On September 11th, Faraday Future founder Jia Yueting posted on Weibo, discussing the "founder model" and "professional manager model" from Apple's autumn launch event.
Jia Yueting said that after watching yesterday morning's Apple autumn press conference, many friends may feel the same. Apple, which has lost its founder, is becoming more and more like a giant without a soul. Although it is still on the altar, no one can deny that Apple is becoming mediocre. Everyone felt that yesterday's press conference was just a lonely experience.
The theme of 'Think different', which once made Apple great, gradually became a slogan with the death of Steve Jobs. Apple, which had been away from Jobs for a long time, failed to bring breakthrough innovation. Progressive or extension line innovation made Apple and other companies increasingly homogeneous.
This is a classic case of the recent heated debate between the "founder model" and the "professional manager model" in Silicon Valley.
Jia Yueting's Weibo video screenshot
Jia Yueting believes that the difference in thinking between professional managers and founders is whether to pursue current performance or long-term corporate value. Professional managers are often realistic and lack the spirit of adventure. Both their thinking and actions are constrained and influenced by various short-term factors, and they tend to lean towards stable business strategies.
Great enterprises cannot only pursue short-term market success. Focusing on long-term value creation and continuous change is the DNA engraved in the founder's bones and the most core driving force for enterprise development. Founders often have firm beliefs and are willing to take risks. They are resilient and brave when facing challenges or even dire situations.
Technology companies need to seek a dynamic balance between disruptive innovation and stable development. The disruptive innovation of founders means adventure, challenge, and uncertainty; The mission of a professional manager is to turn the uncertainty of disruptive innovation into certainty and prepare for the founder's next disruptive innovation.
It is worth noting that Luo Yonghao also commented on the Apple press conference on September 10th.
Luo Yonghao called the Apple press conference zero innovation. Previously, when the leaked picture of iPhone 16 was exposed, Luo Yonghao complained in the live broadcast room that the iPhone has no innovation in recent years except for the placement of the camera, which is constantly changing.
At 1am Beijing time on September 10th, Apple held a special event with the theme of "Highlight Moment" and launched the latest generation iPhone 16.
The new phone has improved in performance and camera function, equipped with the latest A18 chip, optimized for running AI large-scale generative models. The significant change in appearance is that the new generation iPhone 16 is equipped with a camera button for taking photos and controlling camera functions.
According to the official website of Apple China, the pricing of the four new phones is exactly the same as that of the iPhone 15 series, ranging from 5999 yuan to a maximum of 13999 yuan. We will start booking this Friday and ship next Friday.
It is worth mentioning that the support for English language in "Apple AI" will be launched in October, and Chinese support will be launched next year.
IDC Research Director Nabila Popal believes that although there are many highlights of Apple's launch of smartphones that include Apple smartphones this year, the lack of complete language support for Apple smartphones makes it difficult for new products to bring much growth, and their impact is more to prevent Apple's decline.
IDC analyst Ryan Reith also holds the same opinion. Consumers will pay attention to Apple Intelligence, but today with GPT and various other solutions, consumers can use AI on their current (other) devices, so it is difficult for Apple Intelligence to directly drive new consumer purchases. At the same time, he also pointed out that without promotion and significant discounts, the development of the AI smartphone market is still very challenging.
There is also an optimistic attitude towards organic structures. Jibang Consulting predicts that the market's expectations for Apple's smart products have increased, and with a lower base period in 2023, it is estimated that the total output of the four new iPhone 16 series will reach 86.7 million units in the second half of 2024, an annual increase of nearly 8%. It is not ruled out that Apple may have the opportunity to surpass Samsung by the end of the year and become the top smartphone manufacturer in terms of market share for the first time.
