Apple will sell a lot more iPhone7s this year than the pundits think they will because they are not just a little incremental upgrade. A survey taken yesterday showed that 29% of iPhone owners are planning to upgrade THIS year. If that is the case, then that works out to over 220 million on just upgraders alone.
I think the new Apple Watch 2 will take off. The 15 million sales so far of the last model may turn into double that this coming year with the Apple Watch 2. New designs in the MacBook Pro with interactive touch screen Function Key strips are coming soon. Lots of people are waiting for that.
Apple Services hit $20 billion in revenue in 2015. That by itself would make it number 140 on the Fortune 500 if it were a stand alone business. At the growth rate Apple is making in Services, it may make the 113th on the list by the end of the year.
Next year in 2017, with the tenth anniversary of the iPhone and a complete redesign, we could see a huge resurgence in interest which is pent up.
“Apple Services hit $20 billion in revenue in 2015. “
That is impressive in itself. I worked last year with Apple consulting services, and they are motivated. I am not sure they have the overall offerings businesses need, but they are working with a variety of new business ventures so I expect they will come around.
MS used to do significant service revenues, but, since about 2001, they folded much of it. Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) was the powerhouse of the 1990’s for increasing overall sales at MS, but politics has all but killed off that division for that purpose. To be a Managed Partner was a significant position to be in as a independent consulting company. There were 22 MPs nationally, and I was one of them. That model is all but gone now.
There are gaps in the software and services market that are excellent opportunities. Most of what we have today is still nothing but 1990’s tech at best, such as email services. There is still so much room for innovation. MS won’t be doing it. They are without leadership.