Apple vs Huawei: Behind the market value battle, who is better in terms of technological strength?
Apple Vision Pro was in the spotlight when it was officially released, and it was considered the biggest alternative to the iPhone. Apple CEO Tim Cook has even directly or indirectly said that the headset will be the "next iPhone", highlighting its important role in the company's history.
Cook said Vision Pro is key to Apple's launch for the next 10 years, and it represents the company's outlook for its prospects. However, in this world, there will always be a lot of uncertainties, will Vision Pro be able to get Apple out of the current slump and back to the top?
First, let's review Apple's current dilemma.
Looking at Apple's mobile**, we can see that Apple is still the largest leader in the world, but from three aspects, the current situation is like this.
First, Apple announced its fiscal year 2023 earnings report, which saw revenue decline 28% to 3832$8.5 billion; Compared to the same period last year, earnings per share were 96995 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 281%。Clearly, the Hurun Research Institute called the company "the most profitable company in the world," but its revenue and earnings declined.
Secondly, Apple's ** iPhone 15 phone, released in September 2023, sold more than 14 of the iPhone 14 in 17 days5 percentage points. It is clear that in terms of sales, the new models of the iPhone series have been lagging behind the previous generation, for example, the iPhone 14 has a price cut a little later than the iPhone 13.
While the iPhone's revenue is getting higher every year, the revenue of other hardware is plummeting. This means that Apple is less and less imaginative about its hardware.
The third problem is that Apple's shipments have declined in 2024. Ming-Chi Kuo said that from the perspective of the industrial chain, Apple has cut its upstream important chip production capacity, down 15% from the same period last yearMing-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone is the largest among the world's major mobile phone manufacturers in 2024.
From the above three figures, it is easy to see that Apple's earnings have fallen to the original 30%, the iPhone generation is getting worse than the next, and the trend of decline is becoming more and more obvious.
In addition, Apple will face a number of headwinds, such as a high debt ratio (around 80%) and frequent antitrust scrutiny. In particular, after antitrust investigations, watches that were removed from shelves and banned from sale, provided ecological services to the European Union, and lowered"Apple tax", which will lead to a decline in Apple's earnings.
To reverse the current decline, the company must look for new sources of profitable growth, and for the next 10 years, Vision Pro will be its focus.
So, can Vision Pro get Apple out of the recession?
The answer is clearly no. This article proposes the following reasons.
First of all, Vision Pro is a fairly small user group. Although Vision Pro is still in its infancy in the field of virtual headsets and its leading position in technological innovation, it is still in its infancy and relatively small.
Therefore, even if the shipment of Vision Pro models can increase by 500,000-600,000 units by 2024, it will only be a drop in the bucket for the market performance of the entire company, and it will not be able to completely reverse its sluggish situation.
Secondly, the ** of Vision Pro is on the high side and cannot meet the needs of consumers. The information shows that within 48 hours of the start of the pre-sale, the goods did not change during the backorder period. Therefore, analyst Guo Mingchi expects that based on this, after orders from "hardcore" and "big customers", the demand for visual professional version will decline rapidly.
Either way, regardless of the number of first-time orderers, it's likely that they're loyal fans, loyal users, or Apple employees or salespeople. Over time, the number of orders will decrease rapidly, and the market will not be as strong as it used to be.
Third, the root cause of Apple's decline lies in it"No creativity"Even with new products to turn the tide, the system is difficult.
During the years of Steve Jobs, Apple focused more on innovation, releasing the revolutionary iMac, iPhone and iPad. However, since Cook took office, Apple has taken it more seriously"Profit is paramount"Finish. However, with the death of Steve Jobs and the arrival of Tim Cook, Apple has gradually focused its attention"Profit is paramount"Above.
In the 13 years that Cook has been at the helm of Apple, brand-name products such as the Apple Watch, Apple AirPods and Air Tags have continued to evolve. But Jobs' glory is a thing of the past, not to mention the feeling of being a cut above his peers. If our values don't change and we just stay on ordinary ideas, then Apple will continue to decline.
So, in the next 10 years, if Apple wants to grow, Visual Pro may not be enough. To overcome the difficulties it faces, it is necessary to have a comprehensive strategic plan, the primary focus of which remains the focus"Innovation", not"Best Interest"。