Apple's Event Today
Just kind of processing this as I read back through a live feed of the event.
9.7" iPad Pro - Maybe more will become apparent as I read through it, but this feels like a bad excuse to trade device revenue for more lucrative accessories revenue. 9.7" may be the right size for a media consumption tablet, but I'm unconvinced that it is in any way at all better as a productivity tablet. Though it may be better for the average user as a hybrid (assuming that the average user needs productivity less).
Claims that the 9.7" iPad Pro is the "ultimate PC replacement" are ludicrous. Isn't that what the full sized one was supposed to be? How is an even smaller, less productive hybrid supposed to be better than the bigger one? For productivity, size does matter. This is just marketing hype. Even Apple doesn't believe it, otherwise they would discontinue the larger one immediately. Honestly, I'd take either a Surface device or the android hybrid over either sized iPad Pro.
Majority of iPad Pro users are "coming from Windows". What does that even mean? Do they mean laptop/desktop users who buy iPad Pro's are primarily Windows users? That would make sense... since Windows does still outnumber Mac by some amusingly large number. But how would they even actually get such a number? And are those users then subsequently ceasing to use their Windows PCs? This stat is meaningless drivel at present. It would be tantamount to Microsoft saying that most people that buy a Windows 10 PC are "coming from Android". Well, duh, almost near to 80% of the phone world is Android, but none of them are necessarily ceasing to use their phones.
iOS 9.3 doesn't seem like even a small deal. Live blog feed really said nothing to me that would make this sound like it was worth mentioning other than to note it.
iPhone SE... ROFL. I vaguely remember thinking (if not blogging) that I thought making TWO larger phones when they unveiled the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was idiotic because it alienated their users who liked the original size and basically said "yeah, we're dumb". The price of the base iPhone 6 also meant that deciding they needed back into that smaller phone market meant needing cut costs. And what do we have? A drastically cheaper phone that says "yeah, we're STILL dumb".
Also, the base price is so low they are fiscally repeating the iPad Mini mistake. $399 for an iPhone!?!?!? 3D Touch alone isn't worth the price differential. This WILL cannibalize iPhone 6/6 Plus sales. In the proper sense. Total revenue will almost definitely be down even if unit sales increase. And, as with the iPad Mini, it is the kind of stupid you can't undo. Once people expect to be able to get a new iPhone for $399, you're NEVER going to be able to raise that bar.
Apple Watch now $299. No difference. Still a premium price for a watch and still locked to Apple ecosystem. Suggestions... they should have either dropped the price further or made it work completely with Android and left the price.
Drop it to, say $150, and you might get some people switching platforms. Probably selling at a loss, but that new phone (well assuming it isn't that new SE edition) would make up the difference.
Make it work on Android and they could have garnered more users without a price drop. I see many Android users still feeling like the Android Gear offerings aren't as good as Apple Watch. This is the move I would have recommended. Much better to open the walls of the Apple garden than to drop the luxury price tag and image.
Wow, that is all? I was waiting for at least one thing to make me stop and say "well, at least there is THAT to save them".
Basically, every single worthwhile announcement today was related to price cuts. There is a cheaper iPad Pro, iPhone and Watch. Apple is slowly leaving the premium hardware market. They have devalued their own brand and products in attempt to bring in larger numbers of customers as opposed to being happy just getting the more affluent ones.
If they had just reduced the price on one product/line it wouldn't be so telling. But they have reduced prices on their 3 primary markets. The iPhone is the mainstay of their finances, the iPad is the next largest segment and a bit of a buffer and Watch is where most of their innovation and marketing is. That they would risk cutting prices or releasing lower cost variants in all 3 markets at the same time says they are now more interested in volume.
9.7" iPad Pro - Maybe more will become apparent as I read through it, but this feels like a bad excuse to trade device revenue for more lucrative accessories revenue. 9.7" may be the right size for a media consumption tablet, but I'm unconvinced that it is in any way at all better as a productivity tablet. Though it may be better for the average user as a hybrid (assuming that the average user needs productivity less).
Claims that the 9.7" iPad Pro is the "ultimate PC replacement" are ludicrous. Isn't that what the full sized one was supposed to be? How is an even smaller, less productive hybrid supposed to be better than the bigger one? For productivity, size does matter. This is just marketing hype. Even Apple doesn't believe it, otherwise they would discontinue the larger one immediately. Honestly, I'd take either a Surface device or the android hybrid over either sized iPad Pro.
Majority of iPad Pro users are "coming from Windows". What does that even mean? Do they mean laptop/desktop users who buy iPad Pro's are primarily Windows users? That would make sense... since Windows does still outnumber Mac by some amusingly large number. But how would they even actually get such a number? And are those users then subsequently ceasing to use their Windows PCs? This stat is meaningless drivel at present. It would be tantamount to Microsoft saying that most people that buy a Windows 10 PC are "coming from Android". Well, duh, almost near to 80% of the phone world is Android, but none of them are necessarily ceasing to use their phones.
iOS 9.3 doesn't seem like even a small deal. Live blog feed really said nothing to me that would make this sound like it was worth mentioning other than to note it.
iPhone SE... ROFL. I vaguely remember thinking (if not blogging) that I thought making TWO larger phones when they unveiled the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was idiotic because it alienated their users who liked the original size and basically said "yeah, we're dumb". The price of the base iPhone 6 also meant that deciding they needed back into that smaller phone market meant needing cut costs. And what do we have? A drastically cheaper phone that says "yeah, we're STILL dumb".
Also, the base price is so low they are fiscally repeating the iPad Mini mistake. $399 for an iPhone!?!?!? 3D Touch alone isn't worth the price differential. This WILL cannibalize iPhone 6/6 Plus sales. In the proper sense. Total revenue will almost definitely be down even if unit sales increase. And, as with the iPad Mini, it is the kind of stupid you can't undo. Once people expect to be able to get a new iPhone for $399, you're NEVER going to be able to raise that bar.
Apple Watch now $299. No difference. Still a premium price for a watch and still locked to Apple ecosystem. Suggestions... they should have either dropped the price further or made it work completely with Android and left the price.
Drop it to, say $150, and you might get some people switching platforms. Probably selling at a loss, but that new phone (well assuming it isn't that new SE edition) would make up the difference.
Make it work on Android and they could have garnered more users without a price drop. I see many Android users still feeling like the Android Gear offerings aren't as good as Apple Watch. This is the move I would have recommended. Much better to open the walls of the Apple garden than to drop the luxury price tag and image.
Wow, that is all? I was waiting for at least one thing to make me stop and say "well, at least there is THAT to save them".
Basically, every single worthwhile announcement today was related to price cuts. There is a cheaper iPad Pro, iPhone and Watch. Apple is slowly leaving the premium hardware market. They have devalued their own brand and products in attempt to bring in larger numbers of customers as opposed to being happy just getting the more affluent ones.
If they had just reduced the price on one product/line it wouldn't be so telling. But they have reduced prices on their 3 primary markets. The iPhone is the mainstay of their finances, the iPad is the next largest segment and a bit of a buffer and Watch is where most of their innovation and marketing is. That they would risk cutting prices or releasing lower cost variants in all 3 markets at the same time says they are now more interested in volume.
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