Apple finally clambers to top of phone market again as spider-eyed iPhone 11 lures fanatics out of the shadows

Re: One hit wonder?

I was thinking we biped monkeys like new things (more than we like discounted older things) – so what if Apple comes out with a nominally new phone – say around $400 – which is fairly competitive on features with similarly priced Androids?

Such a phone would have one unique selling point which none of the Android phones would be able to compete with – it would be not Android.

If Apple are to be believed then owning such a phone would allow one to avoid every moment of life being tracked, warehoused, filleted, packaged and monetised.

Of course if you are someone who believes Apple are totally evil and horrid and just as bad as Google then such a phone would not be for you.

If you are someone who believes that no one including yourself gives a shit about privacy anyway then such a phone would also not be for you or anyone else.

If you are the type who would never ever ever ever ever even consider buying a phone that has a non-user-replaceable-battery/other-well-known-horrid-Apple-feature then it wouldn't be for you either.

Also if you are someone who believes Apple only cares about margins and that they would never consider using their cash pile to subsidise something in the short term to try to gain market/mind share then you will conclude this will never even happen.

It will be interesting to see if it does happen though, and if it does how well it sells.

Re: One hit wonder?

Take away the phone, though, and all that lovely high margin other stuff would disappear pretty quickly. But Apple has very loyal customers who like the value proposition (this is debatable but understandable) of the phone and don't mind paying over the odds for services and accessories in the generally misplaced hope that they will work better than other off the shelf stuff.

For me, the phone wars are over. Pretty much all the modern phones are fantastic and you now have to look hard to see the difference between Android and IOS – yes, I know there are some telltale signs but at a quick glance it does look they've achieved parity.

Re: One hit wonder?

Something over 50% of the entire DAX index in market cap.

Next question?

The people who bought in 2019 probably aren't going to buy again in 2020, you're right. It will be the people who last bought in 2018, or 2017, or even earlier who will.

Apple reported that their "installed base" went from 1.4 billion to 1.5 billion over the past 12 months, that's the number that really matters to them not whether they see increases in year over year sales. They can keep growing the installed base even if yearly sales go into decline since every new iPhone sold means an old iPhone traded in / sold to a second hand owner, and many of those are selling on to a third hand owner. A bigger installed base means more app sales, more potential customers for services like Apple Music, and perhaps some future owners of other Apple devices like Macs or Watches.

Re: Already way too expensive

For you.

But for others it obviously is.

Re: Already way too expensive

I can afford lots of things I don't buy also. Probably a few of those things I wouldn't buy you would/do. Maybe you own a high end luxury/sports car, or a second home in a vacation spot, or paid your child's way to an exclusive college. I don't see the value in those things, but some people do. But I don't go around posting AC about how I don't want those things, implying that others should not want them either.

Re: Only one in town is best?

Well if your business colleague lives within China then yes.

But for the rest of the world? There are no google services available.

That means no SatNav as Google Maps, no Here, etc. Maybe TomTom is coming at the end of the year.

If he needs other business applications then he may also be searching in vain.

So he has bought a great hardware without having software for now.