Appleinsider:
“We believe Apple lacks the courage to lead the next generation of innovation (AI, cloud-based services, messaging); instead will become more reliant than ever on the iPhone,” senior analyst Andrew Uerkwitz wrote in the memo, seen by Business Insider. “We believe Apple is about to embark on a decade-long malaise. The risks to the company have never been greater.”
I would strongly disagree with the characterization but time will tell.
Oppenheimer: “We believe Apple lacks the courage to lead the next generation of innovation…”
Translation: “Apple doesn’t tell us – or anybody really – anything about their future plans, so we feel excluded, and now we’re lashing out…”
Total nonsense. Protecting privacy while collecting enough data to make things work well is a major challenge. The risks to Apple are obvious, as far as the iPhone as a huge moneymaker is concerned. As if Apple are unaware of this. There is more to come from Apple than just these things everyone seems fixated on, and there won’t be a heads up memo on them either.
Sure, this is silly. But, see how everyone is throwing the word “courage” back in Apple’s face?
I no longer disagree with the first part of this. Apple has reached the point where its stock price and quarterly earnings are just too important to risk its vast intellectual capital on highly unpredictable projects that could turn out to be revelatory or disruptive. I hope to be proven wrong on this.
I do however think Apple will continue as a successful, mature company which has an enviable capacity for incremental technological innovation and will maintain its position as the dominant high-end device provider in a growing worldwide market.
Absolutely true.
I think that the beginning of the year can prove to be an important indicator for Apple. I think that the biggest issue is the lack of updates in certain product types. The Mac, for example, we only got the laptops this year. No new iMac, MacPro or MacMini. The Apple TV could be better and personally I find Siri very gimmicky and not very useful.
I am in the market for a workstation class Mac. One that does not have 3 year old technology that is priced at a premium.
I am an Apple Fan Boy, as exemplified by the touchbar MBP that I am patiently waiting for, but he might have a point. That malaise is best demonstrated by what they aren’t doing, like keeping a tight product set that is cutting edge. Every cutting edge product has a trail of actively sold debris behind it. “But there are great reasons…” you will say to sell coupla year old products that are cheaper. There are always good reasons to be mediocre, until it’s too late.
“… And we shorted Apple stock right before issuing this report.”
It doesn’t take courage to do that stuff, this is all completely missing the point. Courage certainly isn’t removing a God damn headphone jack either.
A couple of weeks ago, Manton Reece ended an episode of Core Intuition with a poignant call for Apple to show some true courage in the face of current political events, but they won’t. They can’t. There’s no courage in Silicon Valley. It’s just business as usual.
said the known haters.
the apple tv is awesome, i don’t know what you’re talking about. anything in the world “could be better”.
i find nothing gimmicky about sending texts, setting appointments, reminders, and getting directions. i do find the touted ability of the Echo to read news headlines to be gimmicky.
i’m a pro software dev still running a maxed out 2011 imac. VMs, SQL Server, Visial Studio, adobe suite… no problems. man pros find the 5k imac to kick serious ass as a workstation.
what do you need to accomplish that can’t be today?
yeah too bad apple gear isn’t medicore, sets the mold and is copied by the entire industry. they lead the pack, smarty.
hmmm yeah so who stood up to the FBI? oh yeah, apple in SV. oops.
Exactly. Always been that way. Thing is, Oppenheimer knows this, or should, anyway, but he belligerently persists.
Oppenheimer asks the same question on nearly every call. He just puts a different – obtuse – spin on it. This time he lifted ideas from Asymco (by way of CC).
Here’s me complaining about it in 2013:
https://twitter.com/matthewwanderer/status/368397323035873280
That was a polarizing claim, to be sure.
Thing is, Schiller is exactly correct in calling it the way he did. And it took courage just to say it.
Is that a rational question for an irrational crowd? They reserve the right to have it both ways:
Apple’s not refreshing models fast enough. When they do, the refreshed models do not represent enough of an improvement over the model they replaced.
Seems the criticisms are misplaced. This is Moore’s Law issue, not Apple’s.
Nicely done.
Apparently, protecting privacy while improving utility is not considered innovation. Not until privacy is valued, which might be just over the horizon. Or not.
Yeah, true, I’d forgotten about that. Good point well made.
Read at your own risk of being offended
Andrew Uerkwitz, analyst for Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (not to be confused with Peter Oppenheimer, former Apple CFO, BTW) is speculating like all analyst are obligated to speculate.
Cook is a pragmatic leader, not keen on revealing details before they are fully baked. In contrast to past performance, Jobs was a master of managing expectations. I do miss the old days when Apple exceeded my expectations during a keynote.
Apple’s core focus these days, from my point of view, is on the iOS platform and devices. This is where they get the lion’s share of their income. The have a tremendous responsibility to maintain and grow this platform. They will not sacrifice its development to any other product line that is inferior on the bottom line.
I trust Apple’s closed-system approach to software/hardware, despite the inroads, increased marketshare and participation from the Android community. I believe Apple is working on truly great products. I wish they could announce these products with greater frequency, as in their past performances. I believe they have a handle on where the next breakthrough will come from. More so, than an analyst from Oppenheimer and Co.
Writing code and doing 3D are very deferent as far as hardware needs. My problem is with the lack of a viable workstation class Mac that is not sporting 3 year old technology that is sold at a premium.
What is irrational about not having a viable workstation class option for the Mac? Just because you don’t have the need for that latest GPU technology (Pascal or Polaris), that does not mean nobody does.
So, you are OK with Apple updating Macs every 3 to 4 years? I though Apple represented the best option. How can this be if you don’t have access to the latest advancement in technology. Sorry but hate is one thing dissent is another.
I didn’t say that.
Answer @mdelvecchio’s question. On an absolute level, what can you not accomplish with the current Mac Pro, or a similarly configured PC?
I’d like to see the Mac Pro updated, like so many others, but that’s grounded by the fact that I have zero visibility into Apple’s current reasoning for not having done so as of today.
In your opinion, what is the correct refresh cycle for the Mac Pro and why?
I would like to see Apple once again utilize the best technology at there disposal. We have better Xeon processors, we have better GPU options and we have Thunderbolt 3. It would be nice to see a MacPro with all this.
I see you are apologizing and that’s great and all, but how does one forget about Apple standing up to the FBI so quickly?
Same old shit. Apple doom is always around the corner. Eventually somebody’s got to be right. Right? Right?
What part of ignore the trolls does Appleinsider not get? The more attention they’re given, the more likely they’ll continue to bloviate their nonsense.
It is quite an irony that people can say the things about Apple that they do and not see the irony in their bleating.
Absolutely hogwash.
In spite of the speed of their innovation, the competition fails to even match their past efforts.
Not one thing you said is true. Not one.
I’d agree from the point of view that things are coming out of Cupertino slowly these days, and the big products that have been released have had a lot of negativity surrounding them and there is a lot of nickel and diming going on, more so than in previous product generations. Seems like they are in a weird place right now.
The iPad mini 2, iPhone 6s, and non-retina MacBook Air are cutting edge, especially compared to it’s own products?