Apple 'slashes iPhone 5 screen orders', tight-fisted fanbois blamed
Demand for iPhones is plummeting, according to two supply-chain sources. The suggestion of weak sales knocked about three per cent off Apple's pre-trading stock to just above $500 a share. Orders for iPhone 5 touchscreens for January to March 2013 have been cut in half by Cupertino bosses, reports Japanese news service Nikkei. …
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Re: Not worth the money
Double standards? The "cool" types (definition of whose judgement I avoid) dislike Windows 8 because it's too different from what they know, equally, the comments on Unity or Mountain Lion. Nokia got a lot of flak because it's S60 got more and more unpredictable in its interface. It's why minor, useful changes tend to be more popular with most people (most people not being with-it 16 year olds). Apple did break the mould a bit in that the first iPhone was a startling leap from what sold well before (yes, not all its ideas were new; but the combination, presentation and slickness overcame the old failures by other suppliers). Nothing, absolutely nothing in mobile phone development since then , including the later iPhones, is anything more than a cosmetic or performance tweak and still most Android and Windows versions are struggling to get the consistency and unity of experience. Price and size are far from everything and "not being" something else must be the worst reason for gettng something.
Do you avoid cars because the interface has not changed? You know, steering wheel on the same side, four wheels, usually, gear stick in the middle ... boring.
Has it not occurred to you that, if a maker has found a decent, predictable interface, he is daft to change it just to be "cool" and please the gnat-brained followers of fashion. Nothing worse than buying a new mobile and spending the next weeks cursing as you find out how to do this and not to do that that you did without a thought for the last couple of years. A mobile is a tool, just that. If you want toys, buy some Lego or a kiddy's electrical set or a gameboy.
Re: Not worth the money
Not really about cool for me... Value for money.
"Do you avoid cars because the interface has not changed? You know, steering wheel on the same side, four wheels, usually, gear stick in the middle ... boring."
Cars have evolved over a hundred years into a standard. Same thing happens to most thing as they become ubiquitous in today's society and when it is mass manufactured it is more so. Smartphones are a relatively young product and are evolving rapidly with the exception of iOS that seems to think it is perfect already, which some of it's fans appear to believe because they have been told is so. Vanilla Android v4.* is a relatively experience and Google adopts innovation rapidly (see Android v4.2 has taken the Swype keyboard into the core product). Even if you don't like the Swype keyboard you can't argue it isn't pretty quick setting the texting world record: http://gizmodo.com/5619301/latest-texting-world-record-shaves-10-seconds-off-previous-swype-record.
Re: Not worth the money
Look at what happened to MacOS. Revolutionary when it came out, but Apple stuck to it for far too long and, instead of trying to compete on quality, tried to do it in the law courts instead. Remember how they sued the GEM people for having resizeable windows, which is why it had them on the Atari ST but could only do full screen or a horizontal split under MS-DOS. A feature the not-Metro-any-more designers seem to have liked. But I digress.
Anyway, with MacOS they started off with a good product, didn't improve it, lost their edge and became a small niche supplier. It's a few years away, but I can see that happening with iOS as well.
Perhaps it will give LG some more capacity to actually get some Nexus 4s out into the market.
It's a high end gadget
and since its release fares have gone up at above inflation - again - food & fuel prices continue to climb and I've just lost £130-something a month in child benefit. So a nice-to-have like this, or a newer bigger telly, or even a 2Tb NAS, are strictly in the some-other-time folder.
Luckily my current phone is an iPhone4* - over 2 years old and still looks and works like it was brand new. But id i did need a new phone it'd likely be a secondhand 4S not a new 5. Taller screen and slightly faster? Meh.
*Clearly that makes me a half-wit. I can live with that. In the land of the blind....
Re: It's a high end gadget
There is nothing wrong with the 4S but to pay more than half the 'new' price for a 4S compared to buying the newest 5 - think I'd still get the newer handset for a bit more cash as it should last longer. Also have used a 5 and the 'tall' screen is a benefit - but glad it's no wider.
Re: It's a high end gadget
I take your point on the screen, but it is MONSTROUSLY faster than the 4. Breathtaking, sometimes.
So let's get this straight
They expected to sell twice as many as last year, based on a not-completely-earth-shattering update, in more competitive market conditions. But it turns out they're selling about the same number as last year.
I think there's been an accident with the reality-distortion field in the Apple supply-chain department
Re: So let's get this straight
Yeah, well. Hope springs eternal.
Re: So let's get this straight
"Expected" is probably too strong a word. It's fairly common practice in the components industry for buyers to overestimate deliberately the amount they're going to buy from their suppliers, so they can be sure that the supplier has got the capacity to fulfill the order if it comes.
Apple are renowned for winning favourable terms with their suppliers, so it's very unlikely that they've lost anything by cutting down from their "forecast".
Even so, I'd imagine that they haven't done as well as they expected to with the 5. There's only so much "it's slightly faster" upgrades of the same model that people are prepared to shell out for before they get wise and hang on to their old kit/buy the 4S instead. And while Apple may have seen that coming, the ballsup with Maps has really hit their repuation hard. But I still suspect that the shortfall on their *actual* expectations is nowhere near as bad as the cut in their orders to suppliers suggests.
Re: So let's get this straight
Perhaps they make them too well. I've got a 4s. I like the 5, its longer screen is an improvement for reading newspapers and books on line; but nothing is wrong with my 2 year old 4s. Its battery still lasts 2 or 3 days or even more: it's not too big for my pockets, it's fast and it is still shiny :). Perhaps in another year, when the next version is out, let's see. Silly to be unecological and ditch a working thing just because it's not the latest. Perhaps iPhone users are just more intelligent, more satisfied and less materialistic?
Now with certain other operating systems and suppliers, one has got to get the latest, if only to get the latest bug fixes and keep an intact case. (Not everyone thinks installing a new ROM, jailbreaking etc. is a good way of spending their time instead of making telephone calls or using useful apps). It's astonishing how many iPhone 3Gs one still sees, with happy owners happily using them in public. Not everyone can afford to or wants to buy new stuff just for the sake of it.
Re: So let's get this straight
I've got an original Samsung Galaxy S. My contract ended six months ago, and I was poised to upgrade to an S3. Then I asked myself "What, precisely will a new phone do that my current one doesn't and is it worth the thick end of five hundred quid to me?"
Ten seconds thought, then "Fuck it" and I stuck with the old one. I suspect I'm not the only one - there are still lots of happy iPhone 3GS users out there.
Re: So let's get this straight
Similar here, my 4S is working like a charm and I see absolutely no need for a bigger screen just because it make something I almost never do a little better. Also the reason why I won't change to a new Samsung/RIM/Win8 phone, since they only sell in monstrous sizes which I don't need. I want the SIII power crammed into a 4S or S1 form factor, then I will consider changing phone.
Or maybe Apple have cut orders from one manufacturer who was under performing and has 'leaked' this to the press.
Re: Sales lost to
Yes sales doubled from a few to a few more.
Re: Sales lost to
"The Lumia 920, gathering huge momentum now."
And QPR will win the Prem this year ;-)
Re: Sales lost to
No offence but I've been hearing that same sentence over since the first WP7 devices. I'm not holding my breath, its not as bad as the linux-on-the-desktop-year-anyday-now thingy, but yeah....
Re: Sales lost to
And yet Nokia overall still outsell Apple, let's not forget.
Re: Sales lost to
It's worth noting that iphone sales were low for *years*, and didn't get mainstream until the 4/4S really. But all we heard was tonnes of media hype, I don't recall it getting the same WP treatment of "Oh, still not popular" (indeed, instead the media spun it so that say, one million sales was hyped as being an amazing success).
I have no idea what will happen for WP, but it's clear that platforms can take years to become mainstream, and it was only Android that shot into massive success very quickly.
Re: Sales lost to
Yeah, what they lose on each sale they make up on volume...
Re: Sales lost to
Taiwan produce more joke rubber dog shits for export every year. What's your point?
I would not be so hasty - I've known people trying to buy an iPhone 5 (not just at launch) and having to wait 2+ weeks to get one. They could have been bit too optimistic with their projections or perhaps changing supplier ratios - i.e. reducing purchases from one or more if another is cheaper / better.
I have an iPhone 4 and I think it's good. But there was not enough in the 5 to warrant an upgrade. And besides, given that I use Google Maps a lot, at the time the apple maps saga was enough of a deterrent. That's now changed I know, but there's still not enough in the 5 that the 4 doesn't already have.
That's the whole point with Apple and upgrading - people love to quote Apple users as upgrading every time a new model is out - it's plain untrue when I know many people still using a 3GS every day and it's still supported / good enough (for them) not to need upgrading. The 3GS is going to be 4 years old this year.
Exactly, a friend of mine just upgraded from a 3S, but rather than upgrade to a new iphone, she brought a Sony and is thrilled with it!
And I know people who are getting the 4S new now...
Analysts don't know jack
As has been constantly proven by their 'forecasts' and 'research' in the past.
Yet investors react to everything they say!
Re: Analysts don't know jack
There's no analyst angle on this. They've halved their orders. That's not some bullshit prediction or something I came up with over my cereal.
Re: Analysts don't know jack
It's a fucking Internet rumour, not a fact.
Maybe they are about to launch a new, lower cost or another model so anticipate to need less of the '5' screens?
The original article also says "Apple also cut its orders for memory chips for its new iPhone from its main supplier and competitor Samsung" - is that really a surprise to anyone and not sure it's safe to use to corroborate other 'news' from unverified / un-named sources?
Yeah well my gran was speaking to so-and-so's mum in the butchers and he overheard a conversation in a pub...
I think from the comments from iphone owners the nail has been hit on the head. Not enough change for an upgrade. From a purely Android user point of view, I see the UI and hardware as way outdated and the things are just frankly way overpriced. To add to that the arrogance of the company and it's just a sure fire way to turn people off. About the only thing Apple has going for it is the number of apps etc available but Google is certainly catching up there.
This was dramatically highlighted the other day when I was on about the keyboard on my S3 with an iphone user. I said I did not like the layout or look so I simply downloaded another keyboard app. Or being able to use widgets on any screen, or changing the whole look of the OS. My friend had to concede to those points.
IMHO For Apple to survive in the future, they are going to have to radically change.
The difference is the Apple keyboard is fine to start with - I have never met anyone who had considered replacing it - even if you could.
Yeah MalwareKeyboard that's the one I want - oh damn it's not available on iPhone.
Yeah, it's "fine", but it's not great. I want a row of number buttons. I can't have it. Despite the 5 having a taller screen, I still can't have a taller keyboard?!?
I want better auto-correct, maybe multiple word suggestions... can't have that either.
Apple is "fine", but it's not flexible and that's where it's losing out. And this is from someone who had a 3G, then a 4 and resisted a 5 for a long time as it offered nothing new for the upgrade money and the pain of the damn lightning connector.
* I have a 5, but I have a 5 because CPW and Quidco were giving so much cashback it essentially cost nothing upfront to change. Perhaps because they couldn't find enough fanbois to cough up the initial handset price - I don't recall that being the case with any of the earlier ones...
I want cursor keys. Notice a typo and have to either back-space like there's no tomorrow or click, point, hover and hope that you've landed roughly past the typo and on the same line so you only have a few characters to backspace.
Are some arrow keys too much to ask for?
The difference is the Apple keyboard is fine to start with - I have never met anyone who had considered replacing it - even if you could.
Oooh, oooh, me, over here! Had to use an iPhone for a while and I bloody hated the keyboard. Far too basic, far too slow. The basic Android keyboard allows for long presses to bring up numbers, special characters, etc. More advanced ones allow tap-and-hold for smiley faces, and then have a separate page full of additional stuff. Yet more advanced ones, especially the downright brilliant Swype, allow for continuous input that's way faster than anything else I've used on a touchscreen.
By comparison, the iOS keyboard is a piece of shit. Inputting passwords on it was a bloody chore.
Fine?
I hate the keyboard on the iPhone, and the one on the iPad. Having got used to Swype, and keys showing multiple characters that you can long-press to get, the lack of these features really annoy me on Apple devices.
Also - I've not used the iPhone much, but does it have the same word prediction feature as on the iPad? If so, that's one thing which winds me up more than anything else I've used on any other device. Why would it default to replacing the word I was typing with a completely random wrong one? Sure, show me options that look like words it knows about, but let me choose when to use a different one. And how about automatically adding (or offering to add) words I type frequently for which I have to override it's spell checker to the dictionary for me?
Re: Fine?
The iphone/ipad keyboard doesn't even show small letters when selected, it's all caps. There's room for a row of numbers & symbols at the top but no ......
Swiftkey for Android bloes it away. Seriously.
UltraKeyboard
The best keyboard available on Android: has arrows, and good looking.
What, you don't have UltraKeyboard on iOS ? Tough !
"I have never met anyone who had considered replacing it"
I'm guessing you live on a deserted island then, because pretty much every iPhone owner that I know would love something like Swype on their fruit-themed device! Of course, there are some iPhone owners who are oblivious to the idea that other OSs offer a choice of keyboard, but once they know, they generally wish that the iPhone did too.
Don't get me wrong, for a long time, the iOS keyboard was the one to beat, but it is now very, very dated in comparison to Android keyboards like Swiftkey and Swype.
P.S. I originally wrote deserted desert island, but it just looked strange! :)
I was frankly baffled for a few minutes using a iPhone keypad because I couldn't get it to switch to lower case, until it dawned on me that they didn't bother to update the keycap legend.
The think is a typical Apple diktat: you must do it this way.
@baffled
The reason for not showing lower-case key caps is probably because of Scott Forstall's adherence to skeuomorphism - the virtual iOS keyboard is made to be as alike to a real-life keyboard as possible. In the real world key caps don't change when you hit shift-lock so the iOS virtual keyboard doesn't change key caps either.
Just saying - not trying to defend it or anything.
IOS keyboard has always had long press popup, and slide from shift key to chosen key for single keystroke shifts. But that doesn't mean it's perfect for everyone. Personally, I could never buy a BMW because the texture on the brake pedal isn't as effective as on the Audi. (lame joke) The idea that it would make a BMW better if different models had different brake pedals (more choice - more versatile - see?) doesn't gel with me. Equally the idea that each Android device might have different keyboard details does not excite me.
Is this for real? No keyboard options on iPhone?
I've never used an iPhone, but I recall some of the earliest things I ever downloaded on an Android device were a variety of keyboards. My current phone has a slide-out physical keyboard - I can't stand tapping stuff in on a piece of glass. I'm amazed at how much folks are paying for the iPhone if they don't even get such basic options that Android users have had for years.
Re: Is this for real? No keyboard options on iPhone?
Well, there are alternative keyboards. It's just that you have to run them as separate applications, then, get this, copy and paste into what you were typing.
(It's even funnier when you consider for years, they couldn't even do copy/paste.)
Malware keyboard? Oh do grow up.
Swiftkey makes the ios keyboard look positively Jurassic.
@mccp - skeumorphic fail
I think skeumorphic design is good, but only insofar as the real-life equivalent is the purest form of the object. The reason the keys don't change on your keyboard when you hit the shift key isn't because no one wants this but because it can't be done cost effectively. If it could, every laptop would have keys that changed when you hit the shift key (or changed languages or keyboard layout) so IMHO iOS ought to do it this way rather than just highlight the shift arrow.
In fact, having LED keycaps is exactly the sort of thing Apple is likely to be the first to do in a mass production product because PC OEMs playing the cutthroat margin game can't afford risky stuff that drives up component costs like Apple can (c.f. Retina laptops)
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