“Several factors have changed in both the internals of Apple and the overall market to re-position the company not as a monopoly on new technology, but as a pure competitive business wielding brand alone,” Damon Verial writes for Seeking Alpha. “AAPL is no longer a growth stock, but a value stock that should be restructured as a future dividend aristocrat.”
“It was the release of the iPhone and iPad that gave Apple its monopoly, as no products (successful products, anyway – there were previous attempts by other companies) offered what these devices offered,” Verial writes. “With iPhone 5 being the last product Steve Jobs touched, Apple has lost its innovation, now owning a brand that must compete with the likes of Samsung, Sharp, and HTC.”
MacDailyNews Take: Oh, no! How will Apple ever be able to compete with that triumvirate of low- or no-profit peddlers of iPhone knockoffs, wannabes, and roadkill? Apple’s iPhone already owns 94%, and can soon reap 100 percent, of the world’s smartphone profits. And, BTW, Sharp? Seriously?
“Apple lost its monopoly, the main catalyst of its growth. It might be pushing out new products, but whether Steve Jobs, whom many would agree was the driving force of Apple’s innovation, would be a fan of these products is arguable,” Verial writes. “Apple’s release of the Apple Watch polarized Apple fans. It brought the company in competition for expensive real estate (the wrist) against watch companies. But more importantly, it didn’t drastically change the way people lived.”
MacDailyNews Take: Drastically changing how people live is not the goal. Significantly improving daily life via technology is the goal. Apple Watch, as over 90% of users will gladly tell you, accomplishes this feat very well, thanks. Before Apple Watch, we depleted our iPhone’s battery by the end of a typical day. After Apple Watch, our same iPhones had over 50% battery left over each day. That actually is a drastic change. iPhone zombies no more are we, thanks to Apple Watch.
Verial writes, “Today’s Apple has lost its innovation.”
Blah, blah, blah, nothing new to see here.
MacDailyNews Take: Just getting this one on record for future reference.