Apple Releases Basic iPod Touch, Possibly Foreshadowing iPhone Strategy 228
redletterdave writes "While the new 16 GB iPod Touch released Thursday features the same 4-inch Retina display and dual-core A5 processor as its other variants, the newest, cheapest iPod Touch lacks a rear camera and comes in just two colors black and silver. Apple is reportedly pursuing a similar strategy with the iPhone, as reports from the past several months have pointed to development of a 'low-cost iPhone' with basic features to be sold at a lower price point."
Check your facts (Score:2, Informative)
The new iPod does not come in two colors, it comes in one color: silver back + black face. Also, in addition to not having the camera it also omits the wrist strap attachment.
Re:Start giving back some of that money, Apple. (Score:1, Informative)
you mean the 150 Bln in FOREIGN banks (The bulk of which is probably in RMB) which cant be repatriated without paying US taxes on? Nice US corp which proudly puts "designed in California" on their products but does all their sales in Ireland to avoid paying taxes?
This is the same org which is pretty prompt to sue and use the US legal system for patent protection.
It is a false urban legend that Apple is paying no taxes.
They paid taxes in the nations they made the money in. The US gov't wants to tax this money a second time, at the full tax rate, as if the money had never been taxed before, as if it had been made in the US.
This money that foreign taxes have been paid on is transferred to Ireland and invested. The proceeds from these investments are reported to the IRS and US taxes are paid.
Re:Obnoxiously... (Score:5, Informative)
So, compared to a 4th gen, a 5th gen has:
- twice the storage
- bigger, much higher quality screen in a physical package only 11% longer
- 87% the weight
- much faster cpu
- twice the ram
The only thing you lost was a shitty camera that was less than 1MP. All this for the same price. Go ahead and load up an old 4th gen with recordings of yourself playing the worlds tiniest violin.
Re:Start giving back some of that money, Apple. (Score:5, Informative)
Start giving back some of that money, Apple.
I know it didn't get reported on Slashdot, but still, you're kidding, right? I mean, it was big news and only happened a few weeks ago.
Apple is currently engaging in the largest single share repurchase program in history [macrumors.com], which will put $60B USD into their investors' pockets by the end of 2015. And that's on top of the $11B/year they're paying out in dividends already [macrumors.com].
All told, they're giving back $100B by the end of 2015, which is over 2/3 of what they have in the bank right now. So, either you were unaware of that, or you think that their doing so is not a big enough step, in which case I have to ask: what would be sufficient?
As for the gravy train being over, by what metric? Their sales certainly aren't growing at the rate that Android's are, but by any measure, they are still massively successful. Their rate of sale has continued to grow incredibly fast, and their profits in PCs [cnn.com] and mobile devices [techpinions.com] represent either a plurality or majority in each of those markets.
Re:What I want in a portable music player (Score:4, Informative)
Meeting all your requirements seems to be impossible (I googled) and I don't think the situation will change in the future.
If you can make compromises, it seems that the iPod Classic 160GB plays ALAC files and comes in at £199. Not sure what the dollar price is or whether ALAC is a suitable replacement for FLAC (I'm happy enough with 320kbps Spotify tunes so hardly the right person to ask).
However, the main problem is that we are at the point where the majority want converged devices and this means that, for most people, their phone doubles as a music player, a camera, and everything else.
The market for standalone music players definitely still exists, but don't expect to see much innovation there. In general, the market for these devices is one that wants to load up their MP3/AAC collection and take it with them while out exercising. People with your needs are a minority and in a saturated market, there is little point in companies developing such a device for marginal profit gains.
Re:Start giving back some of that money, Apple. (Score:5, Informative)
no matter what they do with their money they will keep losing market share if they keep making stupid decisions.
Even if they make good decisions, they'll still lose market share. Their problem isn't that they're getting stupid, it's that everyone else is getting smart.
Phones like the HTC One are beautifully made and elegantly designed. Jelly Bean is slick, comfortable and easy to use. Other manufacturers are leapfrogging a long way past Apple's current standards, and doing it at a lower cost. Look at Lenovo's latest:
The [Lenovo K900] sports a 5.5-inch display with a 1080 x 1920p resolution with a pixel density of 400ppi. Lenovo K900 is powered by the latest Intel Atom Clover Trail+ processor clocked at 2 GHz, alongside 2 GB of RAM. Furthermore, the device comes with a 13 megapixel Sony Exmor BSI rear camera and a 2 megapixel front-facing shooter.
http://www.gsmarena.com/lenovo_k900_now_available_in_china_priced_at_536-news-6062.php [gsmarena.com]
Re:Start giving back some of that money, Apple. (Score:5, Informative)
"They paid taxes in the nations they made the money in. "
No.
Apple may have "deliberately or accidentally" misled Australians about how it sets prices here and should "correct the record or provide further detail", a Labor backbencher has demanded.
Backbencher Ed Husic, who has taken a leading role in an Australian parliamentary committee into IT pricing, said shock revelations from a US Senate committee raised concerns "the Australian inquiry has been misled, either deliberately or accidentally".
"I'd call on Apple Australia to either correct the record or provide further detail as to the way it actually prices its products for Australian consumers," Husic told the House of Representatives.
Husic said people may have "raised an eyebrow" at reports that Apple generated $6bn in revenue in Australia but "paid only $40m in tax – apparently because it racked up $5.5bn in costs", but "their eyes would've popped out" at the US revelations Apple had set up an offshore subsidiary that earned $30bn income but had apparently paid no tax to any government for five years.
And the two committee investigations were related, because Apple's complicated international structure has an impact on the prices paid for Apple products for Australians.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/28/australian-companies-forced-disclose-tax [guardian.co.uk]
Note that the "$5.5bn in costs" was mostly fees paid by the Australian branch to the offshore subsidiary. Basically a way to inflate prices and pump money out of the region.
30 Billion no tax in Ireland. (Score:4, Informative)
It is a false urban legend that Apple is paying no taxes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2013/may/29/apples-dirty-little-tax-secret-video [guardian.co.uk] Here is a great informative video from where they unusually, actually go to Cork Ireland.
They actually use a Tax loophole that allows them not to pay tax anywhere in the world. Its brilliant, what Apple do is not use a low tax island...they make the island disappear entirely. It woks because the US is concerned with where a company is Incorporated...where the Irish look where a Company is controlled...so Apple tell the US that they are Incorporated in Ireland...and tell the Irish they are controlled in the US, So Pay literally (proper use of word) NOTHING :)
So if by Urban Myth...you actually mean Fact you would have been right. The fact that you were modded informative shows a frightening trend.