Interesting Article why the Apple Watch will fail

[Piggie]

Do you honestly not know what people are talking about when they talk about having to buy the next generation of a device?

With every new generation of product, Apple introduces a new hardware element... it isn't just software.

There are people who want the full experience of Apple's products. That necessitates upgrading the hardware every time Apple produces another generation. Of course one could argue that wanting that is THEIR problem.

Technology more than just OS updates.

Problem with this, for Apple and others is that unless you come up with new ideas, and lets be honest, Apple is not the best on this point, Sales start to stall.

If you have a great idea, iPad, and just do pretty much nothing to it fundamentally since the day you launched it, after 5 years? you are almost grasping at weaker and weaker tiny changes you can make to it, to TRY and home people will want to upgrade.

Apple COULD have a nice wide range of tablets on the market now, and be totally and utterly dominant in this sector.

They could have for example, Video/Entertainment focussed models, widescreen, stereo speakers.
Larger/Smaller screens
They could have productivity models, USB and SD ports, detachable keyboards and pens.
They could have OSX based models.
Waterproof models for outside use.

I'm just thinking up concepts, but that COULD be the world, and an iPad for everyone. Different models, different styles different budgets.

Instead after 5 years we have basically the same dam model as they launched on day 1.
finer detailed screen, faster, thinner and a camera. That the totally amount of 5 years of invention for the worlds best? hardware company.

For me anyway, that's sad

If you had asked me, 5 years ago, day 1 of iPad what there would be in 5 years time, I would of hoped for more than iPad Air 2.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

If you had asked me, 5 years ago, day 1 of iPad what there would be in 5 years time, I would of hoped for more than iPad Air 2.

I see what you are saying, but I don't think I would have expected anything different than the iPad Air 2. Maybe a few differences in the refinement process, but I wouldn't have expected the wide range of tablets you allude to. But the thing that I would have hoped more for 5 years ago would be iOS. 5 years later and it still feels mostly like a blown up iPhone interface.

 

[Piggie]

I see what you are saying, but I don't think I would have expected anything different than the iPad Air 2. Maybe a few differences in the refinement process, but I wouldn't have expected the wide range of tablets you allude to. But the thing that I would have hoped more for 5 years ago would be iOS. 5 years later and it still feels mostly like a blown up iPhone interface.

Indeed, I agree 100%
iOS is THE biggest disappointment I think for the majority of Apples fans over this time period.

I have posted about this before, I totally can understand why Apple did iOS for iPad the way it was on launch day.

New product, it could flop and die, you don't want to develop a whole new OS and UI when it could flop.

Likewise you want people who had iPhone to understand how to use it from day one and not be frightened of something new.

Both great reasons. FIVE YEARS AGO.

Now it's just embarrassing how it's still the same a GIANT screen with the few static icons adrift in the sea of space.

Really is this all they can think of doing after 5 years with a 10" screen.

Let's hope and pray they actually make something more of the larger screen of the 12" iPad Pro. If they just add another row and column of icons they need shooting!

 

[Roller]

I read the article about the Apple Watch when it was posted. Not that the author didn't have some valid points, but it was presented on CNN's home page with no indication that it was an opinion piece - as I recall, the link simply read "The Apple Watch Will Flop."

The benefit to me was that it finally convinced me to remove cnn.com from my list of favorites. This article was hardly the only reason, though - from its use of Flash for video to mingling serious news stories with fluff (the page today has a piece about Katy Perry's lawyers threatening to sue a "left shark" figure vendor right above one about the plane crash in Taiwan).

 

[Julien]

...no indication that it was an opinion piece....

Have you ever watched Fox News or MSNBC? They are 90% opinion pieces.

 

[Rogifan]

Have you ever watched Fox News or MSNBC? They are 90% opinion pieces.

Except everyone knows when they watch Fox they're getting the right of center POV and when they watch MSNBC its left of center. Opinion pieces should be labeled as such.

 

[Julien]

Except everyone knows when they watch Fox they're getting the right of center POV and when they watch MSNBC its left of center. Opinion pieces should be labeled as such.

....but presenting an article about sales predictions on a product that has not been released, by definition has to be an opinion.

 

[Cashmonee]

Apple itself is trying to reduce investors' expectations for the watch, relegating it to the "other" section of its report, which includes iPods and Apple TVs.

Is this true? Have Apple told investors that it will be announced in with other? If so, that shows Apple's expectations for numbers, and puts the watch in a different light. They would be grouping it with a dying product and one that is getting crushed by competitors and hasn't been updated in 2 years (no significant change in almost 5!). To me, that says they are not looking at this being a huge seller, which in the eyes of many industry people, would look like a flop, even though, to Apple, it would be doing just fine.

 

[Rogifan]

Is this true? Have Apple told investors that it will be announced in with other? If so, that shows Apple's expectations for numbers, and puts the watch in a different light. They would be grouping it with a dying product and one that is getting crushed by competitors and hasn't been updated in 2 years (no significant change in almost 5!). To me, that says they are not looking at this being a huge seller, which in the eyes of many industry people, would look like a flop, even though, to Apple, it would be doing just fine.

Yes Apple is (at least initially) reporting the Watch in the "Other" category. I'm sure there are a number of reasons for this but one many have speculated is for competitive reasons - so they don't have to report ASPs and gross margins and it will be very difficult for analysts and the competition to figure out which models are selling better than others. To be honest, I would love to see Apple report one number for iOS device sales. I don't think there's anything in SEC reporting that requires them to break out iPhone vs iPad sales. Just have three lines in the financial reports: iOS device sales Mac sales and other (Watch, TV, App Store, Software, Beats etc.).

 

[Roller]

....but presenting an article about sales predictions on a product that has not been released, by definition has to be an opinion.

This was presented on CNN's home page as just another news story (or what passes for news on CNN). Regardless of whether readers can distinguish news from opinions, it's good journalistic practice to clearly label opinion pieces and segregate them.