“Foxconn, Apple’s main assembly partner, on Tuesday declared its first-ever annual sales decline since going public in 1991, something reportedly linked to weak demand from Apple prior to the arrival of the iPhone 7,” Roger Fingas reports for AppleInsider.
“Foxconn’s 2016 revenues were $136.38 billion, 2.81 percent lower than in 2015, according to Nikkei,” Fingas reports. “Apple accounts for over 50 percent of Foxconn’s revenue, closely linking the two companies.”
“Last year [Apple] posted its first annual sales decline since 2001, something directly related to lower iPhone sales. The latter problem was regularly blamed on lukewarm demand for the iPhone 6s,” Fingas reports. “Slowing sales even led Apple to issue a pay cut for its executive team, including CEO Tim Cook, whose compensation was docked by $1.5 million for failure to meet the company’s internal goals.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iPhone struggles (in the press and sales) every other year is, plain and simple, a marketing failure.
Death to the S!
Note that the only thing “different” to the non-tech-savvy general public about iPhone 7 versus the iPhone 6s is the naming scheme. The down year was the self-defeatingly-named “S” model. The whole number iPhone model is expected to show growth despite looking pretty much the same.
There are plenty of numbers in the universe. Infinite, actually. Don’t worry, Apple, you won’t run out. – MacDailyNews, October 4, 2011
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It’s as if Apple is naming iPhone models solely for their own internal inventory purposes, just so they can keep track of which model is which, with no regard for how the iPhones are perceived by the rest of the world – the media, the customers, etc. – outside One Infinite Loop.
The “S” doesn’t stand for “Speed,” it stands for “Stupid.” Yes, we know it’s the same case design; we know the “S” version is the one you make the big margins on; we get it. Call it the “S” internally if you must, but don’t be so engineer-ish that you insist on calling it that on the box, too!
It’s not about sales figures or the model’s success (as long as “iPhone” is in the name, it will be a success), it’s about setting a tone. In this case, with the “S,” Apple sets a tone that they are just making an incremental update… Why gift the naysayers with the opportunity, Apple? — MacDailyNews Take, April 5, 2013
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Apple, enough with the stupid iPhone ‘S’ naming already.
iPhone “S” years usher in hugely significant features, such as oleophobic displays, significant GPU improvements, world phone capability, Siri personal assistant, video stabilization, panorama photos, 64-bit processors, TD-LTE support, Touch ID, and 3D Touch, among other improvements and additions. Each year’s iPhone deserves its own number. By not doing so, Apple is shooting itself in the foot; handicapping iPhones with an “S” every other year. Why Tim Cook or Phil Schiller haven’t put an end to this stupid – yes, stupid – “S” naming is inexplicable. Why don’t you just name it “iPhone No Big Deal This Year,” Tim and Phil?
Here’s what you say onstage and in the press release when there’s no “iPhone 7s” and you jump directly from iPhone 7 to iPhone 8: “The improvements are such that the new iPhone deserves its own number.” Period. Done. Mission accomplished. It’s your naming convention, Apple, and you can correct your stupid mistake at any time. – MacDailyNews, September 16, 2015
SEE ALSO:
Gartner expects weaker YOY iPhone volume performance from 2016’s iPhone 6s, return to growth in 2017 with iPhone 7 – October 6, 2016