iPhone 6 Case Roundup (image: Ewan Spence) Taking a look back at another week of news from Cupertino, this week's Apple Loop covers the discussions and rumors of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6C smartphones, Apple's rising market share of tablets and smartphones, why Tim Cook needs to be careful when integrating Beats into Apple's hardware, lawsuits on the iPod's DRM and eBooks, Black Friday results, and the myth of the garage where it all started.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read our weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).
Everyone Is Dreaming Of A New iPhone Model
There must be something in the air, because the Apple news is dominated by speculation on two new models arriving during 2015. Forbes' Gordon Kelly takes a look at the idea of a four-inch variant of the iPhone 6, while I argue for a mid-season boost to storage in the iPhone 6 instead of the arrival of the iPhone 6S.
Starting with a 'mini' version of the iPhone 6, potentially the iPhone 6C, there are five clear arguments for the handset to exist and to go on sale; Natural fit, better budget option, lack of competition, guaranteed success, and choice:
…despite the success of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, there are a large number of grumbling iPhone owners who are not prepared to go bigger. Eventually time will force them to upgrade, but why force when you can have them joyfully snapping your hand off.
As for the idea of a new model in April to help boost the sales of the Apple Watch, my thinking is that this is less about an iPhone 6S, and more about a bump on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets:
While there are economic and psychological reasons for sticking with a 16 GB model, moving the baseline model of the iPhone 6 up to 32 GB alongside the launch of the Apple Watch would refresh the product line, it would allow Apple to cross-sell the Apple Watch and the iPhone to consumers, and it would not significantly burn the millions of consumers who have already purchased an iPhone 6 (or received it as a gift at Christmas) only to see it replaced by 'the new model' a few months after sale.
If there is to be a 'new' handset in early 2015, it's likely to be a 32 GB version of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
As always, there are many roads that Apple could take with the iPhone platform. While there are many aspirations and dreams that people will want to see in any new handset, I suspect that the road of least resistance and conformity will be the road taken during 2015.
Apple's Market Share Is Rising
Let's not forget that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are doing fantastically well in the markets. Chuck Jones has been doing his regular analysis of sales data, and points out the gains in market share in the major economic countries of the US, UK, Japan, and Germany. Looking at the US market:
Apple's iPhone share increased almost 9 percentage points from 32.6% in September to 41.5% in October. While the 41.5% is only 0.7 points above last October the 8.9 point gain is almost double last years 4.9 point gain from September 2013 to October when the iPhone 5c and 5s were launched. However, it is less than the iPhone 5's gain of 18.4 points from 34.6% in September 2012 to 53.0% in October.
Jones' full analysis can be found here on Forbes.
The Apple iPhone 6 (image: Ewan Spence)
When Will We Hear The Beats?
Staying with the analysts, Seeking Alpha's Douglas Ehrman has been wondering what Apple will do with the Beats IP and technology in the future, and how this might impact on Apple's market price:
Apple is notorious for creating closed systems when it comes to peripherals, and headphones might be next. After the deal was announced, some analysts expressed concern that Apple would use the acquisition as an excuse to begin using the lightning port as the headphone interface and phase out the typical headphone jack. Integrating Beats Music into iOS is a logical first step.
As most will recall, when Apple insisted that its version of Maps become the default application in place of Google Maps, there was pushback from Apple users… With this in mind, Apple will need to make sure a Beats integration works seamlessly, to avoid another black eye
Apple's Phablet+Tablet Sales Are Still Strong
The predicted 12.5% drop in iPad sales this year, (via IDC) has piqued the interest of Forbes contributor Mark Rogowsky. It's not that the iPad sales are dropping, it's that the numbers need to be examined with a view to the iPad being 'old' and other just as capable lines (such as the iPhone Six Plus) are 'new' and easier to sell:
Even if you were to just split the 6 Plus sales between the smartphone and tablet categories, it seems fair to argue that about 7.5 million of those purchases are would-be iPad customers who get a brand new iPhone in the process. Apple last year sold 26 million iPads over the Christmas quarter. If IDC proves correct and that number falls by 3 million or so, there appears to be no reasonable argument under which iPads plus a reasonable share of iPhone 6 Plus sales apportioned to the iPad category doesn't result in an increase over last year. And, yes, this would still leave the iPhone very comfortably ahead of last year as well
Apple tablet sales are falling? Maybe. Apple "-ablet" sales? Any rumors of their death are very greatly exaggerated.
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