Bad news follows bad news for Apple.
Found guilty of price fixing eBooks.
Profit margins are down on their flagship devices.
Sales are down at their Apple Stores.
Market share is dwindling.
The Nexus 7 simply destroys the iPad Mini in Reviews.
What gives?
Apple needs a new product. They've set themselves up as needing a constant influx of brilliant new ideas. Anything less is considered a failure. Apple is becoming a victim of their own success. However, they are also suffering from the Innovator's Dilemma where their focus is no longer on innovation but on harvesting from their market share advantages. The result is their competitors become the innovative ones and the next market disruption will more likely come from a source other than Apple.
Apple needs new products.
The news making the round now is the expected September 10th announcement of the new iPhone. This leak is almost certainly one of two things: (1) pure speculation, or (2) a leak directly from Apple to head off anxiety about the company's performance. I'm betting the latter.
A few articles come together to paint a broader picture for Apple. Some of it is good, some of it is bad. The most troubling is this quote:
"Apple hasn't produced a single big product since Jobs passed. All of their current products are a legacy of the Jobs era. There's no indication that Apple can still innovate in a big way."
Here are the three articles.
The Next iPhone Better Wow Us
http://www.zdnet.com/word-from-the-street-the-next-iphone-better-wow-us-7000019243/
Apple's Identity Crisis Following the Loss of Jobs
http://www.digitaltrends.com/opinion/no-magic-no-apple-cupertinos-identity-crisis-in-the-fading-afterglow-of-jobs/
Apple Stores Seeing Declining Sales
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57598028-71/apple-store-now-an-apple-bore/
Will the reported "iWatch" be Apple's savior? The low-end iPhone, the 5C?? Something has to happen.
Happy reading,
J.W. Gant
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