Doom boom: Apple faces ‘decade-long malaise’

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iPhone 7 back
2017 will be the year of peak iPhone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The crowd of Apple doomsayers grew louder today with a new note from analysts at Oppenheimer claiming Apple is projected to go through a long decline for the next ten years.

[contextly_auto_sidebar] Oppenheimer Andrew Uerkwitz and his team wrote a brutal note about Apple, calling out the company’s “strategic issues” that hold it back from truly innovating.

“We believe Apple lacks the courage to lead the next generation of innovation (AI, cloud-based services, messaging); instead will become more reliant than ever on the iPhone,” Uerkwitz writes in the note obtained by Business Insider. “We believe Apple is about to embark on a decade-long malaise. The risks to the company have never been greater.”

Doom and Gloom

Oppenheimer isn’t the first investment firm to criticize Apple’s strategy. A few days ago UBS analyst Steve Milunovich told BI that his firm doesn’t think Apple has figured out what the next big thing will be.

Apple reported declining annual revenues this year for the first time since 2001. The company may grow a bit in 2017 thanks to pent up demand for the tenth-anniversary iPhone. After that though, analysts are predicting iPhone sales will peak in 2018.

“The company lacks the ability to raise prices across its iPhones, iPads and Mac products,” which hurts its growth, according to Oppenheimer. The firm also predicts Apple’s role as a hardware creator first, and software provider second, could lead to more struggles.

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