
Apple to post its first quarterly revenue decline since 2003 - baldfat
http://recode.net/2016/04/26/apple-earnings-preview-growth-phone/
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brandon272
From my perspective as an Apple fan and consumer, when I look at the current
iPhone 6S offering and the current Macbook product lines, I feel as though
Apple's value proposition is eroding.

It wasn't long ago when I would have considered it silly to purchase last-gen
Apple products. Today it doesn't seem silly at all. Although, I am a little
sore about the current state of the Macbook product line and I hope that Apple
really knocks it out of the park this summer or fall with an updated suite of
products, particularly in the realm of a lightweight 13" retina offering.

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wehadfun
Apple is expected to report that March quarter sales declined 10 percent year
over year to around $52 billion

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Touche
What's the reason for the iPhone sales shrinking? Cheaper competition has been
around for many years.

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TheOtherHobbes
No new markets, coupled with lack of upgrades.

If you have a 5, there's no compelling need to buy a 6x because from a user
pov it's just more of the same.

Under Cook, Apple has iterated on faster/thinner/bigger/smaller/blingier, and
there's been no significant original thinking.

The execution is great, in a slightly wobbly way, but what's being executed
has become formulaic, mundane, and unexciting.

~~~
ZenoArrow
> "Under Cook, Apple has iterated on faster/thinner/bigger/smaller/blingier,
> and there's been no significant original thinking."

This is lazy thinking, based on Jobs being an 'innovator' and Cook being
focused on refinement. What exactly makes the iPad more innovative than, let's
say, the Apple Watch?

~~~
Touche
Turns out nothing, but somehow Jobs was able to convince you that by not
owning an iPad you were missing out on something big.

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pbreit
Do we know the impact of the new iPhone pricing models where people pay Apple
a monthly installment? Is it just a wash? At first glance, it seemed like this
was increasing Apple's take.

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JoshGlazebrook
It doesn't change the amount of money Apple gets. The carriers still were
buying the phones from them at wholesale or full price, and just subsidizing
the upfront cost of the phone by selling it at $199 to the customer but baking
in the rest of the phone into their monthly voice/text/data plans.

~~~
stanmancan
I don't think OP is referring to getting the phone from your carrier, they're
referring to the 'iPhone Upgrade Program' where you pay Apple a monthly
installment and get a new phone every year:
[http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-
program](http://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program)

~~~
ewang1
It's financed through Citizen Bank, so odds are Apple is being paid in full
(or at least most of it) up front.

~~~
pbreit
Whichever it is, wondering if it's improved (or not) economics to Apple.

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allsystemsgo
They'll likely put a lot of emphasis on their services number(s), which is
growing substantially.

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bitmapbrother
if you think the 5% drop market cap in Google and MS last week was big you
ain't seen nothing yet. Everyone's getting a haircut.

~~~
bitmapbrother
Stock down 7% in after hours trading.

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kyriakos
what goes up must come down at some point..

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simonh
Maybe Elon Musk can establish civilization on Mars before Apple can sell an
iPhone to every man woman and child on Earth.

The annoying thing is all the pundits predicting Apple doom for the last 9*
years will all be saying "I told you so!".

* Make that 19# years

# Actually, make that 32 years

~~~
Touche
So about as long as people have predicted an Apple television ;)

