Apple's stock is at a nine month low as so called experts are predicting doom for the company. The iPhone 5 is no longer the best smartphone on the market, and Apple hasn't released any product that really “wow’d” us in awhile. Apple has improved on products that were hot a couple of years ago, but the upgrades have been incremental. Even the iPad Mini is just a small iPad. There is nothing really new there.
What does all of this mean? It means that Apple is probably on a long, slow decline because Steve Jobs is not there. Microsoft went through the same kind of decline after Bill Gates left. Steve Jobs was Apple, and the company has never succeeded without him. The last time he left, they almost went bankrupt and although this time around he grew the company to be the biggest company in the world, they seem to be starting the long decline. Competitors like Samsung, Google, and Microsoft are starting to pass them by in the smartphone space, and it’s just a matter of time before other tablets start to eat into iPad sales.
Apple has made several mis-steps lately. First of all, they changed the 30 pin iPod connector when they didn't have to. The company argues they had to change the connector to make the iPhone 5 thinner, but did they have to make it that thin? I think the iPhone 5 is too thin. It's very east to drop the phone and it's hard to pick it up off a table if it's not in a case. Many people have been frustrated that the numerous 30 pin cables they've collected over the years no longer work. And what about all of those accessories? Now, my iPad and iPhone require 2 different cables. That is dumb. I know several people who have purchased an iPhone 4S instead of the iPhone 5 because of the cable problem.
Then there was the Apple Maps debacle. So much has already been written about how bad Apple Maps is so I won't rehash it here. Apple simply muffed it big time.
What about iCloud? Does anyone think it really works well? I don't. iTunes Match almost never works exactly as promised, and iCloud is flakey at best. Apple simply doesn't know how to do the cloud very well. Remember Mobile Me? iCloud isn't much better.
Can I really blame the loss of Steve Jobs for all of Apple's problems? No, not really. After all, Apple did have issue when Jobs was there. Remember Antennagate? Steve Jobs was an original however, and a genius at marketing. If he told you his phone was the best in the world you believed it. He knew what consumers wanted before they did, and he gave it to them. Unfortunately, nobody at Apple seems to have the same sense of what the consumer wants. Apple has not been able to "wow" us since Steve left. They’ve done a decent job of keeping the company near the top since Steve left, but the past 12 months have been rocky. Apple stock is $200 off its high, and analysts are predicting the company’s decline. The stock price will go back up at some point, but Apple days of dominating the mobile space seem to have come to an end, and the future will be much more challenging.
I still use Apple products and I still carry an iPhone, but it sure seems like my phone is no longer the best smartphone out there. At this point Apple’s products seem over priced and no longer carry the cache they once did. It’s a subjective opinion, but it’s mine. Samsung and Nokia have made some very nice phones and even RIM’s BlackBerry 10 looks like it will out perform iOS 6.
Is it over for Apple? No. Can they recover? Maybe, but the days of being the largest company in the world are probably behind them. Apple will have to find a new leader that can have the impact that Steve Jobs did. Tim Cook is probably a good CEO, but he just isn’t good at being the face of the company. Steve was an original and unfortunately we are witnessing the start of a long, slow decline.
What does all of this mean? It means that Apple is probably on a long, slow decline because Steve Jobs is not there. Microsoft went through the same kind of decline after Bill Gates left. Steve Jobs was Apple, and the company has never succeeded without him. The last time he left, they almost went bankrupt and although this time around he grew the company to be the biggest company in the world, they seem to be starting the long decline. Competitors like Samsung, Google, and Microsoft are starting to pass them by in the smartphone space, and it’s just a matter of time before other tablets start to eat into iPad sales.
Apple has made several mis-steps lately. First of all, they changed the 30 pin iPod connector when they didn't have to. The company argues they had to change the connector to make the iPhone 5 thinner, but did they have to make it that thin? I think the iPhone 5 is too thin. It's very east to drop the phone and it's hard to pick it up off a table if it's not in a case. Many people have been frustrated that the numerous 30 pin cables they've collected over the years no longer work. And what about all of those accessories? Now, my iPad and iPhone require 2 different cables. That is dumb. I know several people who have purchased an iPhone 4S instead of the iPhone 5 because of the cable problem.
Then there was the Apple Maps debacle. So much has already been written about how bad Apple Maps is so I won't rehash it here. Apple simply muffed it big time.
What about iCloud? Does anyone think it really works well? I don't. iTunes Match almost never works exactly as promised, and iCloud is flakey at best. Apple simply doesn't know how to do the cloud very well. Remember Mobile Me? iCloud isn't much better.
Can I really blame the loss of Steve Jobs for all of Apple's problems? No, not really. After all, Apple did have issue when Jobs was there. Remember Antennagate? Steve Jobs was an original however, and a genius at marketing. If he told you his phone was the best in the world you believed it. He knew what consumers wanted before they did, and he gave it to them. Unfortunately, nobody at Apple seems to have the same sense of what the consumer wants. Apple has not been able to "wow" us since Steve left. They’ve done a decent job of keeping the company near the top since Steve left, but the past 12 months have been rocky. Apple stock is $200 off its high, and analysts are predicting the company’s decline. The stock price will go back up at some point, but Apple days of dominating the mobile space seem to have come to an end, and the future will be much more challenging.
I still use Apple products and I still carry an iPhone, but it sure seems like my phone is no longer the best smartphone out there. At this point Apple’s products seem over priced and no longer carry the cache they once did. It’s a subjective opinion, but it’s mine. Samsung and Nokia have made some very nice phones and even RIM’s BlackBerry 10 looks like it will out perform iOS 6.
Is it over for Apple? No. Can they recover? Maybe, but the days of being the largest company in the world are probably behind them. Apple will have to find a new leader that can have the impact that Steve Jobs did. Tim Cook is probably a good CEO, but he just isn’t good at being the face of the company. Steve was an original and unfortunately we are witnessing the start of a long, slow decline.