[bluesqueen23]

Most news reports I've heard have talked about the stagnation of apple maybe to the point of reversal and many of the reports I've heard from apple fans ios7 is lackluster and boring

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

iOS7? They're on 9.3.1 now.

[sorinv]

He may be right. The battle now is between the datamining companies: Google, Amazon, Facebook.
For now, it looks like Google hired all the great academic minds in AI.

You cannot rule the world without datamining everyone and everything and without using AI to exploit all those data.

Apple has lost the AI battle a long time ago.

Since Jobs died, privacy and security have become one of their priorities. That was never the case under Jobs, who couldn't care less about those two. He always dictated to the user.

[kvndoom]

iOS7? They're on 9.3.1 now.

Heh maybe if they upgraded it wouldn't be so boring anymore.

[phillyd2]

Sadly, blackberry is now an adjective for failure. Take heed companies, if you don't adapt and listen to your customers then you may be blackberried.

[ADGrant]

Sadly, blackberry is now an adjective for failure. Take heed companies, if you don't adapt and listen to your customers then you may be blackberried.

Blackberry was "Blackberried" by Apple's iPhone. There is currently no smartphone on the market to "Blackberry" the iPhone. Android's success is built on its cost advantage. It is the Windows of smartphone operating systems. Every other existing smartphone platform has already failed.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

BlackBerry failed when the market was seeing double digit growth every year. Apple's problem is the market is pretty much saturated in the markets where their "premium" product sell the best. Just about every Android OEM is seeing the same problems with their flagship lineups that Apple is seeing. Growth is currently limited to the very bottom of the smartphone price range.... and no matter what they do, I don't think Apple can afford to sell $100 smartphone.

[StephanieMaks]

I don't think Apple wants to or needs to sell a $100 smartphone. Who cares about having all the marketshare, when you can have all the profit?

Despite having a smaller share of the smartphone market, Apple is still pulling in the lions-share of the profits. They have done and continue to do the same thing with the computer market. Stick to the high end, high margin sales and let other companies fight it out for the scraps.

[MikeX74]

I don't think Apple wants to or needs to sell a $100 smartphone. Who cares about having all the marketshare, when you can have all the profit? .

Exactly. If you asked the CEO's of just about every Android OEM whether they'd want Android's market share or the revenue generated by the iPhone, which do you think they'd choose?

[crackbrry fan]

It's the beginning of the end, simply put ,market saturation ,

Androids / Google clout, in terms of mass low end devices, has ensured that any competitor has little chance of growing their Market share .

IBM once the Giant in Tech has been losing money for over 15 straight quarters ,lack of innovation is the issue and many Tech companies are finding it difficult to keep the "next best thing " going.

BlackBerry was the device for the baby boomers and part of the oughts. Apple is the device for some of the millennials .

The next "big thing " will dictate which next Tech company would be "IT" for the next Generation but looking at Androids' and Googles dominance, it's obvious where things would end up.

Despite the billions at Apples disposal ,the end sooner or later would be here. This is the fickle consumer market. ask the many Tech Giants whom have all come and gone. This applies to all consumer driven items. There are numerous examples of the "once was hip " products across the board.



Posted via CB10

[banjoguy]

While I don't think it is only iOS and iTunes that made them, there is some truth in what you say. When you look a ads for cellphones today ( we can almost drop the word cell here ) what is advertised...the camera or other features. In fact iPhone
ads would make you think your phone is a camera. When was the last time you saw a Blackberry ad highlighting its photo or music playing ability......in fact when was the last time you saw a Blackberry ad? What sells phones today is the OS, Android is the current King ..... And maybe for some time, the next big thing will be operating system driven.....it might even make a phone call.

[sorinv]

It's the beginning of the end, simply put ,market saturation ,

Androids / Google clout, in terms of mass low end devices, has ensured that any competitor has little chance of growing their Market share .

IBM once the Giant in Tech has been losing money for over 15 straight quarters ,lack of innovation is the issue and many Tech companies are finding it difficult to keep the "next best thing " going.

BlackBerry was the device for the baby boomers and part of the oughts. Apple is the device for some of the millennials .

The next "big thing " will dictate which next Tech company would be "IT" for the next Generation but looking at Androids' and Googles dominance, it's obvious where things would end up.

Despite the billions at Apples disposal ,the end sooner or later would be here. This is the fickle consumer market. ask the many Tech Giants whom have all come and gone. This applies to all consumer driven items. There are numerous examples of the "once was hip " products across the board.



Posted via CB10

This!

[docfreed]

It's interesting how no one ever points the finger for Blackberry's failure at their Board of Directors. They
tolerated two co-CEO's who were in denial regarding the direction of the phone market. Then they brought up
a back office guy who just bull****ted them and finally they hired a clueless, poorly expressive CEO who has a totaL
lack of understanding of the mobile market and cannot give any clear direction. IMHO the entire Board should be fired
and if I were a shareholder I would be filing a class action suit for mismanagement - a third grader can probably go through
Chen's public statements and pick out all of the misdirection (I say 3rd grade because that is his level of understanding)
Blackberry has no vision of the future, no clarity of direction and will probably fail in software too.

[sorinv]

Yes. The board is to blame but BlackBerry is essentially in Prem's pocket. He is the one to blame for the last 2.5 years.

[Breuklen]

Spot on DenverRalphy. Apple has been dead/dying for decades if you listen to the experts. Tim Cook, et al have the company in good, reliable hands. They will slip a bit, but that's to be expected after such a tremendous run. There isn't a parallel to RIM/Blackberry in any sense.

[DenverRalphy]

The smartphone market isn't saturated, despite what some analysts or blogs like to tout. Year over year, total smartphone sales are still increasing (encompassing all smartphones and not platform specific). That's like saying the automotive market is saturated. Yet every day an obscene amount of cars are sold. And unlike cars, smartphone users typically replace their smartphones every 2-4 years versus car owners who replace their vehicles evey 10-12 years on average. Not to mention the large amount of people who are still purchasing their 1st smartphone.

The "mad scramble" era of grabbing smartphones might be over. But year over year total sales is still increasing. That's not conducive to market saturation.

"Market Saturation" is just the new buzzphrase for smartphone OEMs to rationalize or explain away their lack of sales in front of their investors.

[boltz82]

It may just be me but I do believe that there is a market saturation. I also think though that cellphones will continue to grow and expand for the short term foreseeable future. I purchased my first phone at the age of 21 in 1995. I had Primeco which eventually became part of Verizon. I remeber being sold on the fact that the phone had text messaging at only $.25 a text...amazing. The other day though my 9 year old came to me and asked for a cell phone. Why? Because his friends have them. The growth of cellphones is amazing. Younger and younger people are buying them. Sooner or later that will top out though. The real driving force behind its growth though, to me at least, is that the cost of carrier plans have gone down so much. Suddenly people don't mind paying as much for a phone when they arent locked into a $100+ a month commitment per phone. The reality is this though, before that first cell phone of mine in '95 I had a pager. It was the in and hip thing to have until cellphones replaced it. I imagine that its just a matter of time until cellphones are dealt the same fate.

[DenverRalphy]

Younger and younger people are buying them. Sooner or later that will top out though.

It'll never top out. Every day hundreds of thousands of children are born (and that number increases each year). Along with that, every day hundreds of thousands of kids get one day older, and as a result, every day that number starts looking for their first smartphone. It's a never ending cycle. Unless the total world population manages to decrease for the first time in world history, then the demand will continue to increase. At this time, each year more than twice as many people are born versus how many die. And each year that ratio increases.

Realistically, market saturation only applies to fads that will come and go. I seriously doubt smartphones are a fad, let alone something that will be abandoned. It's a product like housing and cars. People are going to purchase them at obscene levels until an alternative solution presents itself. Smartphones need not worry about market saturation. The market needs only to fear becoming obsolete. A concept or premise not even visible on the horizon.

[anon(9742832)]

The smartphone market isn't saturated, despite what some analysts or blogs like to tout. Year over year, total smartphone sales are still increasing (encompassing all smartphones and not platform specific). That's like saying the automotive market is saturated. Yet every day an obscene amount of cars are sold. And unlike cars, smartphone users typically replace their smartphones every 2-4 years versus car owners who replace their vehicles evey 10-12 years on average. Not to mention the large amount of people who are still purchasing their 1st smartphone.

The "mad scramble" era of grabbing smartphones might be over. But year over year total sales is still increasing. That's not conducive to market saturation.

"Market Saturation" is just the new buzzphrase for smartphone OEMs to rationalize or explain away their lack of sales in front of their investors.

Hey now......stop with the logic..........woof!

[Ment]

If Apple can't capture the premium smartphone market profits in India, a nation of 1.25B population, then you can start to talk about Apple being Blackberry.

If Apple can't put a home hub solution into the market then you can start to talk about Apple being Blackberry.

If Apple can't put a car into showrooms and on the roads then you can start to talk about Apple being Blackberry.

All this is 5 years too early. By which time Apple will have put away another 200 billion in cash and will have to wallow in its gold-lined existential crisis.

Look how long IBM has hung around, 143B in market cap as of today, and they haven't dominated in decades.

[phillyd2]

Blackberry was "Blackberried" by Apple's iPhone. There is currently no smartphone on the market to "Blackberry" the iPhone. Android's success is built on its cost advantage. It is the Windows of smartphone operating systems. Every other existing smartphone platform has already failed.

When BB was king the iphone was just ravings by some guy who had a dream. The point is that whatever blackberries the iphone has not even been thought of - it's up to Apple mangement to adapt or die.

What happens to BB will be taught in business schools as what not to do.

[ADGrant]

When BB was king the iphone was just ravings by some guy who had a dream. The point is that whatever blackberries the iphone has not even been thought of - it's up to Apple mangement to adapt or die.

What happens to BB will be taught in business schools as what not to do.

Well Windows Mobile's market share is now well under 1%. That platform is almost as dead as Blackberries. A much bigger company with a lot more money and much better Dev tools couldn't gain any traction either. It's just like the desktop market, An almost ubiquitous platform and an Apple platform for the wealthy.

[purplepansy]

I would hate to have only one choice for a smartphone OS. I actually hate now that there are only two. Sadly I don't see much push from Blackberry for BB10.

[ADGrant]

I would hate to have only one choice for a smartphone OS. I actually hate now that there are only two. Sadly I don't see much push from Blackberry for BB10.

BB10 is even more dead than Windows Mobile. There will probably be no more BB10 phones or apps for the existing phones. There will probably be some security patches released for a while though.

It's much easier for app developers to support two platforms rather than four so this outcome was probably inevitable.

[sorinv]

BB10 is even more dead than Windows Mobile. There will probably be no more BB10 phones or apps for the existing phones. There will probably be some security patches released for a while though.

It's much easier for app developers to support two platforms rather than four so this outcome was probably inevitable.

It is also much easier for the app developers to get squeezed and exploited if they have only two customers to sell to, instead of 4 or 10.
It works both ways.
App developers were never in control and they don't count. They are mere puppets in Google and Apple's strings. They get whatever Google and Apple allow them to get.

[sorinv]

It'll never top out. Every day hundreds of thousands of children are born (and that number increases each year). Along with that, every day hundreds of thousands of kids get one day older, and as a result, every day that number starts looking for their first smartphone. It's a never ending cycle. Unless the total world population manages to decrease for the first time in world history, then the demand will continue to increase. At this time, each year more than twice as many people are born versus how many die. And each year that ratio increases.

Realistically, market saturation only applies to fads that will come and go. I seriously doubt smartphones are a fad, let alone something that will be abandoned. It's a product like housing and cars. People are going to purchase them at obscene levels until an alternative solution presents itself. Smartphones need not worry about market saturation. The market needs only to fear becoming obsolete. A concept or premise not even visible on the horizon.

There are now 7billion phones in the world, more than people.
This number was given today in the plenary talk at the International Microwave Symposium by "the father of the smartphone" Dr. Martin Cooper.

The title of his talk was: "the Birth and Death of the Smartphone".

The market is saturated, just like the laptop, PC and TV markets before it.
There will no longer be double-digit exponential growth as in the past 20 years. It will be very slow growth, if any, from now on. That's what a saturated market is.
The automotive market is saturated and has experienced low-digit growth for over 50 years.