00:00Why is it so significant that the timing would change?
00:04So I think both consumers like us and also, frankly, Apple's competitors have gotten used to Apple releasing new iPhones every year like clockwork in the fall.
00:14And that has certain ramifications.
00:16One, I think consumers, savvy consumers, that's many of us, know not to necessarily replace an iPhone if they don't have to in the months preceding what they assume will be the launch.
00:26And Apple's competitors have moved up the launches of their flagship phones, often to over the summer, sort of getting a jump on Apple.
00:35So this would be a big change for the company if it does indeed turn to a strategy where it releases new products throughout the year,
00:41as opposed to concentrating these really powerhouse launches in one particular season.
00:48Season often towards the holiday season, but now they're trying to drip feed a little bit more, Dana.
00:52Now, what's interesting is that we are expecting some really seismic changes to the actual phone itself.
00:59Yes, absolutely.
01:01And this comes on the heels of Apple introducing the iPhone Air, which Mark Gurman said in his newsletter really feels like a test case for something even more ambitious,
01:08which would be Apple's upcoming foldable phone.
01:11And that would be just the first of several new changes to Apple's iPhone line.
01:17And really just coming as part of a larger, what seems like a larger spate of product launches.
01:25I think consumers, to some extent, have gotten used to long lulls between Apple's product launches.
01:30And I think the launches now are going to be more frequent and just more numerous.
01:34It does seem like Apple's in a period of launching more stuff, in some cases more ambitious products than perhaps consumers have come to expect.
01:43But there must have been economies of scale to a certain extent of having one big event with all the marketing prowess around it
01:50and everyone to go and digest rather than this constant drip feed.
01:53Was that why initially it all came one big particular wow moment?
01:58I think that is certainly part of it.
02:02And I think the holiday timing is no coincidence.
02:06As Mark wrote in his newsletter, there were certain downsides, of course, as well to this strategy.
02:11It sounds like it put some strain on various teams inside Apple, from marketing to engineering and also concentrated revenue in a certain part of the year,
02:21which is not ideal for the company.
02:22And it sounds like this new strategy is intended to address a number of those pain points.
02:27And I didn't even mention the impact that those kind of concentrated launches might have on some of Apple's suppliers.
02:34But Mark did mention that as well in this weekend's newsletter.
02:37OK. And so more broadly, who do you think the competition is that they've had to really align themselves?
02:42I just think of this season that's just gone almost to front run Apple.
02:46We had Google with its announcements just weeks before.
02:49Samsung often tries to do it.
02:50Is that really where some of the competitive spaces come from?
02:54Yes. And certainly I have a very U.S.-centric point of view.
02:57So here in the U.S., those would be Apple's biggest competitors on the smartphone front.
03:01And then there's a whole crop of other competitors in China, which is a huge critical market for Apple.
03:09And that's a market where Apple has, you know, sort of plateaued a bit and has seen rising competition from domestic players.
03:17So it does have a lot of competition in different regions and on different fronts and at different price points, I would add.
03:23Not all of its competition is at the premium end.
03:26There are a whole bunch of brands, especially in Asia, that are making devices that are quite aggressively priced.
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