It's Time To Admit That Apple Is Blowing It

Samsung 2013 YTQ Net Income: $26.2 Billion
Apple 2013 YTQ Income: $37.03 Billion
Click to expand...

Samsung's 2013 Q3 net income was $9.56 billion, up 7% from Q2, and a whopping 26% over 2012 Q3

Apple's 2013 Q3 net income was $7.4 billion, down from $8.2 billion for 2012 Q3

Hardly BS. Samsung handing them their asses.
 
pigpen said:
I think the Note 3 could have been huge but it just didn't materialize. Their was so much heat built up for it. Had it actually delivered on half it's promises, it could have taken the top seat. Especially vs the really lame new iphone lineup. As it is though, the Note 3 was basically just a more complicated Note 2, probably didn't pull any iphone users to it, and now the iphone 6 is going to have a Note 3 sized screen and the chance Samsung had is gone.
Click to expand...

What promises did the note 3 not deliver on, and second I am pretty sure that a phablet was never going to be the mass market phone. In the real non tech world I have only heard one common complain about the note 3, it is too big. That is the only reason people don't buy it. What could Samsung do to solve that? Simple include a stylus in the Galaxy S5. You appear to live in an alternate reality because last I checked their is not a single mass market phablet that is as feature rich as the note 3.

The iP6 wont have a note sized screen for the very reason I listed above. They may bring out a new phone like the iPhone Pro or something to run along side the iPhone 6.

As far as apple taking back the lost share I disagree. I think people are all pinning it on just the big screen, its way more than that. Its all the little things that are adding up to a missed sale here and another one there. Removable battery, SD expansion, Stylus, IR emitters. Apple is never coming back their business model works very well during the explosive growth of a product cycle but once things mature they never offer people the choices, flexibility etc...
 
Qinsp said:
I love my iPhone. My MacBookPro and iPad are collecting dust though. Well designed, but useless.

Does Apple sell anything I want to buy today? No.

And in there lies the problem. This is a luxury brand name. You need desire. I'm not seeing anything Apple offers today that gives me wood.
Click to expand...
that's because you own one of each of their products. lol
 
I don't see how Apple is "blowing it". GS4 sales are lackluster, barely better than the GS3 from last year. This year Samsung's high end smartphone sales will be 1/5 of their total sales while a year ago it was nearly half. HTC is canning their high end phones and LG might follow them soon.

At the same time Apple sold 9 million iPhones in a weekend. It took over a month for the GS4 to sell what the iPhone 5S did in a day.

Mobile hardware sales in developing nations and for low-cost/contract-free folks are where this explosion has been. The story here is that low end Android sales are exploding. This hasn't been at the expense of high end devices as those have been growing as well, it just hasn't been at nearly the same rate. Apple's sales are still growing year over year, iOS still dominates mobile online traffic, ad revenue, app revenue, despite there being 5x as many Android devices out there.

Five people on low end devices aren't going to use it the same way a single heavy user on something like an iPhone or GS4 will.
 
nilepez said:
Meanwhile, Samsung has the Galaxy as it's normal phone, with a screen that dwarfs the iPhone, the Note dwarfs the Galaxy and the Mega is bigger still.
Click to expand...

The problem with this argument is that high and Galay and Note sales are hardly better than last year's, while during the same time period the iPhone is selling better than it ever has.

The important thing is low end sales to low income and developing markets, that's where truly explosive growth is right now. High end Android hasn't made much of a dent given it still has a minority share of mobile online traffic, ad revenue, app revenue, and an ever shrinking percentage of Samsung's smartphone sales.
 
Apple is just coming down to reality. It would have slid earlier if it wasn't for Steve Jobs death the day after the iPhone 4S announcement. IMO, Tim Cook got a break that year between the 4S and the 5.
 
I'm a developer. I choose apple for dev purposes because I'm lazy. Crap only needs to be tested on a few devices. The various screen resolution and phone specs make it really hard to do anything for an android. You will always have better apps on the apple because it is so closed off and you can actually properly test things. With android you just test on what you personally use and cross your fingers on the rest which leads to apps crashing the phones far more often. Googles win came from variety but its LOSS is also coming from the variety. They need to pick a release say 5.0 and lock down to "minimum specs" on everything like 2Gb RAM, certain processors and stabilize the environment.
 
Apple survived for years in the PC world as the smaller player to Microsoft's dominant position ... I think Samsung should eventually force the other Android players out (Moto, LG, etc) so that they are the sole player against Apple ... nothing wrong about that from a corporate standpoint (it will be extremely good for profits at both companies) ... Apple should do quite well with somewhere between 10-20% of the market and Samsung dominating the other 80-90% (like Microsoft did) ... there are too many companies using Android right now (which is why they don't make any profit) and the market should settle down once the others leave the market
 
pxc said:
If only every other company could fail so well.

clickbait
Click to expand...

I see it more of a failure following a lot of past successes. I can go out and buy a iPad Air. I could a day or two after release. Previous models were hard to find right at launch. Their brand popularity is declining. Still, on the whole - very successful company. But, in comparison to 2005-2012 (ish), it's not as good as it was.
 
My opinion apple has never made anything worth a dam so I can't possibly see how they have blown it when they never had anything anyways.
 
As usual I disagree with [H]. Maybe because my experiences are real world and on the front lines while other's experiences are based off what they're reading. Out of 1,000+ mobile devices that my company uses we are constantly adding iOS users. Blackberry users have declined from the vast majority to (at current counts) 22. In the past year we've added 2-3 Android users while everyone we onboard or migrate wants an iPhone 5 and an iPad. I am however in Silicon Valley and Apple HQ just happens to be 1-2 exits down the freeway.
 
Fooshnik said:
I think primarily Apple has failed to innovate. Recycling the same design elements from four years ago isn't going to drive people to the Apple store. That, and they have a reputation for being owned by douchy hipsters, and no one wants to look like one of those.
Click to expand...

You haven't been to SF or Seattle.
 
Dr_John said:
Samsung's 2013 Q3 net income was $9.56 billion, up 7% from Q2, and a whopping 26% over 2012 Q3

Apple's 2013 Q3 net income was $7.4 billion, down from $8.2 billion for 2012 Q3

Hardly BS. Samsung handing them their asses.
Click to expand...


You are comparing the hardware launch months of one company to the month preceding hardware launch of another company.
 
shade91 said:
As usual I disagree with [H]. Maybe because my experiences are real world and on the front lines while other's experiences are based off what they're reading. Out of 1,000+ mobile devices that my company uses we are constantly adding iOS users. Blackberry users have declined from the vast majority to (at current counts) 22. In the past year we've added 2-3 Android users while everyone we onboard or migrate wants an iPhone 5 and an iPad. I am however in Silicon Valley and Apple HQ just happens to be 1-2 exits down the freeway.
Click to expand...

That may be a real world experience, but it's an anomaly. Two-to-three Android users and out of a thousand, the rest want iPhones? It's such a huge contradiction to the sales figures so I'm not sure what valid conclusions can be drawn from it.
 
I went from a Iphone 4 to a Note3. IOS7 turned my easy to use handset into a slug. The 5s was wholly unimpressive, so I jumped to the beauty of the Samsung. Only, I found a pain in the ass OS that does more to fight you than work with you. Do not get me wrong, with effort and patience, I have this thing doing close to what I want, but Apple made the process so much easier.


Apple is like MS only it has its own semi-proprietary hardware that helps eliminate conflicts.
 
Although I dislike Apple and the crowd it draws, I think its possible that the decline in sales could be related to how our devices and are lasting us longer today. How much more CPU and RAM do you really need to browse the net, check email, and play angry birds? Maybe they're aware of this and thats why they let you put the new iOS on the phone only to slow it to shit and make you want a new phone again.
 
5150Joker said:
When Apple's 4.7" and 5+" iPhone 6 hits next year, they'll finally be in a position to take back some of that lost market share. I'm currently using a Note 1 and haven't bothered upgrading to the latest iterations because I find Android too laggy and inconsistent. While it offers more features than iOS and is easy to root, it simply is not nearly as fast/smooth or stable. Working in the medical field, I need something fast, dependable with a long battery life and Apple + iOS deliver in spades.
Click to expand...

Yeah there's a couple things that make me chuckle about these kind of columns.
1) I would NEVER buy non-native Google hardware if I'm going Android. I'm still sticking to that, and it's why I bought a Nexus 5.
2) The Nexus 5, like any other smartphone is a compromise. It feels cheap (but is also cheap). The off-center vibration mechanism doesn't help dispel the cheapness of phone.
3) I've used a 4s for 2 years (iOS5, 6, and 7) and the Nexus 5 now for two weeks. Even with KitKat, on a Nexus 5, there is still a slight bit of input lag. Certainly not noticeable to 95% of the populace, but it's damn noticeable to me.
3b) I knew beforehand how much of a drop-off there is in Android optics in general. It still isn't even close to as good as the 4s...which is pretty fuckin sad. But, considering how bad Android optics have been in the past, it's a compromise that I accepted for the larger screen - for now.

Those points aside, it's not like I don't like the Nexus 5. It works. But it's a compromise.
Going back to the 4s now would be hilarious (the drop-off from the 4.95" screen to the 3.5" screen is massive). I absolutely abhor phablets, so if the Nexus 5 had gone any bigger than the Nexus 4, I wouldn't have considered it in the first place. But the 5" size is the perfect compromise.

Android still doesn't feel smooth - I come from a Catleap 2B, so yeah, UI smoothness is a big fucking deal to me and Android still can be improved. I guess we'll see in 2014, but the door remains wide open.
 
I wonder what the participants in this thread will think of the Mac pros shipping next month.
 
Optics - as in lens quality. In short, taking pictures that at least match the 4s in sharpness. This is more a question of hardware many times (lens + sensor, then firmware).

I know from comparisons to my friend's Nexus 4, earlier this year, that the Nexus 4 was pretty awful. My hope was that at least with the Nexus 5, we'd have something to match the 2-year old 4s. I can't say with any confidence that the Nexus 5 has accomplished it. The talk about improved AF performance also makes me chuckle. How much worse was it before - cuz it's not exactly impressive on the Nexus 5.

Photospheres was certainly a draw for me to try out Android, and that's fun of course. I just don't want to know that the quality of shots are being held back by less than optimal lens. And with the Nexus 5, I still feel like it's a compromise.
 
Mav451 said:
Optics - as in lens quality. In short, taking pictures that at least match the 4s in sharpness. This is more a question of hardware many times (lens + sensor, then firmware).

I know from comparisons to my friend's Nexus 4, earlier this year, that the Nexus 4 was pretty awful. My hope was that at least with the Nexus 5, we'd have something to match the 2-year old 4s. I can't say with any confidence that the Nexus 5 has accomplished it. The talk about improved AF performance also makes me chuckle. How much worse was it before - cuz it's not exactly impressive on the Nexus 5.

Photospheres was certainly a draw for me to try out Android, and that's fun of course. I just don't want to know that the quality of shots are being held back by less than optimal lens. And with the Nexus 5, I still feel like it's a compromise.
Click to expand...

you keep talking about the nexus 5 and 4 as if they are somehow autonomous to Google. They are manufactured by LG. If you are that concerned about the quality of the camera in your phone, there's other options that are directly sold from Google....
 
I've trained myself to avoid replying to any stupidity on these forums, as there's nothing to be gained and I have no problem with people remaining ignorant.

But I will say that the Note 3 is probably the best phone you can buy right now.
 
kingk said:
you keep talking about the nexus 5 and 4 as if they are somehow autonomous to Google. They are manufactured by LG. If you are that concerned about the quality of the camera in your phone, there's other options that are directly sold from Google....
Click to expand...

Well you've seen how many times I've said compromise. I even could have even looked outside of Android for a smartphone if I was *that* focused on camera performance...but I ended up going with Android for now. I think they are very much synonymous because it's the Nexus line.

If you're talking about the other Google-edition alternatives (e.g. HTC One or SGS4), they are both dramatically more expensive, $599 and $649 respectively, - and also aren't initially available at release either :p

Is increased optics worth $250-$300? Not really no.
 
Mav451 said:
Well you've seen how many times I've said compromise. I even could have even looked outside of Android for a smartphone if I was *that* focused on camera performance...but I ended up going with Android for now. I think they are very much synonymous because it's the Nexus line.

If you're talking about the other Google-edition alternatives (e.g. HTC One or SGS4), they are both dramatically more expensive, $599 and $649 respectively, - and also aren't initially available at release either :p

Is increased optics worth $250-$300? Not really no.
Click to expand...

I didn't say synonymous, I said autonomous... But OK, you compromised on price... Not "Google optics" or "native Google hardware"' or what ever that nonsense was you were saying...
 
kingk said:
I didn't say synonymous, I said autonomous... But OK, you compromised on price... Not "Google optics" or "native Google hardware"' or what ever that nonsense was you were saying...
Click to expand...
he's just pointing out that a $350 dollar android phone sanctioned by google has a shittier camera than the two year old iPhone 4s--and that camera was widely regarded as shitty already.
 
haz_mat said:
Although I dislike Apple and the crowd it draws, I think its possible that the decline in sales could be related to how our devices and are lasting us longer today. How much more CPU and RAM do you really need to browse the net, check email, and play angry birds? Maybe they're aware of this and thats why they let you put the new iOS on the phone only to slow it to shit and make you want a new phone again.
Click to expand...

While I agree with this, Apple typically can get people to upgrade to their latest and greatest no matter how small the update really is. This is where I see Apple falling (not really a failure, but slipping a bit). People ARE holding on to their old phones instead of upgrading to the newest release. Does that mean Apple sucks (well, I don't like them, but speaking objectively here)? No. It's like going from an 95% to a 92%. Still an A, but not as good as it was doing in the past.
 
Apple is a small boutique seller. Everyone else is like the walmarts of the phone industry. Apple initially started with a product that NO OTHER COMPANY had on the market. However as generations passed, Walmarts popped up (aka Sammy, HTC, and the boatload of mfgs that we have never heard of but use Droid) and offered similar features of the iPhone at price points that Apple can never sell their own items for. Consumers realized that they wanted a smartphone, went to their local electronics store. On one end they saw the latest and greatest from Apple for $199 w/ 2 year contract, and on the other they saw a table lined with hundreds and hundreds of phones that looked similar and tended to offer features handpicked from the Apple line for prices ranging from $-100 (you make 100 dollars after rebate) to $199 w 2 year agreement. The consumer was like i rather pocket $200 for something else and "i guess this is the same phone for a cheaper price" and voila Walmart 1 Apple 0.

Look not saying Apple is better than Samsung, and the rest of Droid MFGS or vice versa, but consumers hold the ultimate power in making a business succeed. If you can`t cater to majority demographic, you better either hold on for life by running lean and pricing products with the greatest profit margins, or you close up shop when you have to. Innovation can help, but with stiff competition, you need a combination of innovation in future technology that no one can offer and price competitiveness. The 5C is a miserable example from Apple. Off contract, the price off a 5C is about $300 dollars off the 5s. Thats terrible.
 
samm said:
Apple is a small boutique seller. Everyone else is like the walmarts of the phone industry. Apple initially started with a product that NO OTHER COMPANY had on the market. However as generations passed, Walmarts popped up (aka Sammy, HTC, and the boatload of mfgs that we have never heard of but use Droid) and offered similar features of the iPhone at price points that Apple can never sell their own items for. Consumers realized that they wanted a smartphone, went to their local electronics store. On one end they saw the latest and greatest from Apple for $199 w/ 2 year contract, and on the other they saw a table lined with hundreds and hundreds of phones that looked similar and tended to offer features handpicked from the Apple line for prices ranging from $-100 (you make 100 dollars after rebate) to $199 w 2 year agreement. The consumer was like i rather pocket $200 for something else and "i guess this is the same phone for a cheaper price" and voila Walmart 1 Apple 0.

Look not saying Apple is better than Samsung, and the rest of Droid MFGS or vice versa, but consumers hold the ultimate power in making a business succeed. If you can`t cater to majority demographic, you better either hold on for life by running lean and pricing products with the greatest profit margins, or you close up shop when you have to. Innovation can help, but with stiff competition, you need a combination of innovation in future technology that no one can offer and price competitiveness. The 5C is a miserable example from Apple. Off contract, the price off a 5C is about $300 dollars off the 5s. Thats terrible.
Click to expand...

Wrong. Apple is dominating the US market. Its globally that the iPhone in particular is getting marginalized...
 
Apple has a gigantic install base of brainwashed users that refuse anything but Apple products. The layman has accepted Apple on so many levels for products they use to engorge themselves on technological media.

All Apple has to do is keep releasing minor dumb updates to its hardware lines each year and people who've spend fortunes developing their own personal ecosystem around the Apple experience will happily spend there hard earned cash over and over again.

However the days of Apple introducing game changers like the iPhone and the iPad are now long over. Without a Steve Jobs roaming the halls of Apple HQ's threatening everything from legal action to hiring a group of thugs to beat the shit out of anyone that leaks Apple products. However the ability for Apple to drop a bomb like the iPhone on the public without any previous knowledge of such and create a long lasting and absolutely undeniable world over identifiable brand of products in a previously untouched area for them is completely and totally over. Tim Cook couldn't innovate a piece of toast into a toaster.
 
If you want the best "optics" it sure as hell isn't the iPhone, the Nokia made Windows phones have the best cameras, hands down.
I can't stand Windows phones myself, but my aunt has one. Two of my cousins have iPhones, the rest have various Motorola, HTC and Samsung Androids and I have a LG Optimus G (13mp). Out of everyone in the family, my aunt's pictures come out consistently the nicest.
My 2 cousins with the iPhones only use them because they're tied into the Apple cloud ecosystem, they've already sunk a ton of money into the Apple App Store and don't want to start over with Android. They're both tired of smaller screens and "the same phone" coming out over and over again.
The rest of us use Androids because we like larger screens, flexibility, the ability to use a micro sd card (yes, I'm aware mine doesn't allow the micro sd and is basically a re-branded Nexus 4) and customizing our phones the way we want.
Not one company makes a perfect phone, each user wants something different, each phone provides a different experience.
Apple provides a "dumbed down" user experience that never changes from phone to phone.
Windows provides a "really dumbed down" user experience.
Android provides a different experience from OS to OS, from manufacturer to manufacturer, from top to bottom price range. Every new phone is a learning experience with new features.
 
Not everyone owns a Porsche and they don't want to see one to everyone. Apple should be ecstatic that they hold such a large market share and they are doing well doing so.
 
I have been a loyal iPhone user. I was patiently waiting for iOS7 to shake things up a bit and IMO they blew it there.

I really dislike it and I know a lot of others who feel the same. A lot of people I know are not even upgrading from iOS6. This is unheard of in the Apple ecosystem.
 
Grentz said:
I have been a loyal iPhone user. I was patiently waiting for iOS7 to shake things up a bit and IMO they blew it there.

I really dislike it and I know a lot of others who feel the same. A lot of people I know are not even upgrading from iOS6. This is unheard of in the Apple ecosystem.
Click to expand...

I'm still running 5.1 on my 4s.
 
Ur_Mom said:
While I agree with this, Apple typically can get people to upgrade to their latest and greatest no matter how small the update really is. This is where I see Apple falling (not really a failure, but slipping a bit). People ARE holding on to their old phones instead of upgrading to the newest release. Does that mean Apple sucks (well, I don't like them, but speaking objectively here)? No. It's like going from an 95% to a 92%. Still an A, but not as good as it was doing in the past.
Click to expand...

People have their own definition of failure at different points in time and who they are looking at. As most people and they will tell you that Microsoft is failing in every category, I mean that is why they are looking for a new CEO right?

looking at OS market shares and not comparing them against each other but just the users of a given OS line. Looking at OS X users. about 42.8% are still on OS X 10.8, only 10.8% are on OX 10.9 (newest version), then 20.6% are on 10.6 and 20.1% are on 10.6. So a large percentage of their users are still 1 or more version of the OS back. People didn't rush to 10.9.

Looking at Windows. 51.2% are on Windows 7, 10.2% are on 8/8.1 (8.3% 8 + 1.9% 8.1, which 8.1 is more of a service pack than a new os so counting together), 34.4% on XP.

number wise they really aren't much different. For both windows and OS X about 10% of their users are on the most recent release. about 1/2 are still on the previous release. With a still large percent being on older versions. However Windows 8 is considered a failure in every way, and OS X is considered to be going strong?

Even looking at your comment of going from a 95 to a 92. They have dropped more than that in the market shares of phones. So I would have to say that they are starting to blow it more and more. Wouldn't try to say that they are a complete failure but would have to say that they are losing ground and not able to get all people to buy their latest and greatest as they once did.
 
shade91 said:
Bullshit.

Samsung 2013 YTQ Net Income: $26.2 Billion
Apple 2013 YTQ Income: $37.03 Billion

Apples is triple that of Google's, nearly quadruple. My one single Android experience (HTC Droid Incredible) was a nightmare - a crashing and horribly slow phone with an awful touch screen.
Click to expand...

I bet the first time you had sex too it wasn't as good as it could have been, did you swear it off forever though?

Let's also remember the first iphone didn't even have a freaking copy and paste function using your logic I should have sworn off all smartphones forever due to the terrible experience.

I don't have any particular problem with apple hardware or software, if it works for you and you like it great. I have a problem with their cult like following, the people, and how stupid they can be for forking over thousands year after year for the same damn product.

Many similarities can be drawn between Apple and North Korea's propaganda machine, "it's great and magical because say so, all heil the ghost of our dear leader jobs". If someone gets their jollies on their knees in front of the ghost of steve jobs, more power to you, but just FYI there is a whole different world out there beyond his magical distortion field.
 
kingk said:
Wrong. Apple is dominating the US market. Its globally that the iPhone in particular is getting marginalized...
Click to expand...

They're #1, but Android is the market leader overall. Apples does some things very right, like updating the OS, instead of hoping the Carrier will do it (we generally don't), but I think we're going to see a shift in the next few years, unless Apple makes some big changes. Furthermore, if they lose the international battle, that doesn't bode well, because eventually, Developers will decide Android is the platform for them (assuming people are PAYING for apps, which they currently aren't).

And, of course, it's always possible, however unlikely, that MS will actually become a player again. Most Windows Phone users seem to like the OS, but sales are pathetic, and I know very few that use them, but most went from iOS to Win phone, and given that they liked iOS, and like Win better, that's promising for MS....but sales still suck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top