To readers paying close attention to press reports, there may not be many surprises Tuesday when Apple (AAPL) hosts its big September three-ring circus for analysts and the media.
The critics will be unforgiving if the events tentpole announcements dont include:
The Phone 5S, a speedier iPhone 5, probably with fingerprint recognition for ID purposes, possibly with near-field communication (NFC) technology for buying stuff in stores.
The iPhone 5C, a plastic-bodied iPhone that comes in colors and is slower, less powerful, lower-res and less expensive (e.g. $400 plus or minus).
The release of iOS 7, the first top-to-bottom redesign of the face the iPhone shows the world, complete with new metaphors, new light sources, a Pandora knock-off and a look designed to make Samsungs smartphones feel old fashioned.
New programming and new tricks for Apple TV, Steve Jobs final "hobby" by which he hoped to someday disrupt the entertainment industry.
Distribution deals with some of the worlds biggest holdouts, including China Mobile (740 million subscribers) and NTT DoCoMo (60 million).
All this and maybe more will be duly reported -- with specs, price points and other details filled in -- Tuesday afternoon.
But by Wednesday, Apple watchers will be wrestling with the darker questions -- questions that have been swirling around the company since even before the stock started tanking in September 2012.
Essentially, the issues that Wall Street has with Apple -- the perceived problems that by April 2013 had lopped $280 billion (40%) off Apples market value -- boil down to three negative story lines:
That Apple without Steve Jobs can no longer innovate.
That Apples products are over-engineered and overpriced, and that for most users, Android phones and tablets are good enough.
That Apple cant compete in the worlds fastest growing smartphone markets: China, India, Brazil, the Philippines, Nigeria, etc.
Those are valid issues, and they deserve an answer.
But until we see what Tim Cook has up his sleeves -- and whether it delights or disappoints or even works as advertised -- until then we wont know whether the reports of Apples impending doom that weve been hearing for more than a year are, like Mark Twains obituary, premature. (
Fortune/cnn)
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