Apple, recognised around the world as a behemoth in the tech industry, has consistently reported sales growth for the past 13 years. That changed recently, when a decline in sales figures was recorded for the first time since 2003.
This was a drop of 13%, and the company’s share price also dropped by 8% on 26 April 2016. All of this has led to some serious speculation that Apple’s golden era might be drawing to a close. While the final verdict on this remains to be seen, issues that users have with Apple are becoming more and more apparent.
Even physically buying Apple products can be very annoying to some people. The sales assistants can be inattentive or condescending, and the absence of till points can add time and irritation to the purchasing task.
Apple is constantly rolling out new software with minute changes, with great fanfare. This creates a lot of obsolete products, which many users find as frustrating as the constant reminders to activate the frequent software upgrades.
All software upgrades are annoying, but users find the iTunes revamps especially so. The re-launches are always quite different, and interacting with the interface has to be learnt anew every time.
Amongst all of the major iPad, iPhone and Mac unveilings, products that promise great new innovations and experiences are also rolled out. Unfortunately, as is clearly seen in the cases of the Apple Watch and Apple TV, these are often not fulfilled.
The absence of USB ports from the iPad and the fact that pictures can’t be easily attached over different devices and platforms are just two examples of the issues that arise when users attempt to access their media.
The biggest problem with the fingerprint scanner that unlocks the phone is that it simply doesn’t work as well as it should. After a user has had wet hands, for instance, there is a 20-minute waiting period before the scanner will be able to identify their fingerprints again and unlock the device.
Different passwords are required for different devices and functions, and it can get quite difficult to manage and remember them all.
For many people in the world today, even the cheapest iPhone is completely out of reach. The massive profits that do nothing but line Apple’s pockets even further, and the inequality of access to the products, seem at odds with the original ethos of the company.
Anyone who took an iPhone 6 to an unauthorised outlet for repairs saw this message, before their device was completely shut down. The company only backed down under threat of a lawsuit, all of which left a bitter taste in many customers’ mouths.
Another reason that users resent iTunes is that it completely controls the marketing and access of music today.
It is still true that Apple’s products are very high quality, and allow users all over the world to access online casinos, social media platforms and so much more. Whether this downward trend continues, and what Apple will do if it does, should be very interesting to watch.
