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In run-up to iPhone 7, Nikkei reports Apple moving to 3-year major iPhone refresh cycle
9 to 5 Mac ^ | 2016-05-31 | Ben Lovejoy

Posted on 05/31/2016 10:16:42 AM PDT by Shanghai Dan

Apple will likely take three years between full-model changes of its iPhone devices, a year longer than the current cycle. In a typical two-year term, fall 2016 was supposed to see a major upgrade. But the changes on the model to be launched this autumn will be minor, such as improved camera quality...

These include a KGI report last month stating that the design would be largely unchanged and that it would not have ‘many attractive selling points.’


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Music/Entertainment; Science
KEYWORDS: apple; iphone; iphone7; mobile
The smartphone market is slowing down at the high end - and is increasingly being dominated by Samsung, and eaten away by Huawei and Xiaomi. The new smartphone market is lower-cost products - and that's an area that Apple doesn't play in. Slowing down releases is a reaction to a zero-growth high-end phone market.

Apple needs to find the "next big thing" to keep rolling, especially since the iPhone is 2/3rds of their revenue. As the revenue from that product line starts to dip even more, and it's going to get very frantic in Cupertino.

1 posted on 05/31/2016 10:16:42 AM PDT by Shanghai Dan
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To: Shanghai Dan

For the first time, I am 1.5 years into my last contract and do not have any excitement or desire to rush to upgrade. That coupled with the carrier’s move away from 2 year contracts, and the space has changed for good. You said it, their demand for the high end phone has diminished greatly.


2 posted on 05/31/2016 10:21:02 AM PDT by ilgipper
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To: Shanghai Dan

I’ve wondered if smart phones are getting to be so ‘good’, that its hurting sales. They are a lot more reliable now, screens are more durable, I’m constantly getting a software update, etc.

I really can’t think of anything I really want in a smart phone that I don’t already have - barring a big breakthrough.


3 posted on 05/31/2016 10:27:01 AM PDT by lacrew
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To: Shanghai Dan

Apple no longer an innovator without Steve Jobs


4 posted on 05/31/2016 10:30:27 AM PDT by 4rcane
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To: Shanghai Dan

The ease of use for the iphone is no where near the ease of use of the Droid phones. Apple is surviving on cult like buyers, not technology. These stupid apple watches...really?


5 posted on 05/31/2016 10:32:40 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Shanghai Dan

It tottered around for a few years after the death of Steve Jobs but Apple is officially out of ideas. Same old stuff, just a minor tweak here and there, forever apparently. They are becoming the Microsoft of phones now, with a few other niche products.


6 posted on 05/31/2016 11:06:22 AM PDT by pepsi_junkie (ui)
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To: 4rcane

I should have read the comments before I posted, you already said what I did but more concisely.


7 posted on 05/31/2016 11:07:27 AM PDT by pepsi_junkie (ui)
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To: Shanghai Dan

The subsidized upgrade is over, which was SURPRISE, every two years... now that its gone, certainly less pressure to buy a $700 or $800 item ever two years.

Apple could keep the 2 year window, but won’t sell as many since folks won’t be getting a free or subsidized upgrade ever 2 years anymore.


8 posted on 05/31/2016 11:11:41 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: Shanghai Dan

Why buy a new smartphone just to get the upgrade? My Nexus 6 downloads the next version of android right off the internet, as does the Moto Droid Turbo 2 owned by my children.


9 posted on 05/31/2016 11:28:40 AM PDT by sportutegrl
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To: Shanghai Dan

Yep, Apple under Cook just doesn’t have it any more.


10 posted on 05/31/2016 11:37:29 AM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: Shanghai Dan

> Apple needs to find the “next big thing”

That mantra has been repeated for decades.

Next up:
Lightfield displays & cameras.


11 posted on 05/31/2016 12:47:26 PM PDT by ctdonath2 ("Get the he11 out of my way!" - John Galt)
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To: Shanghai Dan

3 types of people:

HAVEs
HAVE NOTs
DON’T HAVE TO HAVE


12 posted on 05/31/2016 6:19:51 PM PDT by traumer
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