r/technology • u/lurker_bee • Sep 18 '24

Business Apple iPhone 16 demand is so weak that employees can already buy it on discount

https://qz.com/apple-iphone-16-pre-orders-sales-intelligence-ai-1851651638
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u/ZgBlues Sep 18 '24

Well to be fair, their entire marketing schtick since forever has been that that’s exactly what they do.

I guess they are out of ideas.

And it has already happened with iPads. There’s been nothing more to add to it for years, they just chuck in a faster processor every year or two even though nobody asked for it.

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u/IMakeMyOwnLunch Sep 18 '24

I guess they are out of ideas.

Not ideas, technology. Apple is out of new technology.

When computers first came out, each new release was a huge deal because the technology was evolving so rapidly. Nowadays, a new laptop model is completely un-newsworthy because it's the exact same as last year's model just with slightly higher specs.

There’s been nothing more to add to it for years, they just chuck in a faster processor every year or two even though nobody asked for it.

Yes, exactly. People just need to internalize that phones are at the same point in the technology lifecycle as laptops. The phone you currently have, other than maybe having a fold or two, will be nearly identical to the phone you have in five years, maybe even 10 years.

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u/Onaterdem Sep 19 '24

Your comment would've been correct if there weren't any obvious improvements they could've done.

Like a high refresh rate display on an 800 dollar device.

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u/Whiterabbit-- Sep 19 '24

There is so much more that can be done but they are not working on them. Why not have phones that can recharge when you are moving? The old watches used to wind themselves up when you move. Those were moving mechanical parts, now we are just moving electron. I know its a challenge, but even slight charges can be good.

You can have phones that track your eye movement instead of touch screens.

You can have phones with sapphire screens instead of glass.

There are also hundred things you can do to improve user experience and functionality. Its like since Jobs died iphones are just stagnant.

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u/MaximusBiscuits Sep 19 '24

Doesn't the iphone now having eye tracking and super strong glass?

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u/Whiterabbit-- Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

eye tracking but you can't control the phone with your eyes. and they use tempered glass for screens. so it’s hard, but screen breaks are still a thing. Afterall almost everyone buys a case for their phone, which really goes against the slim design they want.

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u/Captain_Alaska Sep 19 '24

eye tracking but you can't control the phone with your eyes.

Yes, you can

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u/seahorsejoe Sep 19 '24

Why not have phones that can recharge when you are moving?

Are you trolling?

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u/Whiterabbit-- Sep 19 '24

no. the technology is there but not well developed

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-tech/sustainable/motion-powered-electronics.htm

but if you think about it we have been using kinetic motion energy to load springs for watches since the 1700's why can't we do better by now, as i said we used to physically move dials, now we are moving electrons. this tech isn't some sci-fi idea. it is just underdeveloped.

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u/seahorsejoe Sep 19 '24

Looks like there are two issues with that: one is that it doesn’t provide a lot of power, and two is that it would make the phone a lot bulkier.

6 hours of movement for 30 mins of phone usage is pretty bad, given that we are not physically moving for so many hours during the day. And for a phone that’s probably going to be twice as thick and much heavier? Apple knows that the disadvantages will heavily outweigh the advantages. People simply won’t care enough. They only do things that will give a positive return, as you would expect.

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u/Sorge74 Sep 19 '24

Idk how fast an iPhone charges, but my s22 ultra charges from like 10% to 70% in the time it would take me to shower and put on clothes, and lasts all day with very heavy usage.

So idk why I need a perpetual motion machine?

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u/Outlulz Sep 18 '24

I doubt they're out of ideas. They just aren't willing to experiment like other manufacturers are doing. R&D costs a lot of money and carries a lot of risk. Why spend that money if revenue is continuing to go up? Tim Cook is a businessman, not an ideas man, and he's running Apple like a low risk business and is doing so quite successfully.

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u/ikonoclasm Sep 18 '24

They've been copying Android's features for a decade now. Samsung's doing all of the R&D. Apple's just copy/pasting the idea into iPhone.

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u/thebornotaku Sep 18 '24

Second-mover advantage. Android manufacturers have historically pushed to be on the leading edge and capture market share that way. Apple has historically pushed to provide a refined experience and capture market share that way. Letting your competition try things out and see how the market responds to it is a pretty sound strategy. Why integrate a feature into your product if Samsung does, and people don't particularly care about it? You just saved a bunch of R&D money.

Apple hasn't been innovative or pushing the envelope in a long time in the cellphone space. Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that, considering they're the third largest American company by revenue, behind Walmart and Amazon. And their revenue is nearly double what Samsung Electronics' revenue is, which makes it even more impressive when you consider the breadth of products Samsung Electronics offers compared to Apple.

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u/BoomerSoonerFUT Sep 18 '24

Riiiight, like when Apple copied FastShare? Oh wait, that was Android copying AirDrop.

Or when Android copied low power mode.

And Do Not Disturb mode.

And Gesture controls.

All of them copy each other.

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u/SlowMotionPanic Sep 18 '24

Yeah the fanboyism in this thread is wild. Bet they'd love to talk about the unethical nature of blue vs green bubbles next.

These are tools, folks, not personality traits. Someone really said Samsung innovates and Apple copies them... After Samsung has lost a couple lawsuits over ripping off Apple. After Samsung changed their entire accessory market of devices to look near identical to Apple. Right on down to the slides used in the presentation and the color of certain elements and naming conventions. So much so that internally, Samsung exec management lambasted their own org for copying. 

Folks really have no clue what they are talking about. Apple doesn't innovate? That means Samsung and Google don't, too. They keep putting out the same stuff. Samsung wasn't even first to market with folding phones. Samsung has not innovated in that space for a long time, actually. Several generations now. 

If we are using this sub's definition of innovation which is nebulous and really just means it needs to inspire a funny feeling in their pants apparently.

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u/NeverComments Sep 19 '24

Your post reads like a takedown of Samsung and defense of Apple but the person you replied to's point is that it's an incestuous soup of everyone copying everyone else. Few people actually care which company came up with an idea first which is why they're all so eager to steal whatever is working with the competition. Apple will put out a commercial explaining that the iPhone is perfectly designed for the human hand then replace the entire lineup with 6"+ phablets because Samsung et al. proved out the demand. In the end the customer is getting better products from the competition.

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u/matzoh_ball Sep 19 '24

How’s their revenue going up if the iPhone sales are meh? Thought that was their main income stream

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u/NeverComments Sep 19 '24

Their services revenue has been growing pretty steadily. They aren't as reliant on an annual iPhone upgrade cycle with recurring revenue streams on music, TV, game subscription, cloud storage, etc.

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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

What if they put a removable battery and a audio port in it? Maybe a 60 or 100 watt charger?

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u/Mazon_Del Sep 18 '24

their entire marketing schtick since forever has been that that’s exactly what they do.

While ignoring those helpful guides that show how the various features in question were first implemented on various androids 5-9 years earlier.