Stupidly expensive kit
Apple has always released expensive products.
If you want a shiny aluminum MacBook, then you have to stump up $1,500. Some
people will do this, some won’t. There are certainly lots of cheaper laptops
around, but there are also lots of equally expensive ones too, such as Sony
Vaios. However, recently Apple released 15” MacBooks with Retina displays that
sell for nearly $3,000 for the base model. Surely this is just too high a price
to pay. Are there really may people who will pay $3,000 for a laptop? I myself
would find it impossible to justify that amount.
Apple's
shiny white website: for many people a paradise on earth
There is a case here that Apple has lost
touch with its customers, particularly in a world recession. It’s not backed
up, though, when you look at sales figures, because the $3,000 MacBook is
selling very well. There’s money out there somewhere, then. It’s interesting to
think that for years Apple positioned itself as the cool company, the little
person struggling against the great corporate Microsoft. Microsoft was evil and
Apple was just this small company trying to change the world and put a stop to
the greyness that Microsoft caused.
How times change. Now Apple is the biggest
technology company in the world, so all that cool little guy charm has one.
Where once you could be a little different by using an Apple product, now
you’re just joining the mainstream. This must be hurting their sales, because
now to be a bit different you could buy an android tablet or use a Windows 8
phone.
Nokia’s
New Lumia 620: Windows Phone 8 on the Cheap
There’s not a lot Apple can do about this,
though, and it would probably rather be where it is now than where it was in
the 90s. It’s definitely one to watch, though, as you can no longer be
alternative and use an Apple; you have to look elsewhere.
Too many lawsuits
This has been covered in depth elsewhere,
but it can’t be good for Apple to be involved in so many lawsuits at the same
time. It really must be hard to keep its eye on the ball all the time.
Just the other week announcements were in
the news about lawsuit issues in Germany and Australia. Not only does it take
resources from the company that could be used elsewhere, but it also goes a
little way to tarnishing the company’s image. Where’s the old hippy Apple ethos
when it’s suing and being sued by everything that moves.
Poor working practices
Linked to this and further tarnishing
Apple’s image is the recent scandal of its underpaid and overworked employees
in Chine. Apple has tried to address this, promising more product to be built
in America and better working conditions in Chine. Hopefully, it will act on
this soon.
Most people, I think, know that products
made in Chine are not always made under the best pay and conditions, but they
turn a blind eye. If you buy a $375 laptop, then perhaps you should expect this
situation, otherwise how else can it be made for that price. However, if you’re
paying $1,500 or more for a computer product, then perhaps you should expect a
little more.
No Steve?
Some
of Apple's prices are a little steep, but people still seem keen to hand over
their money
Many are saying that the loss of Steve Jobs
has stifled Apple’s creativity. I’m not sure this is true; it still seems to be
doing okay to me. What it has done is taken away any iconic figure, and no
matter how hard he tries, Tim Cook’s appearance at press conferences is never
going to have the same impact.
Let’s not forget that Steve Jobs himself
had some failures, from the Apple Lisa all the way to 2008’s MobileMe service.
The man was not invincible. See the box out for historic Apple fails.
On the plus side?
Well, there we are: lots of reasons why
Apple is maybe losing it. Is it really the end, though? I think much of the
press would like it to be. Apple has grown very big and powerful, and the
general media like nothing better than knocking successful people off their
perch. In the long run, though, I think Apple will be here for a long time.
It products are too expensive, but they’re
well designed. Anyone who’s used a MacBook Air can see this – it’s slim, silent
and boots up in about five seconds from cold. It’s a brilliant device, but it’s
also overpriced and over-trendy.
Apple lovers will always adore the company,
and haters will always despite it, but I can’t see its progress stopping
anytime soon. Sales may have dropped by a few percent recently, but it’s still
shifting an awful lot of stock at very high profit margins.
Personally, I neither hate nor love the
company. I do quite like its products, though, so I must be in the middle
somewhere (even though there is no middle ground, of course).
