Apple is finally paying for its hubris

It's hard not to get the sense that Apple is Icarus, and the wax holding its wings together is starting to melt

The Apple logo rolling down a mountain.
(Image credit: Illustrated | FORGEM/iStock, Wikimedia Commons)

Color me surprised. Just a few months ago, Apple announced its new phones, iPhone XR, along with the XS and XS Max — and I thought they had hit it out of the park. At the high end, the XS and XS Max continued the push toward bigger, more powerful phones, while the XR featured most of the benefits of its more expensive brethren at a more reasonable price. With Apple covering a broad swath of the market, I predicted a huge holiday quarter.

It seems I was mistaken. Though it's still too early to tell how bad things are, a pall now hovers over Apple as reports of cut production targets and weaker sales have sent the stock plummeting 25 percent. Goldman Sachs has downgraded the stock twice on worries Apple's lineup is too expensive, too familiar, and just not appealing enough. Suddenly, it seems the sheen has come off the world's most valuable company.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Navneet Alang

Navneet Alang is a technology and culture writer based out of Toronto. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, New Republic, Globe and Mail, and Hazlitt.