Everything else Apple does has but one raison d’être: They push up the volumes and margins of the company’s main hardware products. I suggested a simpler, sharper statement: Apple makes personal computers, small, medium, and large. I thought that the “Enriching Lives” credo, while mellifluent, could mean anything and thus fails to be a cynosure, a North Star for company employees. In a 2021 MN, I criticized Apple management for making vague identity statements. This led me to reconsider my interpretation of Apple’s business model and the way the company thinks of itself. Perhaps it has reached a stage where it will survive - and no doubt thrive - by simply improving existing devices, relying on its tentacular array of services to bring in new customers and fortify the loyalty of its faithful. One can’t call Apple hopeless - too many critics have had to eat their “Apple is Doomed” proclamations - but without a Next Big Thing in its future, Apple could be viewed as living in incremental mode. There was an interesting Satellite Communication feature, currently for emergency use only, but otherwise I had a hard time summoning his level of excitement.Ĭertainly, Apple continues to move its products forward, but with little hope for another breakthrough of iPhone proportions. Kumparak’s breathlessness is somewhat facetious. “New iPhones! New Apple Watches! New AirPods!”, exclaims Greg Kumparak of TechCrunch. I was thinking about all of this while watching Tim Cook and his team of presenters introduce new Apple Watches, AirPod Pros, and improved iPhones during Apple’s latest unveiling event. I hope I’m wrong on one or more of these opportunities, but I just don’t see a huge new Apple hardware growth wave in our future. The car project looks unrealistically adventurous AR devices, while more likely, probably wouldn’t enjoy the everywhere-all-the-time use that is the mark of smartphones and, while the healthcare field is huge and open to more effective ways to spend our money, doing-well-while-doing-good devices, such as hearing aids, don’t offer iPhone-like potential. We’ve looked at three fields of opportunity: The unacknowledged Apple Car (the “Titan” project), Augmented Reality (AR) devices, and forays into the healthcare market, none of which is a feasible candidate. The numbers aren’t directly disclosed but reliable sources estimate tens of billions of dollars in net revenue, the riches Apple gets to keep after paying developers. And this doesn’t count App Store revenue, mostly for iPhone apps. For perspective, 2021 iPhone revenue was $192B, more than half of Apple’s total revenue of $366B, this from almost nothing ($123M) in 2007. The past three Monday Notes ( here, here and here) looked at possible candidates for Apple’s NBT (Next Big Thing), a product category that could launch an iPhone-like growth wave now that the smartphone market approaches saturation. Lacking a magical new product of iPhone proportions, the company, its focus, and its culture are bound to change.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |