CultCast #261 - Apple’s next big thing?

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This week: why Apple is done chasing big hit products.  Plus: the demise of Pebble Watch is a bad omen for wearables; Foxconn secretly prepares to make more Apple products in the US; and we remember our favorite movies of 2016!

This episode supported by
 
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We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.

On the show this week

@erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney

 

Apple stops swinging for the fences
http://www.cultofmac.com/456698/apple-stops-swinging-fences/#more-456698
  • Apple analyst Horrace Dediu says Apple’s cultural identity is undergoing a dramatic shift
  • Instead of being in the “new hit product business”, Dediu told said that Apple is trying to become a “services and recurring-revenue business.”
  • Dediu argues that constantly trying for home runs has been demoralizing for employees, so Apple CEO Tim Cook move away from that attitude.
  • Will Apple ever have another “iPhone”?

Apple Says 35% of U.S. Merchants Accept Apple Pay
  • Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey has announced that 35% of U.S. merchants now accept Apple Pay.
  • Bailey says the new EMV chip cards are annoying customers and have helped drive adoption.
  • New chip cards are the worst!!

 

Fitbit Buyout Will See Pebble's Time 2 and Core Wearables Canceled, Refunds Issued
Bloomberg has report that Fitbit is buying out Pebble
  • The buyout will cost "less than $40 million" and is only for Pebble's software assets, which Fitbit wants "in a bid to better compete with Apple”
  • Pebble watch hardware is dead, with support ending sometime in the future.
  • All pending orders will be canceled and refunded.
  • I’m still not convinced smart watches will be around in 5 years.
  • Tim Cook has just announced that Apple Watch sales are “off the charts,” but Sales of Apple Watch are down more than 70 percent, according to IDC Research.

iPhone Assembler Foxconn in Early Talks to Expand U.S. Operations
  • According to Reuters, Apple manufacturer Foxconn is in the beginning stages of building a collection of assembly plants within the United States
  • CNBC has alleged that Foxconn will be investing $7 billion into its U.S. expansion and aiming for the creation of 50,000 jobs
  • After being outed by CNBC, Foxconn simply has states that more details will come after its finished talks with "the relevant U.S. officials”
  • In a call made to Trump by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Trump mentioned told Tim that one of his goals would is be to "get Apple to build a big plant in the United States” 
  • Foxconn does have manufacturing facilities on a very small scale in the U.S., in Virginia and Indiana, along with logistic locations in California and Texas
  • Will Apple every had major manufacturing back in the US?

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