release the “plastic” iPhone model early Spring.
The Mac is kind of up in the air, because they’re dependent on Intel’s release schedule.
@Rob
The reason Apple waits until the end of the year is quite simple, and yet sad at the same time. By waiting until the end of the year, Apple does two things:
One, it removes the ability for copiers (Samsung, and others) to produce truly competitive products in time for the holiday season
Two, It creates psychological demand for a product into the new year.
If you want Apple to start releasing products earlier in the year, take every opportunity possible to tell people to STOP buying knock off products. When Apple CAN release a product in June without facing cheap copy-cats a few months later, it WILL.
There’s no reason Apple can’t release one model or product in the Fall for the holiday season and then another during some other point in the year.
Releasing everything at once creates a lull during the rest of the year that gives competitors an opportunity to take possible sales away from Apple. The brilliance in releasing products throughout the year is all free advertising and continuous mindshare they used to enjoy that made competitors envious.
Today all the publicity Apple gets during the rest of the year is usually negative.
There’s absolutely no reason for Apple to tell consumers to stop buying competitor’s “iToo” products – begging is an act of desperation. I think dragging those competitors into court says enough about how they feel.
Saying, “You stole our product!” shows how much you feel you’ve worked at creating something.
Saying, “Don’t buy their product!” shows how much you feel your product can’t directly compete.
I would say that is a double edged sword since it is entirely possible that parallel invention could rear its head and a competitor release a product with new features similar to that in the new Apple product thus diminishing the ‘wow’ factor and makes Apple look like a copier. (e.g. the screen size change may already be unconsciously thought of as Apple being a follower since the small size of the iPhones till recently has been a major selling point)
EVERY iPhone buyer knows, MDN? That may be the stupidest take ever.