Quality control seems to very with the product and number produced. My company recently purchased 10 M1 iMacs. I was blown away by the manufacturing perfection of these products. Not a scrape, ding, variation in color or misplaced piece of packaging on these units. Yet, I get a new iPhone 14 Pro Max that's honestly a lemon (and should be replaced) and a 13" MacBook Pro that came with scratches on the case.
However, I do think there's a seismic shift going on at Apple over component costs and squeezing margins because they are reaching their limit of worldwide iPhone/iPad/MacBook penetration.
And what's the next best thing to financial stakeholders (of which own a ton of AAPL)? If you can't grow anymore, beef up those margins.
An honest look at the confusing product lines of the iPad and the MacBook over the last few years show an Apple we haven't seen before. They're desperate to take advantage of economies of scale by selling new products with older technology.
There was a time when Apple didn't care if a product didn't scale. You look at the iMac G4, which was very difficult to manufacturer and ship, or even the Power Mac G5/Mac Pro which was heavy and required a lot of specialized parts (custom power supply, custom fans, etc.).
They still sold them for reasonable prices even though the margins weren't there because they could.
Apple today wouldn't take the chance on an iMac G4 period and while they do still sell a Mac Pro it's now $5999.
Apple in 2003 wasn't building SKUs to be sold at a lower price or in a different market for two or three years after its "first run."
There are side effects to becoming the biggest company in the world.
However, I do think there's a seismic shift going on at Apple over component costs and squeezing margins because they are reaching their limit of worldwide iPhone/iPad/MacBook penetration.
And what's the next best thing to financial stakeholders (of which own a ton of AAPL)? If you can't grow anymore, beef up those margins.
An honest look at the confusing product lines of the iPad and the MacBook over the last few years show an Apple we haven't seen before. They're desperate to take advantage of economies of scale by selling new products with older technology.
There was a time when Apple didn't care if a product didn't scale. You look at the iMac G4, which was very difficult to manufacturer and ship, or even the Power Mac G5/Mac Pro which was heavy and required a lot of specialized parts (custom power supply, custom fans, etc.).
They still sold them for reasonable prices even though the margins weren't there because they could.
Apple today wouldn't take the chance on an iMac G4 period and while they do still sell a Mac Pro it's now $5999.
Apple in 2003 wasn't building SKUs to be sold at a lower price or in a different market for two or three years after its "first run."
There are side effects to becoming the biggest company in the world.
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