Weak demand leads Apple to halve iPhone 5 component orders

[JonB]

Apple's secrecy also makes it easier to fuel these rumors, others companies would probably have confirmed/denied the false reports on the same day. Apple just stay silent until they release their Q4 numbers.

Actually, although they can say things up to 30 days before, due to SEC rules it's pretty risky if they do. It's commonly known as a company "quiet period".

You can bet they will have an answer for these "stock order slashing" stories in the Q+A after the earnings call.

 

[shine]

Actually, although they can say things up to 30 days before, due to SEC rules it's pretty risky if they do. It's commonly known as a company "quiet period".

You can bet this will be answered in the Q+A after the earnings call.

True, I forgot about that.

 

[HAz]

Every so often a troll from the mobile phones and tablet forum finds its way in here, this is what has just happened. Also that noel's house party has-been has trolled a few times in the general discussion forum.

 

[Hamish]

The component demand articles are unsourced speculation at best, and stock manipulation at worst. How do people fall for this?
What other company can have 'people familiar with the situation' as a credible source?!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrog...t-punkd-on-apple-or-is-it-rotten-to-the-core/

 

[SDK^]

Unfortunately for Apple they suffer more than anyone from random rumours made up by bored analysts.

 

[SDK^]

Which is all good and well. But changing the connector so you make more money out of your customers is not something we have come to expect of Apple. As I pointed out earlier, on the iPad at least, the internal dimensions of the lightening connector have not changed, so its change for the sake of change, nothing else = more money. Then the lightening connector is made such that 3rd party's cannot replicate it easily (internal microprocessor etc). So £25 every time you want to hook up an old accessory or a new cable.

All in all greed is taking over, which usually signals a downfall for the customer, whichever way you look at it.

The old connector had had its day; it was over 10 years old and needed a refresh to enable thinner devices.

 

[theheyes]

That Forbes blog post or whatever it is is just as rife with conjecture as the ones it's trying to refute!

You're best off just waiting for the actual sales figures as suggested.

 

[George Hincapie]

Well, that's a very compelling argument...

I know. Which is why I posted it

Android is even better now than it was on the Galaxy S2 as well, so you're not particularly well placed to comment on any of the issues either way.

Of course I am. What a stupid argument.

The last time I checked a MacBook Pro didn't run iOS.

Duh - you don't say? I was making a point. Can you grasp it 2nd time around, or shall I get the crayons out for you?

 

[Robbo]

I know. Which is why I posted it

Of course I am. What a stupid argument.

Duh - you don't say? I was making a point. Can you grasp it 2nd time around, or shall I get the crayons out for you?

Your point is a bad one. In fact, you haven't even made a point, just said a few words. It's not me who needs the crayons.

"Android rocks. Pretty simple really." - Almost laughable.

 

[Somnambulist]

Strong herping and derping ITT.

 

[SteveOBHave]

What did you lose?

Maps clearly, only to be replaced by a broken and half developed product. And for those that come back with "So tell us, what have we lost, other than maps?" What a rubbish argument. YOU LOST MAPS! A very very good application that did everything you needed it to, has all the maturity of an application that has been around for many years and has the broad support of a very large number of businesses. Apple decided that it was more important to foist their own bass ackwards application on you regardless of the effect it would have on their customers. They've been doing it for years with OSX updates as well - take away functionality, tie the customer more and more into the Apple Ecosystem - always get Apples 'bite' from the earnings. They're a bunch of marketing geniuses simply because you lot sit there and make excuses for their lack of forward development. They pass off substandard devices as the 'next great thing' all the while sitting on their laurels and litigating the hell out of the competition that has the gall to make something better than them and relying on the spurious and hypocritical accusation that they've stolen an idea when in actual fact Apple has done exactly the same thing but have just been smart enough to patent it while they're nicking it!

Every so often a troll from the mobile phones and tablet forum finds its way in here, this is what has just happened. Also that noel's house party has-been has trolled a few times in the general discussion forum.

So someone with a differing opinion, one that doesn't ascribe to the "Apple Kool Aid" is a troll? It's one thing that has always gotten me about this forum - the whole Apple separatist thing - like an iPhone is not a phone, an iPad is not a Tablet and that somehow Apple doesn't need to compete with the competition. I hate to tell you this but whilst you've been sitting there in your nice white and silver world with curved edges, the rest of the world has moved on with better, faster and more capable technology.

Apple have made a beautiful UI, they have made beautiful devices and they have created several markets. But what they have not done is maintain a innovative lead. Their 50% cut in production is bad for one simple reason - when you're running a company and your number 1 product halves in demand, then that is bad. If you sell 1 billion devices normally and then suddenly only sell 500million then that is a halving of your primary income stream - that is bad.

This isn't a troll, this is merely pointing out that all is not rosey in the Apple world and that they need to pick up their game. IOS is not rubbish, OSX is not rubbish but they both need to pull finger and get back up with the game. Apple needs to start respecting their customers as someone doing them the honor of buying their products rather than them 'allowing' their customers to 'experience' their product as long as they 'toe the line' and jump through the Apple hoops. I used to LOVE Apple, and I still love their design and UI look (loath the way it works now) but what I don't like is having things taken away from me that I initially paid to have access to and being made to only buy from Apple whilst having the option to buy from a 3rd party taken away.

Anyway - rant over

TL DR - Pointing out that all is not well in the Apple house does not equate to trolling - it's called reality.

 

[mrochester]

Apple decided that it was more important to foist their own bass ackwards application on you regardless of the effect it would have on their customers

Apple went from giving us an app with streetview and no voice guided navigation to one with no streetview but voice guided navigation. Seems like a pretty straight swap in functionality.

TL DR - Pointing out that all is not well in the Apple house does not equate to trolling - it's called reality.

And pointing out that things are perfectly fine in Apple house isn't trolling either, it's called reality too. Your opinion that things are horribly wrong in the Apple house is just that, an opinion. What actually matters is the bottom line. If Apple's profits start to slip, that's the point at which they need to start trying something different. In the mean time, they can continue to navigate the course they are currently on.

 

[SteveOBHave]

Apple went from giving us an app with streetview and no voice guided navigation to one with no streetview but voice guided navigation. Seems like a pretty straight swap in functionality.

Is it? Are you forgetting the multitudes of companies that populate the Google databases with info such as phone numbers, user reviews, product reviews and changes in location? Hows about the vast number of user updates to the mapping system that allows for accuracy and corrections that stop people from driving out into the middle of the Australian outback with no navigation way back? So a fair exchange was a working and reliable mapping system to go to a broken and untrustworthy, effectively empty, voice guided system that was as likely to drive you off the edge of a cliff as it was to get you to your destination... if it was actually listed... and was geographically correct... and you still had reception at the end of your journey...

Fair swap indeed. Even APPLE said that it wasn't good enough and you're still happy to wave the flag... weird.

 

[mrochester]

Is it? Are you forgetting the multitudes of companies that populate the Google databases with info such as phone numbers, user reviews, product reviews and changes in location? Hows about the vast number of user updates to the mapping system that allows for accuracy and corrections that stop people from driving out into the middle of the Australian outback with no navigation way back? So a fair exchange was a working and reliable mapping system to go to a broken and untrustworthy, effectively empty, voice guided system that was as likely to drive you off the edge of a cliff as it was to get you to your destination... if it was actually listed... and was geographically correct... and you still had reception at the end of your journey...

Fair swap indeed. Even APPLE said that it wasn't good enough and you're still happy to wave the flag... weird.

Switching from a mapping app that gave me streetview and no voice guided navigation to a mapping app that gave me no streetview but voice guided navigation was indeed a fair swap. I've gained more use from the maps app since Apple introduced their own.

 

[Robbo]

Maps clearly, only to be replaced by a broken and half developed product. And for those that come back with "So tell us, what have we lost, other than maps?" What a rubbish argument. YOU LOST MAPS! A very very good application that did everything you needed it to, has all the maturity of an application that has been around for many years and has the broad support of a very large number of businesses.

Well, people didn't 'lose' maps, they had it replaced with a largely inferior version, but gained voice navigation. It's not as if they removed it completely, it was still there, it was just made worse (overall).

So someone with a differing opinion, one that doesn't ascribe to the "Apple Kool Aid" is a troll? It's one thing that has always gotten me about this forum - the whole Apple separatist thing - like an iPhone is not a phone, an iPad is not a Tablet and that somehow Apple doesn't need to compete with the competition. I hate to tell you this but whilst you've been sitting there in your nice white and silver world with curved edges, the rest of the world has moved on with better, faster and more capable technology.

Apple have made a beautiful UI, they have made beautiful devices and they have created several markets. But what they have not done is maintain a innovative lead. Their 50% cut in production is bad for one simple reason - when you're running a company and your number 1 product halves in demand, then that is bad. If you sell 1 billion devices normally and then suddenly only sell 500million then that is a halving of your primary income stream - that is bad.

This isn't a troll, this is merely pointing out that all is not rosey in the Apple world and that they need to pick up their game. IOS is not rubbish, OSX is not rubbish but they both need to pull finger and get back up with the game. Apple needs to start respecting their customers as someone doing them the honor of buying their products rather than them 'allowing' their customers to 'experience' their product as long as they 'toe the line' and jump through the Apple hoops. I used to LOVE Apple, and I still love their design and UI look (loath the way it works now) but what I don't like is having things taken away from me that I initially paid to have access to and being made to only buy from Apple whilst having the option to buy from a 3rd party taken away.

Steady on now.

The OP probably was a troll, if you look at what was posted. That's all he pointed out. Aside from that the entire subject is possibly incorrect as people have said. Projected iPhone sales would strongly dispute the claims that have been made, but we'll find out when it's official.

As for the rest of it, I agree with a lot of that. Apple create markets and then control them, they could definitely innovate more than they do, but then so could the other companies. I fail to see why people always single them out for this. Aside from the iPad 3>4, all of their recent iPhone and iPad upgrades have been reasonable, and worthwhile.

If you look at the upgrade cycles of Android hardware vs iPhone hardware for example, the upgrades tend to be similar overall. I'm not quite sure what people are expecting. If you're talking about software, then a lot has been added to iOS since it was first released, yet some (admittedly clueless) people seem to think they've effectively done nothing to it, which is wrong. If you look at Android 2.1/2.2, you can set it up and do largely the same amount of things that you can on 4.1, but of course there have been a lot of changes as well. I do appreciate that this is a computer hardware enthusiast forum though and the userbase is considerably different to what I'd call the 'real world', so maybe that's it.

 

[mrochester]

If you look at the upgrade cycles of Android hardware vs iPhone hardware for example, the upgrades tend to be similar overall. I'm not quite sure what people are expecting. If you're talking about software, then a lot has been added to iOS since it was first released, yet some (admittedly clueless) people seem to think they've effectively done nothing to it, which is wrong. If you look at Android 2.1/2.2, you can set it up and do largely the same amount of things that you can on 4.1, but of course there have been a lot of changes as well. I do appreciate that this is a computer hardware enthusiast forum though and the userbase is considerably different to what I'd call the 'real world', so maybe that's it.

Spot on.

 

[JonB]

Is it? Are you forgetting the multitudes of companies that populate the Google databases with info such as phone numbers, user reviews, product reviews and changes in location? Hows about the vast number of user updates to the mapping system that allows for accuracy and corrections that stop people from driving out into the middle of the Australian outback with no navigation way back? So a fair exchange was a working and reliable mapping system to go to a broken and untrustworthy, effectively empty, voice guided system that was as likely to drive you off the edge of a cliff as it was to get you to your destination... if it was actually listed... and was geographically correct... and you still had reception at the end of your journey...

Fair swap indeed. Even APPLE said that it wasn't good enough and you're still happy to wave the flag... weird.

Have you actually used Apple maps? I've had no problems with it's routing in the UK. They made a POI error in Austrailia, which led to a routing error. Routing errors have never happened to google though.

Seems like me you've jumped on the anti apple bandwagon for the sake of it. It's not your beloved Google maps, nothing could ever possibly be as good in your eyes, so you're going to bitch and moan about it.

 

[shine]

And for those that come back with "So tell us, what have we lost, other than maps?" What a rubbish argument.

I've always accepted that replacing Google maps caused genuine problems to some users - it is a well known and discussed problem. However people appeared to indicate they had multiple issues with iOS 6. I wanted to understand what these other issues were unless they meant maps in which case I'm already aware and didn't need anymore information.

So someone with a differing opinion, one that doesn't ascribe to the "Apple Kool Aid" is a troll? It's one thing that has always gotten me about this forum - the whole Apple separatist thing - like an iPhone is not a phone, an iPad is not a Tablet and that somehow Apple doesn't need to compete with the competition. I hate to tell you this but whilst you've been sitting there in your nice white and silver world with curved edges, the rest of the world has moved on with better, faster and more capable technology.

What amazes me is that you've decided that faster hardware trumps design and integrated software and hardware for ALL Apple users. I've used Android and iOS, for me personally the faster hardware is no good without the apps I have on iOS. My needs are better met on iOS. This is not about "Apple is cool", "Android sucks" thing it is a carefully crafted opinion after many years of using devices from both camps. Other will disagree with me and I'm ok with that because they will have different needs to me.

Their 50% cut in production is bad for one simple reason - when you're running a company and your number 1 product halves in demand, then that is bad. If you sell 1 billion devices normally and then suddenly only sell 500million then that is a halving of your primary income stream - that is bad.

If you've bothered to do some independent research you would realise the OP has no basis 50% cut claims. The original writer that made the claims withdrew them very quickly. There is no evidence to suggest there has been a 50% cut by Apple for ANY individual products. Apple may reduced component orders from suppliers but no one is able to confirm for which product and by what amount!

This isn't a troll, this is merely pointing out that all is not rosey in the Apple world and that they need to pick up their game. IOS is not rubbish, OSX is not rubbish but they both need to pull finger and get back up with the game. Apple needs to start respecting their customers as someone doing them the honor of buying their products rather than them 'allowing' their customers to 'experience' their product as long as they 'toe the line' and jump through the Apple hoops. I used to LOVE Apple, and I still love their design and UI look (loath the way it works now) but what I don't like is having things taken away from me that I initially paid to have access to and being made to only buy from Apple whilst having the option to buy from a 3rd party taken away.

Considering Apple apologised for removing Google maps and the replacement not being as good suggests they do understand customer concerns. Apple is closed eco-system and has always tightly controlled their devices. I don't see it changing in the future so when buying an Apple device I have come to realise I either embrace this or go somewhere else.

I never understand when people complain about this because it is not secret and has been at the core of Apple strategy for over a decade.

 

[mrochester]

Have you actually used Apple maps? I've had no problems with it's routing in the UK. They made a POI error in Austrailia, which led to a routing error. Routing errors have never happened to google though.

Seems like me you've jumped on the anti apple bandwagon for the sake of it. It's not your beloved Google maps, nothing could ever possibly be as good in your eyes, so you're going to bitch and moan about it.

It's a real shame that so many people use drive-by, Daily Mail style journalism as the basis for their opinions. You can spot it a mile off as they tend to quote only the most wildly publicised stories about a particular thing.

 

[inogen]

If you read the articles in your Google search you would have found that jail broken iOS devices are in decline as Apple now allow Chinese bank card on iTunes. Jailbreaking was popular as some people found it difficult to pay for apps:

http://mobile.macgasm.net/macgasm/#...s-declining-in-china,50a44134d7fc7b56705e6b07

Your entire argument is wrong.

Ha ha, yes, declining from over 50% of one of the largest markets on Earth to just over a third... the fact that is declining isn't a factor - the fact that so many of them jailbreak is.

They sold 2m iPhone 5 in the first weekend they went on sale in China. Imagine how many more they'd have sold since, to those who won't upgrade because they can't jailbreak.