Apple Inc.

The apple model is a difficult model. Essentially it focused on design and usability. Problem is that these 2 often conflict, and hardware integration with software also is difficult. From the first day of iPhone it has been mocked as just another smartphone by Motorola to Nokia.

Today there are still many who still doesn't understand why the iPhone is like a mini miracle in design yet addresses a blatantly obvious problem then: full HTTP access with ease of use

Today I doubt Tim Cook who was a great Ops guy who contributed to the mini miracle, is however able to deliver the original unique driver of the iPhone or even the iPad. BTW the iPad blue print came out before iPhone and the idea of iPad is 30 years old

(13-01-2013, 07:36 PM)specuvestor Wrote: The apple model is a difficult model. Essentially it focused on design and usability. Problem is that these 2 often conflict, and hardware integration with software also is difficult. From the first day of iPhone it has been mocked as just another smartphone by Motorola to Nokia.

Today there are still many who still doesn't understand why the iPhone is like a mini miracle in design yet addresses a blatantly obvious problem then: full HTTP access with ease of use

Today I doubt Tim Cook who was a great Ops guy who contributed to the mini miracle, is however able to deliver the original unique driver of the iPhone or even the iPad. BTW the iPad blue print came out before iPhone and the idea of iPad is 30 years old

Due to nature of work, i was exploring Apple's product back in "Newton" (old PDA) era. I have to admit that Apple product is always superior over its competitors, in term of simplicity and ease-of-use.

IMO, What make iPhone and iPad popular are total integration of software, hardware and "ecosystem" around it, on top of its superior design and usability. It is not an easy task due to its volume. Steve Jobs did it within Apple and with its partners.

Few people realize that at the core Apple is a software company. Design and style is to integrate with the software. See Jobs interviews in Everthing Digital.

The first hurdle was not mass volume in terms of 100m. It was more like 5m. Apple was the first to use capacitors touch with TPK and people thought they were crazy as it was low yield and very expensive. They also used colored resistors and capacitors in the original iMac which was also difficult as colors fade from heat.

And much more stories on design and usabilities but suffice to say not many people can pull this kind of dream together. He was also "lucky" enough that his nemesis Gates was no longer running Microsoft. Gates may look nerdy but he is ruthless and wouldn't have allowed Apple's dominance in mobile devices. As an example of how clueless Balmer is, when apple changed their software name to iOS for mobile devices, Balmer introduced Windows PHONE OS. He still thought the future is in phones Balmer is totally outclassed

Bloomberg cited the Nikkei newswire as having reported that Apple Inc. had cut component orders for its iPhone 5 due to weaker-than-expected demand. This resulted in a 3.6% decline in Apple’s share price.

According to the article, Apple had slashed its iPhone 5 display orders by about half from 65m units. We believe this is due largely to competitive pressures from Android-enabled smartphones.



haizzzz (not invested but thinking about buying, any advise?)

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closing to the $500 mark liao

Apple results could show that high-flying profits have succumbed to gravity

NEW YORK — Apple prefers surprises. Speculation – often informed – is always rife before the company makes its latest announcements but the computer giant itself never comments. On Wednesday, Apple boss Tim Cook may have another surprise in store, although it has been predicted by many: The tech firm’s first decline in profit for nine years.

Things have been difficult for Apple recently. Its shares have lost 20 per cent in the last three months and they closed on Friday at US$500 (S$614), down from an all-time high of US$705.07 when the iPhone 5 launched last September.
--TODAYonline

http://www.todayonline.com/tech/apple-re...ed-gravity

iPhone outsold by Made-in-China competitor
BEIJING — Apple is being outsold in China, the world’s largest handset market, by a company less than 1 per cent its size, highlighting how the lack of low-cost products limits the iPhone-maker in emerging nations.

China Wireless Technologies is one of four domestic suppliers outselling Apple in China with smartphones tailored to the budget of the nation’s budding middle class. Its Coolpad 8060 retails for 619 yuan (S$122) less than 20 per cent the price of the cheapest iPhone.

http://www.todayonline.com/tech/gadgets/...competitor

apple down 10% last night, rest in peace, gg

(not vested)

they make it seem like this is a funeral.

Various ideas been raised... installment for phone? Contract with mobile operator for phone subsidy, is common in Singapore, but not in China. It should be a good reason for it.

Analysts say it should offer instalment financing, not build low-cost iPhones

HONG KONG — Apple’s third straight disappointing quarter signals an urgent need for the global technology leader to drum up new revenue — and China may provide the answer.

Now more than ever, analysts say, Apple needs to get it right in the world’s most populous country, where it ranks only sixth in annual smartphone sales and Samsung Electronics remains the runaway leader.

http://www.todayonline.com/tech/apple-ey...lice-china

a spectacular fall of AAPL since its earning announcement.

I haven't full studies it yet, but I think it is not the first time Apple hits a wall. IMO, the last big hit of Apple is IPod. If I am not wrong, IPod in the end must have encountered similar problems. With increasingly mp3 player becoming a commodity, IPod reduced its profit margin to compete. Nowadays, people still buy Ipod, but does it have to be IPod? there are many cheap alternatives, Ipod sure is not value for money.

IPhone and IPad will go the same way very soon. Will Apple introduce a low end IPhone? Very likely, there is still quite some money to be made by Apple in the smartphone market? But the glorious days are gone unless Apple can have something innovative as IPhone coming.

I don't buy the iTV hype. TV is just TV, Apple, imo, is focusing on content distribution, rather than, a TV device, similar to iTune music sale.