Is Apple Losing Its Touch? The Numbers Say No (AAPL)

Dan Frommer | August 29, 2008 1:00 PM

crying_baby.jpgOne of the dumber memes we've seen lately: That Apple (AAPL) is somehow "flailing" or "losing its touch" because a tiny handful of attention-seeking nerds are frustrated. This summer, we've seen:

Sure, technology products have problems sometimes. But let's return to reality and think big picture for a moment.

Real consumers, who've spent the last several years in Dell or Motorola hell, are thrilled to be using Macs, iPhones, and iPods. Need proof? Check out Apple's June quarter sales for the past six years. Do you see a company that's "flailing badly" or losing its touch? We don't.

apple-june-revs-2003-2008.gif

See Also:
Apple's iPhone 3G A Month Later: Excellent, But Not Euphoric
Comic Book Ban Shows That Apple Needs An Appeals Court
Early Q4 Apple Mac, iPod Sales Estimates Beating Expectations

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44 Comments

Hehateme said:
So releasing overated products is a sustainable biz model!
James Katt said:
Apple's problems are so minor compared to the huge problems it's competitors have.

Macs vs PCs: where are the viruses?

iPods vs the world: what competition?

iPhones vs others: Just because the iPhone doesn't have auto-suck doesn't mean it is a bad cell phone. Don't blame the iPhone. It's AT&T's network problem.
lrd said:

Don't get fooled by bad "iPhone" press. That's just the competitors and the Wall St. types frabricating a bunch of noise because they stand to lose a lot of money by the iPhones success. Thank God that people don't read or listen to the crap and instead go to the Apple Stoes or ask thier friends about the products.
Hehateme said:
I was in the Apple store last week and women was crying her heart out. Her white macbook would not turn on. When did she buy it? 14 days ago. The Apple sales boy told the women not to worry. His macbook pro hard drive crashed. Dude lost all his itunes music. How long did he own his macbook pro? 30 days. Apple fanboys sound like yesterdays Microsoft fanboys. So what if Mr. Softie products are vaporware. Look at the market cap.
Pat S said:
DAN
Great article
Hehateme what was your point about market cap? MSFT 249.15B APPL 150.18. Look back 10 years and you might have a point but my guess is Apple will pass Microsoft in market cap in 2009. Microsoft stock has done nothing the last 10 years and Apples is up 1500%. I know since I own both.
Hehateme said:
@pat s; when a company is doing great the cracks in the ship are hard to see. Shareholders don't see them. And for damn sure the CEO thinks he is a golden god who can patch the hole. If you want to make a killing in stocks don't listen to the crowd. Listen to the Tsetse fly. Sell your apple shares now. Shit. You should have sold your microsoft shares when netscape hit the web. Apple has had a nice run. Take the money and buy a HDTV. Watch Chelsea fc kick ass.
Mark Sigal (URL) said:
This reminds of the axiom about American style democracy. It is the worst system, until you look at all others.

The Apple product line has got plenty to niggle on...until you look at all others.

Losing its touch? More like accelerating the 'halo effect'

Check out:

Holy Shit! Apple's Halo Effect
http://thenetworkgarden.com/weblog/2008/04/holy-shit-apple.html

For more fodder on that front.

Mark
DrFoley said:
First of all,

All of us need to stop and take a second to breathe...

"Did Dan Frommer from SAI just write something positive and NOT controversial about Apple or Steve Jobs?"

Wow, didn't know you had it in you Dan. Bravo!

By the way, anytime anybody points you in the wrong direction about Apple... Show them the 2007 MacWorld keynote, some nice finance charts reflecting Apple's stock price in the last few years, and let them hold your iPhone.

That should make them understand. And if they still don't, try and convince them to vote for Obama. Or, better yet, just slam your head in the wall over and over. Same thing, ya know?

--
Dr.F
Don Quixote said:
A more accurate desciption of Michael Arrington would have been Microsoft Evangelist/Yahoo hater.
anon said:
Let me acknowledge that i do not knwo much about business. I thought stock price shows how market perceived the company and not how the company is actually performing its job. And in the long run, actual performance matters and not how people perceive them. Also, I thought law of large numbers dictate growth rate.
Tim F. said:
I thought Dan was a fanboy. And Apple was doing a bunch of bad things that needed reported.
Partners in Grime (URL) said:
Apple is definitely accelerating ... and plenty of open road ahead to mash the throttle.
Tony (URL) said:
I doubt they will ever be out. Apple has a following that is like a cult. Very unique group of individuals that defy logic. Am sure they are going to stick around for awhile.
Jim Hillhouse (URL) said:
The Dell and HP POS's I had to use on a job a few months ago reminded me of why I use a Mac. Because they sucked wind on so many levels compared to a Mac. Not one thing is simple on a PC--nothing. And that's why customers are rushing in. And it's a viral effect.

As for problems, since 2002 I have had not a single Apple product problem, and I get a new MBP at every revision. Then last weekend, both my iPhone 3G (I learned a way to crash it that wipes the desktop file record so it can't finish booting) and my iPod Touch 32 of 8 monts--I dropped it--went blank. Set up a Genius appointment. Even got to listen to a live concert at the Apple Store Domain. And both were replaced even though the iTouch was my fault. Yeah, Apple is sinking and we just don't know it.

Cracks in Apple? If so, then there's a big amped gaping hole in HP and half the ship missing for MSFT.

BTW, SJ is supposedly personally overseeing the iPhone 2.1 update--boy, that's gotta be...uggg.
rr said:
made the switch to apple products 2 1/2 yrs. ago. have 2 nanos, 2 imacs, 1 3g iphone. have used itunes to buy all my music, artists are making a huge mistake if your not on itunes (take note ac/dc, beatles), have had 0 problems in that time. never have to use anti-virus software. these are the easiest products i've ever used in electronics. never again dell, microsoft, symantec.
Hehateme said:
Apple fanboys are A-holes. Media Monkey kills itunes. Americans are fat and lazy. God forbid you have to use your brain and learn how your PC works! Macs are for hollywood fakers who think Ubuntu is a new starbucks drink:-)
Common said:
The only thing Apple has messed up on seems to have all happened at the same time... Mobile Me was a disaster... and my second version of the iPhone has been a BIG piece of crap so far...which I am sure will be fixed over time, but it's frustrating

So when they see an opening to bash they will take it.
Michael said:
Hehateme should change his/her name to Ihateyou to better reflect his/her true feelings.

"God forbid you have to use your brain and learn how your PC works!"

God forbid you have to use your brain and have an intelligent discussion! What a tool.

"Macs are for hollywood fakers who think Ubuntu is a new starbucks drink"

You do understand that OS X is a BSD UNIX system much like Ubuntu is a Linux OS, don't you? Not quite sure what the above comment is supposed to mean, except maybe you're admitting that OS X does a better job of masking the complexity of the underlying system?


Anyway, yeah, anything to do with Apple is usually blown out of proportion either positively or negatively. It is a bit ridiculous, but people are passionate about these things. After all it is just a computer or a phone right? I honestly don't see the point in it all. Use what works for you and be happy about it.

It's easy to misinterpret general opinion when only looking at message forums online as most of the people posting online are having problems and looking for solutions. So it would seem as though the issue is larger than it actually is.

Proof of that lies in the fact with all the negative attention Apple received in the last month they still have an 85% satisfaction rate with their products.
dj said:
.........Mac's come with 2 chips......

The first chip is inside the Mac, the second is for the user to put on their shoulder.But for those of you who are blinded by the glorious light of everything that Steve Jobs does, a little perspective on the iPhone from slate.com: http://www.slate.com/id/2198535/
crawford said:
I have such self loathing. Oh well. C'est la vie. It works for me.
zaxzan said:
Wow! Hehateme, you were in an Apple store.

The mind boggles wondering why you would venture into your personal version of Hades, were you trying to turn the people back from what you imagine as a local, downtown Tophet.

Were you sneaking about, slinking up to prospective customers, ingratiating with them all the while muttering under your breath; slandering the name of Apple and that its products were the spawn of the Devil ... working behind the lines, so to speak, as you are obviously an enthusiastic Microsoft disciple, you are committed.

Careful that you don't get drawn into the burgeoning "Reality Distortion Field" and become assimilated ... Resistance is futile.

I mentioned above that you were committed, after rereading your post, I think simply that ... you should be Committed ... Chelsea fc indeed!
Hehateme said:
I would say most of the recent complaints about apple have come from apple fanboys. Diehards. Apple is not a niche company anymore. Sooner or later bad treatment of consumers will hurt the bottom line. I was in the apple store because my girlfriend was getting a ipod touch. A man will do anything to get some ass! My ubuntu starbucks joke was too smart. My bad. Chelsea fc Forever:-)
james Cahill said:
dudes
i was in an apple store yesterday in Southern Cali
and it was SWAMPED

my appointment at the genius bar (which used to take 30-45 minutes to get) --had to be made for today

the place looked like Christmas week
...you can see the PC era is over...dead & buried

ipod/mac/itunes/iphone have killed the pc_you can see it


Hehateme said:
Dude you need to borrow ray charles ray-bans. HP Had a great quarter. They had no problem selling pc's. Open your mouth when Apples market share reaches 35%. The apple store was SWAMMPED because of the jonas brothers rumors. It is hard to get time at the genius bar because it takes time fix vaporware.
EPS said:
Apple's success has really boomed now that they're selling PCs (people who were concerned about switching find the option of having Windows a good thing), so saying that "ipod/mac/itunes/iphone have killed the pc" is a bit off.
blinkdt said:
Classic. So if you complain about anything Apple, then you're a baby, is that it? The picture accompanying the story explains it all.

Also, it sounds like the same people are buying Apple product again and again and again ("I buy a MacBook Pro at every revision"). Why? I've been running Vista Business on my Inspiron 1720 (two hard drives, thank you very much) for about a year and plan to keep it for another 4-6 or so.

Virus? What are you boneheads talking about? I personally have NEVER had a virus and stopped using AV software with Vista. At our school of 130 machines we have NEVER had a virus.

Idiots get viruses.

Idiots get malware (yeah, even in Space, too much time on their hands?).

Idiots but PCs from a company that starts with an "A" and overpay every single stinkin' time. Tools.

FYI, I had to fix a Mac for someone recently. You don't want to hear all the gory details--just know that Dell is a delight in comparison--and I had to shlep up the road to get the part. While at the store, I witnesses a steady stream of happy idiots picking up their "repaired" Apple product and paying through the nose. "They just work" my arse.
SlotcarBob said:
hehateme, you got nothing better to do than monitor this thread? We get your side, now go away.

hateme has some good points. He just presents them wrong, and the timeline is bad. First, people bring back "broken" computers to Apple stores, not "good" ones. Second, Apple doesn't need to sell 35%. No other SINGLE maker is. They will do terrific at 10%, as their "cash in the bank", stock value, and sales proves.

What is true is that Apple will face more and more challenges as it gets bigger. More numbers of computers (not a higher percentage) and iPhones, and what ever, will have problems out of the box. The fact that everything is proprietary will keep the percentage low. Also, it will be harder to get support. Yet, Apple is so far ahead of the R&D curve, it won't be an issue of "fanboy" as much as you get what you pay for. It will never matter if Apple is a bigger share than PC. They remain the top product in the customer satisfaction category because they are a great experience. Those of us who have the little extra cash will continue to pay the premium because of that.

BTW, and JFYI, ignore hateme. He's a flamer. LOL.
okieDoc said:
Hehateme:


"I was in the Apple store last week and women was crying her heart out. Her white macbook would not turn on. When did she buy it? 14 days ago. The Apple sales boy told the women not to worry. His macbook pro hard drive crashed. Dude lost all his itunes music. How long did he own his macbook pro? 30 days. "

I bet if you sit at the genius bar you'll hear people having problems with their computer/iPod/iPhone. Strange, isn't it? Just like if I go to a mechanic, I'm going to hear people talking about how their cars aren't working. Or a vacuum repair shop. Vacuums must be failing all over the place!
gurly said:
I just got my IPhone free from Globe Philippines, a loyalty reward, and it's great. Can't wait for the next Apple product. ;)
farside said:
@hehateme

You are definitely the pot calling the kettle black.

Saying "Apple fanboys are A-holes". You need to read your own postings before you hit submit.

Oh, and I really don't want to wast time learning how to make Windows work. That's why I use a Mac. I used my brain and made the smarter choice. I don't care about receiving a "nerd" badge for successfully getting any Microsoft product to work properly.
Groupie said:
I've been using Macs since 1995. My first, a PowerMac with a whopping 500MB hard drive.

The thing I hate about Macs is that they just don't die of old age. They just become so obsolete. As a result, my studio just keep getting jammed up with old Macs that just refuse to die.

It was so heart wrenching when I had to bring my first trusty old Mac for recycling. Its like putting down an old doggie best friend.

Why can't they be a bit more like PCs and die prematurely. That way I'll be forced to have the latest Mac all the time and have an uncluttered studio.
Seph Skerritt (URL) said:
Dan, you are wrong. The numbers you quote (revenue and stock price) are lagging indicators of Apple's success. The issues being brought up by die-hard apple users and early adopters are leading indicators. Apple has a reputation for quality and ease of use which has been driving these numbers. New problems in quality and ease of use should create concern for Apple's ability to maintain revenue and share price growth.
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