iPhone shipments post slowest-ever growth: report

[marmar]

(MarketWatch) Apple Inc.'s iPhone saw its share of the global smartphone market decline to 18% in the first quarter from 23% a year earlier, with its shipment growing at the lowest rate ever in its history, research firm Strategy Analytics said in its latest report.

In the same quarter, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. captured its highest-ever market share of 33% in the global smartphone market, compared to 29% a year earlier, the report said.

The data from Strategy Analytics comes as Apple's growth strategy comes under close scrutiny from investors and analysts. While Samsung sells many smartphones in various price ranges from low-end to high-end, Apple has so far focused on the premium segment of the market with its iPhone.

People familiar with the iPhone's production told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that Apple are working with its manufacturing partners in Asia on a less expensive iPhone that could be launched as early as the second half of this year. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/iphone-shipments-post-slowest-ever-growth-report-2013-04-25?dist=beforebell

[pipoman]

1. I might consider one if...

1. Apple didn't have the abysmal record for customer service.
2. Apple didn't have the record of discontinuing support for their overpriced products before the product is even obsolete
3. Apple didn't refuse to make their product interactive with windows based systems for data transfer.

[dawg]

5. None of those three things you just said are remotely true.

I have had nothing but excellent customer service from Apple. Compared to the house of horrors that is HP's customer service, Apple is like heaven.

My iPod Touch 3 and iPad 1 are still fully supported. I have upgraded operating systems (for free) and everything still works just like it did out of the box.

I manage both devices through iTunes, and I do so on my piece of ship HP Windows computer. Every single file on my iPod and iPad, other than the ones that came pre-installed, were transferred from a Windows based system.

Edited for: I am going to leave my typo alone. I kind of like the phrase "piece of ship HP"

[Agschmid]

18. Hmmm never happened to me?

Weird huh?

[gordianot]

2. With the current problems with battery life on the iPhone 5 no wonder.

Shows how horribly a company can decline after the chief founder and visionary is gone. The current problems with IOS 6 would not have been tolerated by Steven Jobs.

[BlueStreak]

4. When Jobs died, the stock price was about $400

And today it is also about $400.

But in the meantime, it went up to $700. What could people possibly have been thinking?

So much for the wisdom of the markets.

The markets are wise in the same sense that a herd of sheep is wise.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Market saturation?

at least among people who can actually afford the damn things?

[NightWatcher]

6. I haven't bought a 5 yet because my 4S is still working great

And I didn't buy the 4 because I got more than 3 years out of my 3GS.

Unlike a Samsung or Motorola which dies and needs replacement annually, apple products seem to last.

[tridim]

7. Can you post a link to the "Annual death and replacement" procedure for non-Apple products.

Thanks. :wave:

I guess the Jobs' Reality Distortion Field lives on in millions of fanboy heads... IMO, that is why Apple is failing.

[NightWatcher]

8. Haters gonna hate. You hate Apple. I hate Windows and Samsung

I've had 2 HP laptops die on me with hard drives full of info that I had to fish out. I had a Samsung phone melt on me back in 02. In 03 my Moto Razr phone broke in half. So far my iPhone's worked fine and my wife still works off a 4 year old Mac Pro.

I know I won't buy any more Windows machines or non iPhones

Peace

[tridim]

15. I don't hate Apple, but I do hate their prices.

It's been my major beef with Apple since the day the Apple II went on the market.

[frylock]

19. so your experience from 10 years ago applies to products being released today?

really? 3 out of the 6 devices I've owned over the last 13 years were Samsung, and not one of them died. My Razr started acting a little weird after about 23 months of use.

[Marr]

9. I think Apple has also been turning off consumers with a lot of their practices.

They've been trying to throw their weight around in recent years, in an attempt to control certain markets. These tactics have tended to impact the user experience. For instance, they didn't support Flash because it would mean they'd have less control of the app market. That's true, but it also means more choices for consumers and better prices. That took a back seat to Apple's short term bottom line, and some customers naturally migrated away as a result.

The way they treat music and other iTunes sales is another. They're incredibly restrictive in the ways they allow the user to actually use the items they've purchased. I know more than a few who dumped them simply for that.

They're still behaving like they're the only smart phone on the market, and they just aren't.

[dawg]

11. There are trade-offs between an open system and a closed system.

Ultimately, it's great that Apple is doing it's thing and the Android phone makers are doing their thing. It gives the customer a choice of two radically different ecosystems.

One is easier, more consistent, and generally more reliable. The other is much more flexible, customizable, and has many more choices of hardware at multiple price points.

Apple is great at what they do. Many of the Android phones are great at what they do. They aren't doing the exact same thing, so there is room in the marketplace for both.

And Flash is a pain in the ass. No wonder Steve Jobs hated it so. (Cook will probably eventually give in and support it.)

[Marr]

14. Sure there's room for both. But it's the former big kid on the block who has to cede space.

Which is why I personally think Apple has some rough ground ahead.

[dawg]

17. Apple's stock is now priced as if their sales will never grow again.

During the heyday of Apple growth, investors bid shares up to unrealistically high levels. Now, the opposite is taking place.

Apple is a great investment opportunity right now.

Obviously they won't be able to corner the entire market for smart phones, nor will they continue to grow profits at double digits indefinitely. But priced at only 10 times earnings, they don't need to.

If Apple were guaranteed never to grow again, never to release a new groundbreaking product, and doomed to steadily falling sales and margins, it would still be worth considering as an investment at this point. After all, millions of Microsoft investors are ponying up their money for that exact same deal.

If Apple were to actually grow or innovate again, it would just be gravy for someone jumping in at this point.

And, did you know this? Apple's share of the smartphone market is actually still increasing. The ecosystem is "sticky". Most iPhone users are too invested in Apple apps and iTunes files to switch.

[tabbycat31]

10. I don't like that iPhones force everything to be grid based

I can't read things very well on a grid. It bothers my eyes and gives me headaches when I try.

On my Android, I can choose to view my apps as a list instead of a grid. That alone is worth it to me.

[dawg]

12. Wait till you reach your forties, young 'un.

I can't see for crap anymore.

[tabbycat31]

13. I'm 33 and my vision is slowly starting to go

But I still can't easily read things as a grid. It's the first setting I change when I get a new gadget.

[dawg]

16. I'm 46, and I had perfect vision until 43 or so.

It's funny though. I notice it mostly with clients between your age and mine. I need their signatures, and they do that cute little squint (just like I do, lol). Sometimes I have to put my finger beside the line so they can see where to sign.

No one wants to carry around reading glasses. They're all vain, like me.