Apple enters a troubled period with battery issue, sales ban, and disease

Recently, many consumers have reported that Apple's iPhone 6 and 6S series phones suddenly shut down when the devices have sufficient power. The China Consumers Association has now intervened to handle the matter.

From the iPhone 6 and 6P being banned from sale due to copyright infringement, to the iPhone 6S abnormal shutdown, and finally to the recent iPhone 7 Plus explosion, people can't help but ask, what's wrong with Apple?

First, let’s review three incidents.

Event 1: Baili and Apple patent case

In June this year, the Beijing Intellectual Property Office made a decision to order Apple to stop selling and Zhongfu to stop promising to sell and selling the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Because after comparison, although there are a series of differences between Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and Baili's "Mobile Phone (100C)", they are all minor differences that are difficult for ordinary consumers to notice. Therefore, it should be determined that there is no significant difference between the two and they fall within the protection scope of the patent in question.

In fact, the feud between Bailey and Apple has a long history.

In 2014, the domestic company Bajia Mobile sued iPhone 6 for plagiarism. Bajia Mobile's official microblog revealed a lawyer's letter the company sent to Apple, saying: "We don't need to curry favor, but we need a chance to clarify the facts. Before the release of iPhone 6, we tried to communicate with Apple via email to inform Apple of the possible infringement, but to no avail." The lawyer's letter was dated September 2, 2014, exactly one week before Apple released iPhone 6 (September 9 of that year).

A week later, Bajia Mobile released its second Weibo post: "Following the release of the previous correspondence and appearance patents with Apple, Bajia clarified that it did not copy the iPhone 6. The media and netizens misunderstood that Bajia would sue the iPhone 6 for infringement. This report is not true. Bajia Mobile has always respected Apple's innovation and understood Apple's attitude towards protecting intellectual property rights. Regarding this design collision, we look forward to working with Apple to sincerely invite the media to clarify and eliminate misunderstandings."

From the wording, it seems that Bajia Mobile wants to "make peace" with Apple and clear up the misunderstanding. However, the arrogant Apple does not seem to appreciate it, saying "either clear my name or sue me" and even directly suing Bajia Mobile in court. It requests the court to confirm that the iPhone 6 does not infringe the rights and order Bajia to compensate 200,000 yuan for economic losses.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple filed an application with the State Intellectual Property Office in March 2015 to invalidate Bajia's patent, and the latter ruled that Bajia's patent was valid in December 2015. Four months later, the court ruled that Apple lost the case.

It turns out that as early as 2014, Bajia's designers complained on Weibo that Apple had copied the Bajia mobile phone, including the thickness, rounded corners, back shell curve, camera position, SIM card slot shape, etc.

Shenzhen Baili Marketing Service Co., Ltd. was formerly known as Baijia Mobile Phone, which was born in April 2013. In July 2013, Baijia launched its first customized mobile phone in cooperation with Baidu, JD.com and Shuimu Nianhua. In 2013, it received investment and technical support from Baidu, and Baidu Cloud Rom became one of the core products of Baili Digital. In early 2015, Baijia Mobile Phone closed down and transformed into an e-commerce company.

However, leaving aside the BAKA incident, this is not the first time that Apple has stumbled in China, mainly due to its lack of product innovation and arrogance.

As early as 2013, Apple filed an administrative lawsuit against the State Intellectual Property Office because Siri was found to have infringed the patent of the Xiaoi robot, but ultimately lost the case. Because of the ownership of the iPad trademark in mainland China, Apple paid Shenzhen Proview Technology $60 million.

Event 2: iPhone 7 explosion

On November 10, Blue Whale TMT was the first to disclose the iPhone 7 Plus explosion incident.

According to a user named Chen from Yunnan, he bought his mobile phone at the end of October. On the evening of November 8, Mr. Chen accidentally dropped his phone on the ground while using it normally. When he was about to pick it up, he found that the phone had started to emit black smoke and was vibrating violently. The phone's display was completely shattered and separated from the middle frame.

Mr. Chen said that when he bought the phone, he had considered the possibility of the phone exploding. At that time, Samsung announced the global recall of the Note 7 phone. Considering the safety issue, Mr. Chen bought the Apple iPhone 7 Plus. However, even with such consideration, he still failed to prevent the problem from happening.

And what is most noteworthy is that Apple has not made any positive response to the previous explosion.

During the investigation, Blue Whale TMT was surprised to find that the iPhone 7 Plus that exploded this time was not the first time that problems occurred in China, nor was it the first time that problems occurred in the world. Based on the existing facts, it is known.

On September 29, a foreign mobile phone user posted a photo of his exploding iPhone 7 on the Reddit forum, and joked that "the phone is running a little hot!" The netizen did not reveal more specific information about the explosion, and it seemed that he was just posting a photo.

On October 10, a video about an iPhone 7 exploded that was purchased by a man in Zhengzhou went viral online. In the video, a man said that while he was filming a video, the phone suddenly "broke" into two pieces, his hands were swollen, and his face was injured. However, the phone in the video showed no signs of burning, and the battery was intact. This was the first iPhone 7 explosion incident exposed in China.

On October 24, an iPhone user caught fire in Australia, which was the second iPhone 7 fire in Australia. The owner, Mat Jones, recalled that he covered his phone with his clothes and left it in the car. When he finished his surfing lesson, he found that his car was already filled with smoke, and the newly bought phone was the culprit of the fire. Apple claimed that it has intervened in the investigation.

These are just the cases of explosions of the new iPhone 7 series that can be found. Many other models, including the 7 and 6, have also had explosions. If one explosion is a coincidence, how can we explain so many explosions? Moreover, it has only been three months since the release of the iPhone 7, and there have been so many explosions. I'm afraid that Apple phones do have quality problems.

Event 3: iPhone 6 & 6S series phones shut down abnormally

Recently, many Apple users complained online that their iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus frequently shut down automatically, even shutting down abnormally at 60% battery, and it was difficult to restart without connecting to a power source. Consumers complained bitterly about this.

After this incident, Apple's official technical department said that there are many problems that may cause automatic shutdown, including battery hardware, system, motherboard and weather. It is recommended that users first check whether there is a problem with the battery hardware, and then upgrade the system if there is no problem; if the automatic shutdown still occurs after the system is upgraded, it is necessary to go to Apple's official repair center to return the phone to the factory for repair.

Blue Whale TMT has repeatedly reported that Apple's after-sales repair costs are almost sky-high, often thousands of yuan. As expected, if the above problems occur, if you want to repair it at an Apple-provided after-sales repair station, you will need to pay more than two thousand yuan.

At present, there are two voices on the Internet. One is that there is a problem with the battery, and the other is that the battery abnormalities are caused by a bug in the iOS 10 system.

At the same time, the China Consumers Association issued a notice to formally intervene in the investigation. The China Consumers Association stated that it will pay attention to the further development of the matter, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and require Apple to respond to the issue within 10 days.

What happened to the arrogant Apple? From the financial report released by Apple before, we can see that its growth level has obviously slowed down compared with the same period last year. So, what is the reason for the slowdown in its profits?

4 things that caused Apple's performance to slow down

In the middle of the year, Apple CEO Tim Cook accepted an exclusive interview with The Washington Post. In the interview, Cook talked about many company keywords such as corporate culture, products, services, employees, and also talked about industry views such as artificial intelligence and smart cars.

Recently, more people are talking about Apple, believing that Apple's innovation, revenue and product quality are not as good as before. From its Q2 financial report, it can be seen that it has slowed down significantly compared with the same period last year.

Cook is now at a crossroads: should he continue to make Apple a money-making machine, or return to the essence of innovation?

Jobs is gone, but Apple’s story is far from over.

Today, Apple has become the world's most valuable company thanks to its high profit margins. Apple has a rich and popular series of products, and they have recruited many of the world's top designers and engineers. But we still believe that the company's peak moment has passed, and they will slowly go downhill in the next few years.

Why Apple's decline has slowed down depends on four things.

1. Apple Maps

2. iPad 4

3. Staff turnover

4. Micro-innovation

Apple began using its own Apple Maps in iOS 6 in 2012. However, this map is full of loopholes. It replaced the Google Maps that users are already familiar with with its own imperfect map, which is completely unlike Apple's rigorous style.

The reason for Apple's series of successes is, without exception, providing a perfect user experience.

However, now Apple has decided to provide users with products that are clearly inferior to Google's for its own benefit, just to strengthen its weight in the long-term competition with Google.

Apple's products weren't always smooth sailing during Jobs' time. The Cube, launched in 2000, was a flop, its early forays into cloud services were embarrassing, and the launch of iMovie 08 proved to be a mistake.

It turns out that no company is perfect, but even if these previous products were not successful, their starting point was to provide users with better products and services.

But the problems with Apple Maps are not the same as the former ones. Maybe it’s just because they think that competition with Android is more important than user experience.

The map reflects Apple's changes, but it is not the only sign. For example, iPad 4 was launched only six months after iPad 3. Surprisingly, there is no essential difference between the two products, which made users who bought iPad 3 feel unhappy. This bland product upgrade method is completely inconsistent with Apple's product concept of satisfying novelty.

Product problems aren't the only evidence that Apple is in decline.

Perhaps everyone still remembers the news of the resignation of Apple's senior vice president Scott Forstall shortly after the release of iOS 7. He can be said to be the founder of the early iOS design style. iOS 1-6 during the Jobs era were all developed by him.

At the same time, let's not forget John Browett, Apple's vice president of retail, who left with him. Browett was previously the head of Apple's retail stores, which have been the cornerstone of Apple's success for a decade. It is said that some of his decisions were unique and not well thought out.

Browett's decision to sacrifice customer service for the sake of corporate profits is another example of how Apple puts profits over user needs.

Apple may have found some secret to success.

During the Jobs era, Apple's focus has always been on building the best and most complete user experience. It is a company that regards user experience as king.

Since iPhone 4, Apple has not launched a truly new product for a long time. Instead, it has been promoting the continuous upgrade and iteration of its original product line. We call it micro-innovation.

In this kind of micro-innovation, Apple still brings excellent products to customers, but this micro-innovation seems to be used in more existing production lines.

Apple's Prisoner's Dilemma

I still remember that in February 2008, Steve Jobs took out an incredibly thin Macbook Air from an envelope. The moment he said “One more thing”, a super cool product appeared in front of them. So, we can’t help but ask: Is Apple still innovative enough?

Could it be that Apple has now turned into a money-making machine? Various doubts have arisen.

Since Cook took over Apple, he has repeatedly talked about the significance of Jobs to Apple and the importance of his spiritual legacy. However, in the eyes of the outside world, Cook has gradually immersed himself in micro-innovation of products, becoming more and more "kitsch" and money-oriented, lacking the disruptive innovation of Jobs. For example:

1. Handwriting stylus

Jobs once publicly expressed his hatred for styluses.

"Who wants a stylus? You have to take it out and put it back. No one wants one, so we don't!"

Jobs also killed the Newton, a tablet-like device that also used a stylus, while Cook introduced the Apple Pencil.

2. Large-screen mobile phones

Jobs once publicly mocked large-screen mobile phones, saying, "You can't hold it in your hand, and no one wants to buy it." Later, Cook launched the slightly larger 4-inch iPhone 5, as well as the even larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Tablet Size

Jobs said that the iPad's 10-inch screen is the minimum size required to develop the best tablet applications. Even if a smaller tablet makes the picture look clearer, it is not convenient to use. However, Cook launched the iPad mini.

4. Dazzling product line

Jobs once pursued a boutique strategy, but now Cook has released a large number of products. For example, Apple Watch has a standard version, a sports version, and a gold version; iPhone has iPhone2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPhone6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

We can clearly see that all products since iPhone 5 are led by Cook, which also highlights the difference between a "manager" and a true "master".

In fact, to a certain extent, Cook's multi-product line approach has actually turned Apple into a money-making machine, making huge profits in various countries and regions.

How long will the “validity period” of Apple’s toothpaste-sque upgrades last?

In September this year, Apple released two iPhone devices at its fall conference - iPhone 7 & 7 Plus. As expected, this conference still made micro-innovations, with almost the same design as 6S, but with two more colors and a dual camera.

After the press conference, people rushed to complain that Apple’s products were getting worse year by year, but some people disagreed. They believed that Apple was “holding back a big move.”

So, how long is the "validity period" of Apple's toothpaste-like upgrades?

Previously, many people in the industry believed that even if Apple under Cook made minor innovations, its products would still sell well.

However, in the last fiscal quarter, iPhone sales fell short of analysts' expectations, Apple Watch and iPad sales declined sharply, and Apple's stock price fell. These have indirectly confirmed that although Apple has brand advantages, the capital market and users will not buy into its lack of innovation and selling points.

From iPhone 4 to iPhone 4s, Apple has been making micro-innovations. The iPhone 5s launched in 2013 also lacks highlights and major improvements compared to the iPhone 5. In fact, this is also Apple's usual practice: "a small change in one generation, a big change in two generations."

Of course, some analysts are still optimistic about the iPhone, believing that compared with Android products, the Apple ecosystem is more sticky and has a better product and service roadmap.

To some extent, Apple has been synonymous with innovation since the "Think Different" advertisement. From the Macintosh personal computer to the iPod, to the iPhone, iPad and Macbook Air, Apple has almost defined generations of popular consumer electronics and set future standards for the industry, but now it is heading in the opposite direction.

Of course, Apple is not the only company facing this situation. Xiaomi, for example, has also been questioned.

In the mobile phone and electronic products industry, the synchronous development of software and hardware has become the industry standard. Once the hardware has reached its peak, further upgrades will encounter a ceiling. Some users don't even need such top-level configurations, and they are completely for show.

Where is Apple's way out?

Apple is currently in a mid-life crisis. The four problems we mentioned above show that Apple is beginning to decline, but the following three crises should be issues that Apple should pay more attention to.

1. Supply Chain

2. Scientific research capabilities

3. Pride in the bones

In fact, many people are deceived by a false impression - rush buying. Since the iPhone 4 era, Apple's products have been rushed every year. Some people call it "hunger marketing", and even some domestic mobile phones have joined this "activity".

But little do people know that this reflects a major crisis of Apple - supply chain and marketing. If you think Apple is engaging in "hunger marketing", you are wrong. The panic buying actually occurs because of weak supply capacity and inability of production capacity to keep up with demand.

In addition, most of the sales channels of Apple mobile phones come from operators, because the huge subsidies provided by operators for iPhone are the main reason for Apple's great sales success. At present, with the gradual reduction of subsidies provided by the three major mobile operators in China, the sales prospects of iPhone will be even slimmer.

A few months ago, Apple announced the establishment of a research and development center in China, and the purpose of establishing the research and development center is to compete with the increasingly popular domestic mobile phones. Because Apple's current sales in China are shrinking due to the impact of domestic mobile phone giants Huawei, OV, and Xiaomi.

At the same time, from the perspective of the innovation of the iPhone 6S & 6S Plus, Apple's research and development capabilities are on the decline. Today, Apple's annual investment in research and development is very small, which is not worth mentioning compared to Huawei and Samsung. This is also the fundamental reason why Huawei, Samsung and other manufacturers can continue to increase the number of patents.

I believe that users who have bought Apple products for a long time will find that Apple is born with a sense of arrogance. This arrogance continues in China and even ferments. It can be seen from the three events in the article that it seems to be learning from Samsung to play double standards. As the saying goes, "humility makes people progress, and pride makes people fall behind." If Apple's fate is not corrected as soon as possible, it will sooner or later be ruined by arrogance.

On October 25, Apple released its Q4 2016 financial report, with revenue of $46.9 billion and net profit of $9 billion, down 9% and 19% year-on-year respectively. After that, Apple's stock price fell 9 days and rose 6 days in 15 trading days, and its market value evaporated by nearly $45 billion. Some analysts believe that this is related to the decline in sales of its iPhone and iPad.

Today, Apple led by Cook is standing at a crossroads. If it goes left, it will continue to maintain the status quo, or if it goes right, it will return to the peak. The choice of left or right is up to Cook himself.

I hope Apple’s future path will be like what Cook once said.

“We are always pushing for innovation.”

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.