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.
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.
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.
Apple no longer an innovator without Steve Jobs
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?
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.
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.
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.
Yep, Apple under Cook just doesn’t have it any more.
> Apple needs to find the “next big thing”
That mantra has been repeated for decades.
Next up:
Lightfield displays & cameras.
3 types of people:
HAVEs
HAVE NOTs
DON’T HAVE TO HAVE