Tech This Week: Why did the Apple Fall?

INDIA: It was once-in-13-years news but yes, iPhone sales showed a slump – something that was instrumental in contributing to a 13 per cent revenue decline for Apple. Whether it is due to exchange-rate woes, global economic variables, better/longer phone lifecycles, or smartphone-market saturation as a whole; this one is not something that the smart-phone market czar can auto-correct very soon but it still managed to create excitement for iPhone SE, the affordable sibling and the next flagship phone, about to pop soon.

Also, FBI did not/could not/would not pop the hacking recipe for Apple; as to what this week re-inforced pretty well. Friendly vibes can go on in other parts of the industry all the same. Google and Fiat Chrysler are shaking hands vigorously for self-driving cars. Whose competency and what outcomes, will unfold in some time hopefully.

As to Cloud, Google is joining Microsoft in giving away more lollypops (of course, with a fine-print to ‘use me more after trial’ attached). The latter is doling out free-support incentives for Azure Services; the former would be doing it for Google Apps with an effort to wean away customers of other vendors’ EA packages.

And Amazon is busy inking Cloud as the star as its quarterly report card (a quarter with a profit for Amazon is still big news but a fourth one consistently is whoa!) proves again. But profit margins going ahead may take a dent due to expected investments in infrastructure, sprawling logistics systems, service-costs ramp-down and other technology areas. Not surprising, seeing how the company has kept up investing on the tracks of one-hour delivery services, voice-activated personal assistants etc.

The tack of positive quarterly results was mirrored in Facebook too, amplifying the good impetus of mobile and video advertising played rightly. A class of non-voting shares and ways of keeping Zuckerberg’s control on the company irrespective of share-holding; is in the works as well.

As to shareholding, let’s come back to Apple. The week also marked billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn selling his stake in Apple, reminding the industry of the influence and potential impact that the China play can have on Apple.

The apple cart might be shaken in more ways than one can see now. But falling apples - when has that always been a bad thing?