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Forums - General Discussion - Has Apple lost its way?

 

Has Apple lost its way?

Yes (post below if possible) 116 74.84%
 
No (post below if possible) 39 25.16%
 
Total:155
archer9234 on 27 January 2016
Soundwave said:
Puppyroach said:

Nokia from 2000 says hi :).

 

Nokia was never in Apple's class. 

Apple is so far beyond any other electronics/computer company it's not even funny. Apple has like 6/10 highest corporate quarterly profit years in free market history

1. Fannie Mae (May 2013)  $53 bln (lol)

2. Apple (Jan. 2016) - $18.6 bln

3.) Apple (Jan. 2015) - $18 bln 

4.) Gazprom (Aug. 2011) - $16 bln

5.) Royal Dutch Shell (June 08) - $15.68 bln

6.) ExxonMobil (Sept 08) - $14.8 bln

7.) Apple (Apr 15) - $13.6 bln

8.) Apple (Jan 14) - $13.1 bln

9.) Apple (Jan 13) - $13.08 bln

10.) Apple (Jan 12) - $13.06 bln

 

Apple has 6/10 largest money making quarters in history, and companies like Fannie Mae and Gazprom are largely inflated by government paid subsidies, Apple makes all their money on their own. 

Apple has higher cash reserves than the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Canada, and the United States. 

Well yeah. Apple isn't a country and has to bail itself out over and over again. Because of various things.





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LurkerJ on 27 January 2016
fatslob-:O said:
LurkerJ said:

Component manufacturer's like Samsung? who makes TVs, fridges, washing machines, smartphones, laptops etc? Please... It's no secret that Apple is a laser focused company, one of Steve's motto. Do people want them to spend just because it's cool to spend on RD?

Implementing technologies in a compelling way in a real product that people want to buy and that isn't just a cool tech demo has been Apple's bread and butter, and it was Steve's main strength.

Apple DID invent the smartphones in their current extremely popular shape and form. In my eyes that's innovation.

It's not just Samsung that's helping out Apple ... 

Apple practically has the ENTIRE semicnductor industry and others footing the bill for them ...

Out of all the component suppliers, Samsung is the only that spends more on R&D than Apple. That's why I mentioned them.

You are not telling me something I don't know. All these suppliers fight to provide parts for Apple products. Samsung and LG are gonna invest billions to increase the production capacity of OLED displays so that they are available in larger quantities and be able to meet the iPhone demand when it makes the transition to OLED tech. 

and I am not sure why we are talking about this... you want Apple to manufacture every part of the iPhone for you to consider them innovators? That really doesn't make sense.

Bringing R&D into the discussion from the very beginning as a measure of who innovates more didn't make sense. I just had to point out that Apple does spend a lot on R&D, and saying that they spend "very little" was not accurate. 

What happened when Apple thought that mobile chips manufacturers weren't quick enough at making progress? They started designing their own chips, and invested millions and we got the A8 and the A9 that crushed Qualcomm offerings. Qualcomm stumbled with their flagship snappdragon 810 and every android smartphone manufacturer suffered the consequences, except for Samsung who chose to skip the 810 and use their own chips. Heat production of the 810 is so bad that MS had to implement liquid cooling to keep their latest lumia running cool. The A9 remains unmatched and it allowed them to implement and SSD-like storage and the result was this:

Moral of the story? Apple is not afraid of spending and they will invest when there is a need to invest. And rumor has it that they started designing their own mobile GPUs too... the horror.

Again, no idea why we are talking just about R&D. You won't even admit that Apple did invent the smartphone of today just because they buy the parts needed to build the iPhone, which is really a narrow-minded view of things. 



fatslob-:O on 27 January 2016
LurkerJ said:

Out of all the component suppliers, Samsung is the only that spends more on R&D than Apple. That's why I mentioned them.

You are not telling me something I don't know. All these suppliers fight to provide parts for Apple products. Samsung and LG are gonna invest billions to increase the production capacity of OLED displays so that they are available in larger quantities and be able to meet the iPhone demand when it makes the transition to OLED tech. 

and I am not sure why we are talking about this... you want Apple to manufacture every part of the iPhone for you to consider them innovators? That really doesn't make sense.

Bringing R&D into the discussion from the very beginning as a measure of who innovates more didn't make sense. I just had to point out that Apple does spend a lot on R&D, and saying that they spend "very little" was not accurate. 

What happened when Apple thought that mobile chips manufacturers weren't quick enough at making progress? They started designing their own chips, and invested millions and we got the A8 and the A9 that crushed Qualcomm offerings. Qualcomm stumbled with their flagship snappdragon 810 and every android smartphone manufacturer suffered the consequences, except for Samsung who chose to skip the 810 and use their own chips. Heat production of the 810 is so bad that MS had to implement liquid cooling to keep their latest lumia running cool. The A9 remains unmatched and it allowed them to implement and SSD-like storage and the result was this:

*snip*

Moral of the story? Apple is not afraid of spending and they will invest when there is a need to invest. And rumor has it that they started designing their own mobile GPUs too... the horror.

Again, no idea why we are talking just about R&D. You won't even admit that Apple did invent the smartphone of today just because they buy the parts needed to build the iPhone, which is really a narrow-minded view of things. 

Just take this in for a moment. The SUM of all of Apple's component manufacturers R&D budget dwarfs them ... 

I am not asking for Apple themselves to manufacture every component they use but you can't exactly give a whole lot of credit to Apple's "innovation" when most of their contributions are not even their own! 

They spend some on R&D alright but on their balance sheet it practically works out to been nonexistent compared to other big tech companies ... 

They need to do much more before I can take them seriously as "innovators" ... 

I highly doubt Apple will start designing their own GPUs when they have yet to buy a tiny dedicated graphics company like Imagination Technologies or start their own group ... 

Apple really wasn't the fist one with a smartphone, it was this monster from the IBM Frakenstein laboratories ... 



Conina on 27 January 2016
fatslob-:O said:

Apple really wasn't the fist one with a smartphone, it was this monster from the IBM Frakenstein laboratories ... 

Apple really wasn't the first one with a smartphone, but they gave us the first smartphone with multitouch and a perfectly matched GUI to these multitouch inputs (pinch, zoom, other touchscreen gestures). 

These new input method for phones/PDAs changed everything, not only for iOS but also for Android, Windows mobile/phone and many other Smartphone OS.





WrathofTank on 27 January 2016
kowenicki said:
WrathofTank said:

I have to ask as you've always seemed very knowlegeable in these sorts of things, how do you think Apple stock will look over the coming year?

Apple do need a new game changer

iPhone sales WILL decline.   iPad sales are falling, if you want a proper tablet you buy a windows hybrid, if you want a toy tablet, you buy something cheap.  iPad is far too expensive for what it is and not talented enough to be a serious tool.  The iPad pro is a joke.  Watch?  its a gimmick right now and I wince when i see the type of people wearing them primarily because they feel they should... it doesnt do much very well, lets be honest.  The macbook was once a great laptop (I had macbook Pro's myself - but now use a surace pro4), but there are far better for far cheaper now.

As I said, Apple really really do need a new gamechanger.

But lets not forget Apple do generate huge revenue and profits.  They have a cash pile.  They could branch out anywhere they liked.  The stock price will not be impacted by revenue and proficts in the next few years, it will be impacted by the decisions they take with their direction and use of cash.

People do underestimate the value of their services though and Apple pay adds to that.  Not selling my stock yet as I am sat on huge profits with Apple, but buying in right now would be a tougher call imo.

Thanks for the reply I'm new to investing, having a tough time trying to decide what tech companies I should invest in or if I shouldn't.



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LurkerJ on 28 January 2016
fatslob-:O said:

Just take this in for a moment. The SUM of all of Apple's component manufacturers R&D budget dwarfs them ... 

I am not asking for Apple themselves to manufacture every component they use but you can't exactly give a whole lot of credit to Apple's "innovation" when most of their contributions are not even their own! 

They spend some on R&D alright but on their balance sheet it practically works out to been nonexistent compared to other big tech companies ... 

They need to do much more before I can take them seriously as "innovators" ... 

I highly doubt Apple will start designing their own GPUs when they have yet to buy a tiny dedicated graphics company like Imagination Technologies or start their own group ... 

Apple really wasn't the fist one with a smartphone, it was this monster from the IBM Frakenstein laboratories ... 

Well, again, even when compared to other big tech companies like MS and Google, Apple's R&D spendings can't be described as "non-existent", and all of them spend less than Samsung....

The sum of component manufacturers budget dwarfs MS and Google too, so why is this only relevant to Apple?

But let's leave it at that because we are back to square one.

 

Apple was the first one with a smartphone that almost everyone on the planet wants to have it, or have something similar to it. I am aware of previous smartphones but they weren't nearly as popular or impactful. Whatever smartphone you use, it's largely, if not completely, influenced by the iPhone. For a lot of people, the current smartphone is the device they use the most on a daily basis. I couldn't have said any of that a decade ago.

I'd understand if we were having this conversation when the iPhone was in its early days. After all, even Steve Balmar didn't grasp Apple's vision for the device, which is a big reason they are still so behind in the smartphone game right now. Fortunately for Google, the story is different. But it's not the early days of the iPhone, so I am really baffled that you still question Apple's vision for the smartphone when its effect can be seen everywhere.



Ganoncrotch on 28 January 2016
ChaoticSilver said:
I don't know if apple lost it or not, I got tired of upgrading my iphones every 1 or 2 years, last one i got was the 4s and it does perfectly well everything i need it to do. Now for innovation, i'm not sure apple is or was innovative at all. iPod? We had mp3s and mp4 media players way before the ipod launched (Creative labs had their own ''ipod'') I still wait for the day they release a video game system, that's pretty much all they need to be the same as the competition.

 

Not sure Apple will want to jump back into that anytime soon, never know tho if they figure a way of making a ton of cash from it they could, maybe if one of the big 3 were considering selling out their gaming division or so then Apple could step in, but I couldn't see the Apple customer sitting down with their console playing CoD if I'm honest.



Why not check me out on youtube and help me on the way to 2k subs over at www.youtube.com/stormcloudlive

Ganoncrotch on 28 January 2016
Soundwave said:
AlfredoTurkey said:

 

Before iPod, MP3 was niche and CD was king. After? MP3 king and CD dead. Before iPhone, flip phone was king. After iPhone, smart phones were king and flip phones dead. Before iPad, PC was king. Afer iPad, tablets were king and PC is dying.

You may not think they were innovative, but that is the definition of innovative. They changed the world.

No question they changed the world. This is Pope's inaguration photo, 2005 vs 2013:

You can see one person with a flip phone to the far right of the 2005 photo and that's it, lol. 

You know the saddest thing about this "I must watch the live event I'm at in my phones screen" logic? Each one of the people in 2005 got to see the event with their own eyes, got to experience it first hand, if they want a picture of the event they have the one linked right here, they were in that crowd, they can possibly even point to themselves in it from this and you get a feel of what a big event it was.

The pictures from 2013, Firstly everyone in the crowd has the person in front of them with their arm in the air holding either a phone or tablet screen in the air, and for what, all the images are going to be shaky rubbish for the most part, some of them might not even have their camera on, guy on the left side is clearly pressing his touch screen (and the guy to the right of the tablet in the middle), is he taking shots? trying to find the record option... no idea, but he is going through his phones settings rather than actually experiencing the event he is one of the few people to be at, for what? a bad quality picture of said event on his phone. It boggles my mind, is it the worry of the "Pictures or it didn't happen" phenomenon where they worry that later if they tell people they were at said event someone might question it and they'll have shaky picture proof on their phone (if they can find the files) that they were.

Find it a touch sad really, when you want footage of an event you were at now, you can just check for it on youtube will most likely have been someone there near you shaking a camera all over the place, can just say it was your footage and just enjoy the show you're at with your own eyes.





Why not check me out on youtube and help me on the way to 2k subs over at www.youtube.com/stormcloudlive

barneystinson69 on 01 February 2016
Ganoncrotch said:
Soundwave said:
AlfredoTurkey said:

 

Before iPod, MP3 was niche and CD was king. After? MP3 king and CD dead. Before iPhone, flip phone was king. After iPhone, smart phones were king and flip phones dead. Before iPad, PC was king. Afer iPad, tablets were king and PC is dying.

You may not think they were innovative, but that is the definition of innovative. They changed the world.

No question they changed the world. This is Pope's inaguration photo, 2005 vs 2013:

You can see one person with a flip phone to the far right of the 2005 photo and that's it, lol. 

You know the saddest thing about this "I must watch the live event I'm at in my phones screen" logic? Each one of the people in 2005 got to see the event with their own eyes, got to experience it first hand, if they want a picture of the event they have the one linked right here, they were in that crowd, they can possibly even point to themselves in it from this and you get a feel of what a big event it was.

The pictures from 2013, Firstly everyone in the crowd has the person in front of them with their arm in the air holding either a phone or tablet screen in the air, and for what, all the images are going to be shaky rubbish for the most part, some of them might not even have their camera on, guy on the left side is clearly pressing his touch screen (and the guy to the right of the tablet in the middle), is he taking shots? trying to find the record option... no idea, but he is going through his phones settings rather than actually experiencing the event he is one of the few people to be at, for what? a bad quality picture of said event on his phone. It boggles my mind, is it the worry of the "Pictures or it didn't happen" phenomenon where they worry that later if they tell people they were at said event someone might question it and they'll have shaky picture proof on their phone (if they can find the files) that they were.

Find it a touch sad really, when you want footage of an event you were at now, you can just check for it on youtube will most likely have been someone there near you shaking a camera all over the place, can just say it was your footage and just enjoy the show you're at with your own eyes.

Well this is the unfortunent reality that our modern society faces. Everyone is already looking at their screen's. Many times, I can no longer even have a proper conversation with someone. Always an iPhone or tablet at the table... jesus.



Made a bet with LipeJJ and HylianYoshi that the XB1 will reach 30 million before Wii U reaches 15 million. Loser has to get avatar picked by winner for 6 months (or if I lose, either 6 months avatar control for both Lipe and Hylian, or my patrick avatar comes back forever).

archer9234 on 02 February 2016
barneystinson69 said:
Ganoncrotch said:
Soundwave said:
AlfredoTurkey said:

 

Before iPod, MP3 was niche and CD was king. After? MP3 king and CD dead. Before iPhone, flip phone was king. After iPhone, smart phones were king and flip phones dead. Before iPad, PC was king. Afer iPad, tablets were king and PC is dying.

You may not think they were innovative, but that is the definition of innovative. They changed the world.

No question they changed the world. This is Pope's inaguration photo, 2005 vs 2013:

You can see one person with a flip phone to the far right of the 2005 photo and that's it, lol. 

You know the saddest thing about this "I must watch the live event I'm at in my phones screen" logic? Each one of the people in 2005 got to see the event with their own eyes, got to experience it first hand, if they want a picture of the event they have the one linked right here, they were in that crowd, they can possibly even point to themselves in it from this and you get a feel of what a big event it was.

The pictures from 2013, Firstly everyone in the crowd has the person in front of them with their arm in the air holding either a phone or tablet screen in the air, and for what, all the images are going to be shaky rubbish for the most part, some of them might not even have their camera on, guy on the left side is clearly pressing his touch screen (and the guy to the right of the tablet in the middle), is he taking shots? trying to find the record option... no idea, but he is going through his phones settings rather than actually experiencing the event he is one of the few people to be at, for what? a bad quality picture of said event on his phone. It boggles my mind, is it the worry of the "Pictures or it didn't happen" phenomenon where they worry that later if they tell people they were at said event someone might question it and they'll have shaky picture proof on their phone (if they can find the files) that they were.

Find it a touch sad really, when you want footage of an event you were at now, you can just check for it on youtube will most likely have been someone there near you shaking a camera all over the place, can just say it was your footage and just enjoy the show you're at with your own eyes.

Well this is the unfortunent reality that our modern society faces. Everyone is already looking at their screen's. Many times, I can no longer even have a proper conversation with someone. Always an iPhone or tablet at the table... jesus.

In the past. Wasn't that just the same. Except with a Gameboy, Walkman, CD player, Mag, Book, or News Paper. People have done this regardless.