What’s Driving AAPL’s Underperformance?, iPhone Demand in China, Apple Jitters
Today's Above Avalon Daily email contains the following stories:
What’s Driving AAPL’s Underperformance?
iPhone Demand in China
Apple Jitters
I have been receiving questions regarding what may be going on with AAPL and reports suggesting there are iPhone demand issues in China. Let’s discuss both items.
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My Thoughts About Tim Cook at Trump’s Inauguration, Apple’s Top (Political) Issues, A Larger Reset
Today's Above Avalon Daily email contains the following stories:
My Thoughts About Tim Cook at Trump’s Inauguration
Apple’s Top (Political) Issues
A Larger Reset
Yesterday wasn’t quiet on the news front. Today’s update will go over my thoughts about what took place at the Trump inauguration from an Apple / tech perspective. Tim Cook was in attendance for most of the day’s events. This is not a politics newsletter. We are not going to break down President Trump’s inauguration speech. Instead, there is plenty to say about how the day transpired, including broader takeaways regarding the role tech leaders are playing in U.S. politics.
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“Severance” Pop-Up at Grand Central, Apple’s Genius Marketing, Apple Finally Punches Back
Today's Above Avalon Daily email contains the following stories:
“Severance” Pop-Up at Grand Central
Apple’s Genius Marketing
Apple Finally Punches Back
This is a big weekend for Apple TV+ as both the Season 2 premiere of “Severance” and the Season 2 finale of “Silo” are now live. There will be a lot of watch time materializing this weekend. There are several observations worth sharing, including takeaways from some of the best guerrilla marketing Apple has done in a very long time.
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Sonos CEO Fired, Where Sonos Went Wrong, Smart Speaker Intrigue
Today's Above Avalon Daily email contains the following stories:
Sonos CEO Fired
Where Sonos Went Wrong
Smart Speaker Intrigue
We will shift gears by talking about Sonos. Obviously, we can point to Sonos’ problematic app as a major factor behind the company’s current predicament. We can’t underestimate just how damaging the app fiasco has been on Sonos business results. However, the app saga is a symptom of much larger and deeper issues within Sonos. Today’s discussion also goes over why the premium smart speaker space remains fascinating to me.
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Apple Goes Public With Meta Interoperability Requests, Apple and Interoperability Risk, Zuckerberg’s Master Plan
Today's Above Avalon Daily email contains the following stories:
Apple Goes Public With Meta Interoperability Requests
Apple and Interoperability Risk
Zuckerberg’s Master Plan
There is backstory to Mark Zuckerberg’s complaints about not having better access to Apple’s ecosystem to help sell products like Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. Today’s update goes over the Digital Markets Act’s interoperability requirements and Apple’s corresponding white paper on the topic. We also go over my view on Zuckerberg’s master plan in going after Apple on interoperability grounds.
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Meta Pivots on Content Moderation, Zuckerberg Talks Apple on Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg Continues to Gaslight
Today's Above Avalon Daily email contains the following stories:
Meta Pivots on Content Moderation
Zuckerberg Talks Apple on Joe Rogan
Zuckerberg Continues to Gaslight
Last week, Mark Zuckerberg announced that major changes were coming to Meta properties on censorship and content moderation fronts. Today’s discussion begins with my broader stance on the changes. We then shift to Mark Zuckerberg’s three-hour interview with Joe Rogan. There is a lot to say about Zuckerberg’s comments about the iPhone and Apple innovation (or lack thereof).
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What Happened to CarPlay 2.0?, Eddy Cue Talks Down Apple Search Engine, Apple Uses Shazam for Predictive Analysis
Today's Above Avalon Daily email contains the following stories:
What Happened to CarPlay 2.0?
Eddy Cue Talks Down Apple Search Engine
Apple Uses Shazam for Predictive Analysis
We are going to jump right into today’s update with CarPlay talk. The update will then shift to the latest in the U.S. v. Google search case, concluding with an intriguing new feature from Apple’s Shazam.
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Member Privileges and Benefits
Become an Above Avalon member and receive the following privileges and benefits:
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Dell Renames PC Line, Apple News Expansion Planned, Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries Need Work
Today's Above Avalon Daily email contains the following stories:
Dell Renames PC Line
Apple News Expansion Planned
Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries Need Work
For those of you in the LA area, my hope is that things are going OK as it pertains to the wildfires.
My list of news topics worth covering this week has been created. As usual, we are not going to get to most of the stories. For today, we will start with Dell renaming its PC line. The discussion will then shift over to Apple News, concluding with Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries.
Let's jump right in.
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Member Privileges and Benefits
Become an Above Avalon member and receive the following privileges and benefits:
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Archive Access. Access previous newsletters sent to members.
Member Forum Access. Access all channels in the Above Avalon forum in Discord.
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Above Avalon Support. Play an active role in supporting Above Avalon as an independent voice and resource.
Looking Ahead at Apple in 2025 (A Financial Perspective)
Happy Tuesday. We will continue yesterday’s discussion by looking at Apple’s 2025 from a financial perspective. We will begin to cover some news items tomorrow.
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Looking Ahead at Apple’s 2025
Hello everyone. It feels good to get back into the swing of things. We will kick off the 10th year of this newsletter with a look ahead at Apple in 2025. There are a few things that have been on my mind. The discussion will likely flow into tomorrow’s update as well.
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Apple Year in Review 2024
Turning to today’s update, we will go over my thoughts regarding Apple’s 2024. Our focus won’t be on what Apple should do in 2025 and beyond. We can tackle that topic in the new year.
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Google’s Veo 2 Is a Litmus Test, Blackmagic Debuts Camera for Vision Pro, Apple Sports App Update
We begin today’s update with my thoughts on how Google’s Veo 2 is a litmus test. The discussion then turns to good news on the Apple Immersive Video front. We conclude with a quick look at Apple’s Sports app.
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Thinking Through Headset / AR Glasses Competition and Landscape
Following the Dec 16th update regarding Google/Samsung partnership news, today’s update will be focused on the competitive landscape facing headsets and AR glasses. There are a number of moving parts. Let's jump right in.
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Google “Unveils” Android XR, Samsung “Unveils” First Mixed Reality Headset, Everyone Is Copying Apple
For today’s update, we will discuss Android XR and Samsung’s new Android XR headset. The discussion will roll over into tomorrow’s update as well.
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Apple Releases Second Wave of Apple Intelligence, My Initial Thoughts on Visual Intelligence, Image Playground Beats Expectations
With iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 now out, the second wave of Apple Intelligence features has gone live for the U.S. and localized English for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK.
For many Apple users with supported hardware, this second wave will be the one that truly showcases Apple Intelligence. While Writing Tools and things like notification summaries may have their audiences, this second release phase includes Image Playground, Genmoji, Image Wand, visual intelligence, and ChatGPT integration, among other features.
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Spotify 3Q24 Earnings, Disney 4Q24 Earnings
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Apple Places Retail Bet on Saudi Arabia, Vision Pro Wins Innovation of the Year Award, Vision Pro and Watching “TV”
Today's Above Avalon Daily email contains the following stories:
Apple Places Retail Bet on Saudi Arabia
Vision Pro Wins Innovation of the Year Award
Vision Pro and Watching “TV”
Happy Tuesday. Information regarding Above Avalon Gifts 2024 has been posted to AboveAvalon.com at this page. Thank you to those of you who have already purchased a gift or reached out for more information.
We begin today’s update with news that Apple will bring its direct retail apparatus to Saudi Arabia. The discussion goes over the various implications associated with the move. We then turn to Apple Vision Pro, which Popular Science just named as the innovation of the year. The update concludes with a closer look at how Apple Vision Pro stands to change “TV” watching.
Let's jump into today's update.
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Apple’s Modem Launch Reportedly Nears, Apple vs. Qualcomm, Apple’s Modem Goals
Hello everyone.
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Let's jump into today's update.
Apple’s Modem Launch Reportedly Nears
Over at Bloomberg, here’s Mark Gurman:
“Apple Inc. is preparing to finally bring one of its most ambitious projects to market: a series of cellular modem chips that will replace components from longtime partner — and adversary — Qualcomm Inc.
More than half a decade in the making, Apple’s in-house modem system will debut next spring, according to people familiar with the matter. The technology is slated to be part of the iPhone SE, the company’s entry-level smartphone, which will be updated next year for the first time since 2022.
A modem is a critical piece of any mobile phone, letting the device connect to cell towers in order to make calls and link up with the internet. Apple’s first version of the component will be followed by further generations that become increasingly more advanced. The company aims to ultimately overtake Qualcomm’s technology by 2027, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the project is confidential.”
This was quite the detailed piece from Gurman. Given employee turnover and churn, it’s possible that Gurman was able to cull intel from former employees who worked on the relevant teams.
The basic strategy telegraphed by Gurman is that Apple will follow a multi-year modem rollout that is meant to derisk the shift away from Qualcomm.
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Jeff Bezos Focusing On AI at Amazon, Sundar Pichai Talks Woke Culture
Hello everyone.
Over the past nine and half years of daily updates, we have only talked about an interview that took place at the NYT Dealbook Summit in NYC once – in 2021 when Tim Cook (virtually) spoke. This year, Jeff Bezos and Sundar Pichai sat for interviews with Andrew Ross Sorkin. We will talk about both interviews in greater detail.
When it comes to this conference, personalities (Andrew Ross Sorkin) trump the organization (The New York Times) hosting the event. This plays a big role in explaining why companies that don’t receive fair treatment in news coverage by the NYT still participate in a conference put on by the NYT. My stance would be that Big Tech companies should give both the NYT and their conferences the cold shoulder but that’s me.
Let’s jump in.
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A Deep Dive Into Tim Cook’s “Big” Interview With Steven Levy
Steven Levy, writing for WIRED, is out with a comprehensive interview with Tim Cook. Levy has been covering Apple for decades. He was one of the original iPhone reviewers in 2007. Today’s update will be dedicated to discussing the interview.
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Choose either a monthly or annual membership. Payment is hosted by MoonClerk and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. After signup, use this link to update your payment information and membership status at any time. Contact me with any questions.
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An audio version of the newsletter is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here. Special Inside Orchard bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members. Additional membership customization is available via the Financial Models add-ons.