By Anthony Wing Kosner, Contributor
This year’s Time 100 list is now public and ‘s Jony Ive can add “Artist” to his list of accolades. Time places its “100 most influential people in the world,” in one of five categories: artists, leaders, pioneers, titans and icons. These buckets are sometimes an awkward fit, so before we slap a jaunty beret atop Ive’s head (as I have above) it’s worth asking the two most obvious questions: is he indeed an artist and, if so, is that a good thing?
is having another bad week and their stock is down more than 5% this morning. This time, the proximate cause is an announcement from Cirrus Logic, a key Apple supplier, stating that earnings will come in well below expectations and, by association, investors are now expecting Apple to come in low again too. Lately, it seems like everybody wants to beat up on Apple (me included – see here and here). After a decade during which the company could do no wrong, now it can seemingly do no right. However, while it’s true that Apple has its problems (and serious ones at that) it is still a great company and a great business. I think anybody taking a clear headed view of Apple has to take into account three factors: The Products: I’m deeply embedded in the Apple ecosystem and very happy with their products. I love my iPhone, my iPad and my Macbook Air is far more reliable than any PC I ever worked on (I’m not so crazy about my Apple TV, but it works well enough). For me, Apple products are worth the premium, at least for now. I do find myself somewhat envious about what’s going on in the Android world. I’d like to have something like Google Now and don’t understand why Apple is the only major smartphone manufacturer to not have a model with NFC. It seems to me by doing so, they are slowing a lot of innovation in the industry. So I think about switching sometimes, but every time I do, I remember about the Apple store and the Genius Bar. By fully embedding myself in the Apple ecosystem, I’m sure that whatever problems I might have (and I did have one particularly nasty hardware problem), will be handled easily, effectively and conveniently. I wouldn’t want to give that up. The Management: Steve Jobs made Apple a special company. Now that he’s gone, it’s clear that Apple has lost a step. However, its also important to remember that current management made Apple a very good company. CEO Tim Cook is an outstanding operational executive and Jony Ive is the design genius behind the beautiful products that catapulted Apple to becoming the most valuable company on the planet (at least for a short time). So while current management has shown no sign of a vision for the future, they show every sign of competence. The Stock: Apple’s valuation (Disclosure: I’m an indirect investor through a fund) has fallen over 40% from its high because its become clear that we have no reason to expect the growth the company has delivered in the past. This is a completely normal market reaction. However, Apple’s situation is somewhat abnormal because there was never any growth premium built into the stock price. Even during its rapid rise, it still traded at a discount to the S&P. It was earnings, not irrational exuberance, that made Apple so valuable. So while I’m as skeptical as anyone about Apple’s future, the
From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2013/04/17/whats-going-on-with-apples-stock/
By Evan Niu, CFA, CFA, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
With Apple shares still trading mostly sideways following the January earnings plunge, investors continue to search for the next important catalyst that can help the company return to its former glory.
The usual suspects are all here. New iPad models could come as early as next month, but may also be pushed out to later this year, because the tablets were updated at the end of 2012. The next iPhone is potentially due out this summer, as Apple may be moving that product cycle up to fend off competitors. The inevitable dividend boost, or some other form of capital return, is very likely imminent, because it’s that time of year.
However, there’s likely another underappreciated catalyst on the horizon that most investors aren’t considering: iOS 7.
Lucky number 7
Apple hosts its Worldwide Developer, or WWDC, in June. That’s less than three months away, and the company should expectedly preview the next major version of its mobile operating system platform iOS. Arguably, this year’s iOS 7 release may prove to be one of the most important versions for Apple’s ecosystem in years. There’s one specific reason why this version will be so critical: Jony Ive.
Late last year, Apple ousted former iOS chief Scott Forstall amid a rare executive shakeup at the highest echelons of the largest tech company. Forstall is the man who led iOS to become Apple’s dominant platform over the years, and it now powers over 70% of revenue. He’s also the executive who’s been widely criticized about Apple’s interface design direction. I’m not just referring to the skeuomorphism, but, rather, the overall interface.
Over the years, critics have continued to deride the iOS interface as dated, since the platform still looks mostly the same as when the original iPhone launched in 2007. There have been numerous changes over the years, but the core interface is largely unchanged. The toughest part for Apple investors? The critics are absolutely right.
Goodbye, first mover advantage
Google has come an incredibly long way with interface since the early days of Android. Hiring Matias Duarte out of Palm before that company was swallowed by Hewlett-Packard was a big part of that, since he brought many innovative new interface designs to the platform. In characteristic Google fashion, the search giant experimented with numerous ideas with Android interface before getting to the clean look it now sports.
Microsoft‘s Windows Phone interface has been widely hailed as featuring an innovative interface, even if that hasn’t translated into meaningful market share gains. The live tile approach is wildly different than both iOS and Android, for better or for worse.
BlackBerry is also exploring many new interface ideas with its new BlackBerry 10 platform. CEO Thorsten Heins even recently had some fighting words, calling the user interface five-years old (it’s actually six).
Apple was undeniably the first mover in capacitive touchscreen interfaces on smartphones, but it has been slow to embrace change as rivals …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Eric Jackson, Contributor According to his critics: Grow Apple’s (AAPL) market share. But keep margins above 44%. Put out 8 different versions of the iPhone simultaneously, including ones with larger screens, like Samsung. But keep the margins above 44% and recall you only get the full profit benefit of a new iPhone in the 2nd half of its production run. Spend billions on marketing like Samsung. But let the product sell itself so that it stays premium. Get more people in the emerging markets on to the iOS platform. But don’t put out a cheaper iPhone and sacrifice margins. Reinstate Google (GOOG) as the primary Maps supplier on iPhone. But strategically position Apple to be a leader in mobile, search, and maps in the future. Shut down Siri because it never works. But figure out how to leapfrog Google in search in the future. Use the $137 billion cash on the balance sheet. But don’t make wasteful high-priced acquisitions. Innovate. But wring every dollar of profit of your existing product portfolio. Build every product in the USA instead of China. But stop making premium priced products and don’t charge a dollar more for your existing products. Don’t try to be Steve Jobs. But do everything that Steve Jobs would have done. Don’t let the iPads cannibalize Mac sales. But sell way more iPads. Buy back more of your stock. But innovate, vertically integrate more through buying more microprocessor companies, and keep some powder dry to buy Twitter or a few other big companies. Get better in Web Services. But don’t spend money buying Yahoo (YHOO), Twitter, or Foursquare. Don’t give customers a bad experience by kicking out Google search, Maps, and YouTube. But don’t strengthen Google any more by supplying virtually all of their mobile search revenue. Don’t pursue costly patent battles. But protect your core IP and don’t let Samsung rip off your innovations. Move faster in China. But make money doing it. Hire back Scott Forstall. But also retain Bob Mansfield and Jony Ive the way Steve Jobs was able to. Ship the Apple TV immediately. But make sure it’s a perfect experience for the consumer so that it’s not another Maps screw-up before shipping. Move faster. But don’t rush. Kill Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), and Google. But don’t spread yourself too thin and get distracted from the core focus. Deliver amazing products. But do it a lot faster and in a lot more varieties. “Innovate” a few more products out of thin air that people will buy 100 million of within two years. But do it every year if possible. Be more charismatic like Steve Jobs. But continue to be an expert on supply chain. Change Apple. But never let Apple change from how it was under Steve. [Long AAPL and YHOO]
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Peter Cohan, Contributor Apple (AAPL) is poised to report its first profit drop in a long time. This outcome brings into clearer focus the biggest challenge facing Apple’s board: Is Tim Cook the person for the CEO job and if not, who would be better?
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Tim Worstall, Contributor This is an interesting little elaboration of skeuomorphic design in Apple’s iOS. There’s two basic parts to it. The first, that Apple’s hardware and software designs seem to have gone in very different directions. The second, that maybe Retina displays are going to change this. I would proffer a different reason for any move away from skeuomorphic design though. Quite simply the old folk are dying off. It’s curious how Apple’s hardware and software have taken such divergent paths. Looking at iOS hardware and software separately, one might think they were produced by different companies. The drop-shadows and textures of iOS stand in sharp contrast to the clean lines and invisible seams of Apple’s hardware. Comparing major models of either the iPhone or iPad line, Jony Ive’s industrial design team seems to be on the march, creating devices that feel ever more like they’re carved from a single block of magical stone. So why is it that Apple would ship these devices with software featuring deep shadows and visible stitching? Yes, that’s entirely true. The trend away from skeuomorphic special effects in UI design is the beginning of the retina-resolution design era. Our designs no longer need to accommodate for crude pixels. Glossy/glassy surfaces, heavy-handed transparency, glaring drop shadows, embossed text, textured material surfaces — these hallmarks of modern UI graphic design style are (almost) never used in good print graphic design. And that could be true. But I don’t think it will be the reason for a change in design if one indeed comes. Rather, think about what the point of skeumophism is in the first place. It’s to make something new, a new way of doing things, look like the older object or process that it is replacing. The reason that a computer diary looks like a paper diary is that the designers are trying to show you how it works. You already know how a paper diary works: thus using that form and factor will ease your task in learning how to use the electronic one.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest