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Topic: Apple

Apple's Cook: Product launches more about 2014

Summary: For Apple fans looking for new products in the summer, CEO Tim Cook has a disappointing message for you. Apple will launch new goods in the Fall and then the product cycle ramps in 2014.

Larry Dignan

By for Between the Lines |

Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company has new products launching in the fall, but indicated that the real cycle will be more of a 2014 story.

Throughout Apple's second quarter earnings conference call, Cook said he was confident about the company's product pipeline and that Apple's products will compete well against Google's Android and Samsung on many fronts.

But for investors waiting for some hints that Apple would be launching new stuff, Cook handed out a bit of disappointment.

Steve Milunovich, an analyst at UBS asked Cook:

Tim, you alluded to fall announcement of products. Is that indicating that there may not be substantial new products until literally Fall? Late September which means the September quarter could look a lot like the June quarter? Is that part of what you're implying or were you being more general?

Cook said:

I don't want to be more specific. But I'm just saying we've got some really great stuff coming in the Fall. And across all of 2014.

The reaction in after hours trading was swift as Apple's 7 percent gain faded quickly on the comments.

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Bottom line: Apple's quarter was solid, the outlook was a bit light and folks were willing to live with that reality for the June quarter. Cook's September quarter chatter may have been asking for three months too much in the patience department.

Earlier: Apple statement

Topics: Apple, iPhone, iPad, Bring Your Own Device

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19 comments
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  • They need bang!

    The new IPod Nano was actually great, but Apple needs a "One, Two Punch" to prove that they can survive without their former CEO. The new Nano + *truly* new iPhone + iPad Mini *WITH* Retina Screen could have done it. But sadly, they were way too slow... almost lumbering... kinda like Microsoft. This does not bode well. Only a great new iPhone (with a truly bigger not just slightly elongated) screen that is better than Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One and a very cool Apple TV that does to Cable TV companies what iPod+iTunes did to record companies can really bounce them to the top of the innovation game.
    cmoya
    Reply Vote

    • wrong strategy

      Never, ever compare head to head with competitors. Set your own rules of the game. Let the likes of Samsung have the biggest, greatest phone. They will still look at what you do.

      Never try to out-do a competitor. You are playing according to their rules and chances are you don't know it all.
      danbi
      Reply 1 Vote

      • Just one question

        "Never try to out-do a competitor" - seriously?

        Do you not even understand the basic concepts of business?
        Little Old Man
        Reply Vote

    • No, you just want "bang", as does most of the market.

      Many companies do quite well, albeit tend to stay quite flat in the Market, by simply being slow and steady. A solid product line with a solid reputation for reliability will keep customers returning as long as the competition doesn't get too far ahead in other factors. Apple is well noted for the 'slow but steady' approach, preferring not to release a product until it is ready for the public. I really doubt that with Job's death Apple would change that policy.

      That said, maybe it's time now to consider what Apple might have up its sleeve for this next fiscal year. I won't deny that leaving things stagnate will be hard on sales until then, but dog-gone if they then make some significant leaps in existing products PLUS introduce some all-new product that really makes sense, then we really could see that "bang" you so want.

      iWatch? Not as currently conceived by most of Apple's competitors. Not only would it be uncomfortable to wear for any length of time but the need to plug it in on a regular basis makes it a very annoying product to use, too. A display the size of a watch face might be good for selecting music or displaying time, but is far too small for watching a movie or viewing a web page. A nice concept might be a micro-Maps on such a display, but how do you get any kind of decent overview? Then again, as a low-res display for video chat--maybe Dick Tracey's video watch will finally become a reality.

      A better design might be something like the stereotypical 'bracers' we see in so many sci-fi stories and movies. I believe that kind of technology is eminently possible today, though admittedly blatantly obvious as wearable computing.

      Or maybe AppleTV is getting a new upgrade. A lot of rumors have run around putting the hockey puck inside a standard-sized TV. Now, personally I find that unlikely simply because there are already far too many TVs on the market and the concept as described are far too limiting. Rather, an improved hockey puck capable of fully replacing any tuner--internal or external--and offering access to almost every media source with a much easier-to-use interface could be great. It may well be possible that it will use Siri for simplified control and maybe even offer dynamic, predictive suggestions based on the user's viewing habits. For instance, why should I manually search for "bowling" to watch PBA matches and have to manually reject programs such as "Bowling for Dollars"? I may have "bowled" a '300' game, but maybe I wasn't "bowled" over by '300' the movie. Every set-top box currently on the market--including Apple's, is still more difficult to use than they could be.

      So don't make any assumptions; you'll only get yourself in trouble. We don't know what's coming and we won't know probably until it's very near release.
      Vulpinemac
      Reply Vote

      • Sounds like you're in mourning, and desperate for something from Apple,

        anything, please Apple, anything!!!

        Apple is proving what I've said about them for the last 2 years, and that's that, with their current products and services getting stale and boring, they're done, even if those products and services continue getting good sales for them for a while longer. Apple depended on the iOS devices too much, and now that the competition is outdoing them, in just about every category and feature-set, they're having to go back to the drawing board, and that's why they won't really have anything new to offer until sometime in 2014. But, by that time, the competition will be even further ahead, and Apple's rule of the mobile market will have come to an end.
        adornoe
        Reply 1 Vote

  • They've peaked

    Phones and tablets are commodities and other companies are producing nicer ones than Apple. Desktops and laptops have hit a plateau in terms of performance and sales plus OS X is kind of past its prime. There's a whole lot of competition for boxes that drive content on TVs. Watches? Really? Can I surf the web and email on my watch's 1" screen? How about word processing and spreadsheets? Yeah.

    Apple's primary business has been selling their brand image through overpriced electronic devices. Their innovative products were very well packaged refinements of what others had already pioneered. I think the time when all the Apple faithful line up to buy the next iteration of the iThing may finally be passing.
    Sir Name
    Reply 4 Votes

    • Apple…?

      Couldn't agree more. I'm guessing, after 2015 we won't hear much about Apple and its iToys.
      Wysel
      Reply Vote

  • Interested in seeing what direction they will be going!

    I wonder if Phones and tablet will end up in the next couple of years like PC's.
    With no where to go, just how much can you keep improving items until they become good enough, much like modern PC's.
    martin_js
    Reply 1 Vote

  • The bang is coming

    Fingerprint reader in the next iPhone/iPad....

    That's the security corporate is looking for to allow Apple to totally take the enterprise.

    End of year Apple stock will be over $600.
    toddbottom7
    Reply Vote

    • I'm Sorry...

      But this is solid wishful thinking.
      TheCyberKnight
      Reply Vote

    • BAHAHAHA

      Dream on Mr. Fool
      OwlllllNet
      Reply Vote

    • re:

      So that's all that's been holding them back! The fact that they can't be managed like all the Windows devices with group policy and are very difficult and expense to write/port LOB software for wasn't what was keeping them from being adopted in droves by corporate IT departments. Huh.

      That's pretty funny.
      Sir Name
      Reply 2 Votes

    • Finger print reader?

      So yesterday, multiply makers put fingerprint readers in there laptops, they were not used and have since been faded out.
      Perhaps you and your darling Apple missed that train? ;-)
      martin_js
      Reply 1 Vote

      • In 2yrs

        You'll realise you're wrong. Apple invented finger print scanners.

        Sorry, that should have read, if apple start using fingerprint scanning, then they invented fingerprint scanners.

        And fingerprints.
        Little Old Man
        Reply Vote

    • Why should we belive you?

      last year you said "End of year Apple stock will be over $1000".

      Then it dropped 40%.
      William Farrel
      Reply Vote

    • Toddy, if I didn't know you were using sarcasm...

      I might have believed you. You just think way too small to be good at it.
      Vulpinemac
      Reply Vote

  • Errr....

    Apple's quarterly results came in with a loss. Revenue went up but sales dropped compared to a year ago. Stock worth around $700 not hovering at $400. Mac sales dropped at the expensiver of the lower mark-up iPad and even lover iPad Mini. iPhone sales are up a bit but only because Apple is dumping stock [at least partially because they want to sell old stock before the Galaxy S 4 is in stores this week]. They really only have 2 quarters where major products are release [Macs are released inconsistantly].
    And all this since Cook took over. I am sure there are stock holders who are grumbling and I wouldn't be surprised of a class action lawsuit.
    Gisabun
    Reply Vote

  • Apple knows...

    Wall Street blows.
    Steve Nagel
    Reply Vote

  • Tim Cook is amazing

    Lets not forget Tim Cook recently launched one of the greatest inventions of all time. An invention so awesome it could be magical. Tim Cook will go down in history for this great Apple product "The lightning connector". Three cheers for Tim!
    mdrapps
    Reply Vote
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