At Apple’s annual fall unveiling, the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, spoke about new products on the consumer horizon. The highly anticipated event garners a lot of attention and online debate with the overarching question: was this enough for people to come back for more?
In his first major reveal, Cook clutched at the new iPad Pro and called it “the most capable and powerful iPad we’ve ever created.” The new iPad Pro has the biggest screen of any iPad, measuring 12.9 inches from corner to corner.
The tirade of online ridicule, however, began with the product that is meant to enhance the iPad experience – the Apple Pencil, a stylus used for the kind of precision stubby fingers can’t attain. The product will be sold for a whopping $99.
Cook’s predecessor, the late Steve Jobs, was not shy in expressing his distaste for styluses. In 2007, Jobs told a tech conference, “Yech, nobody wants a stylus.” Many Twitter users echoed Jobs’ sentiments.
A popular YouTube personality, Jenna Marbles, simulated a conversation between Apple and its users in her tweet: “Us: Can we get 3 way FaceTime & better quality charging cables? Apple:” She then inserted a photo of the Apple Pencil as the company’s response.
Similar tweets emerged, with several users posting photos of cheap pens with apples shoved on the pen’s end. Even Ikea chimed in with a photo of an Ikea notepad and an indistinguishable hand holding an Ikea pencil with the text:
“Absolutely familiar. Entirely free.”
While Apple’s last year could be dubbed “The Year of the iPhone 6,” the new 6S and 6S Plus unveiling may be a harder sell. The new versions are the same size as the previous versions but will feature a better camera, new colours, and the force-sensitive 3D Touch.
Even though there are about 1,000 companies who produce smartphones, Apple has reigned supreme in terms of how much the company earns.
In the first quarter of 2015, Apple scored an industry shattering 92 per cent of the total income earned by the world’s top eight smartphone makers, Canaccord Genuity managing director Mike Walkley said to the Wall Street Journal. That same number was a mere 65 per cent in the first quarter of 2014.
The rise is two-fold. Loyal consumers of the brand were happy to see the largest screen available to date with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. But these massive profits also come from Apple products’ high sales prices, which according to Strategy Analytics, saw last year’s global iPhone average at $624, as compared to $185 for Android smartphones.
Twitter users seemed most impressed with the revamped Apple TV. The product will now get its own app store and Apple’s beloved monotone digital assistant, Siri. By speaking directly into the updated Apple TV remote, viewers can ask questions directly related to the program, such as “who is that actor,” or unrelated questions about traffic or weather with the answers being displayed discreetly under the streaming content.
“Apple TV looks so good. I really have no need for a phone or a watch. Or a family,” said Twitter user @davepell.
Despite these unveilings, Apple shares fell 1.9 per cent to $110.15 by the event’s closing. This may not be unheard of in product rollouts, but it does reflect the lack of any major, transformative products, which would prove to be crucial in keeping Apple’s market dominance, especially with the upcoming holiday season.
Apple has established itself as the industry-breaking company that consistently inspires an almost cult-like following of people willing to forego their hard-earned cash in favour of owning the company’s coveted products.
However, the pressures to constantly innovate and re-invent are almost becoming insurmountable. How can anyone appease people whose attention span moves from the iPhone 5S to the iPhone 6 in mere months?
With the price of Apple products significantly higher than its competitors coupled with what many are calling an underwhelming product unveiling, consumers may be hesitant to flock back to the tech behemoth with the same unyielding devotion they’ve shown in the past.