Exploding Note 7 did not help Apple

Analyst angers the Tame Apple Press

NPD analyst Stephen Baker is off the Christmas Card list of the members of the Tame Apple Press which are furious that he made a comment saying that Apple had failed to capitalise on Samsung’s exploding Note 7.

Baker dared to say that Android users were committed, and exploding batteries in the Galaxy Note 7 were not enough to push significant numbers of customers over to the iPhone.

“Most of those who bought or wanted to buy a Note 7 opted for a different high-end Galaxy phone,” Baker said.

Apple Insider , without any sign of any self-awareness which characterises those who believe Apple products are any good, claimed that this loyalty was a terrible thing.

Under the headline “Love is blind” Apple Insider thundered how terrible it was that Samsung users continued to remain loyal to a brand which issues such a “dangerous” phone. Apple Insider failed to see the irony of the statement which leads to it advising its readers to buy the iPhone 7 which was arguably the worst high-end phone of 2016 and certainly the worst iPhone ever just because it has an Apple logo on the back.

After all Apple Insider failed to suggest that the iPhone 7 sales should be low because the iPhone 6 was suffering battery problems. It would be silly for people to be loyal to a company which creates a phone that switches off after only a year of service.

To be fair, Apple Insider was having a bad week. Mobile analytics firm Flurry published data from the holiday season which showed that Apple had lost ground to Samsung. If you are totally loyal to a brand this is a big problem and it did its best to spin the news claiming that Apple saw twice as many device activations as rival Samsung.

“Despite Apple’s continued commanding lead in holiday sales of smartphones and tablets, however, the numbers suggested Apple’s share was lower and Samsung’s was slightly higher from last year,” moaned Apple Insider unable to explain how that worked.

Instead it claimed that “Despite activation estimates from Flurry, or speculation from NPD” the actual effect of the exploding Note 7 on Apple’s bottom line won’t be fully understood until Apple reports its December quarter results.

“It’s expected to be a record setting quarter for Apple.”

We wish we had that optimism. Apple orders showed much less iPhone 7 numbers this year so it will be difficult to break any records.