The year that just ended has been a rollercoaster ride for Apple, with 2015 being one of the biggest for the company in terms of innovation. Apple entered a new device category with the Apple Watch and refreshed almost all of its product lines over the year.
However, there were also times when Apple made the headlines for the wrong reasons, including supply shortages and security vulnerabilities, which takes away from what could have been as close to a perfect year as the company could get.
Here is Apple's year in review.
Win: Record Sales For The iPhone
Apple made a total of $32.2 billion through sales of 48 million units of iPhones in the last quarter of the year, ending 2015 with an exclamation point. The revenue of Apple increased to almost $234 billion in the financial year, which included only two days of sales for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, this is the most successful year ever for the company,and it's hard to argue against that.
Win: Refreshed And Brand New Product Lines
Apple not only released new iPhone models, which the company does every fall, but it also refreshed several product lines in the year. There is the new MacBook with a 12-inch gold model, new iMacs, the iPad Pro, the new iPad mini and the overhauled fourth-generation Apple TV. In addition, Apple finally entered the wearable device category with the Apple Watch.
Win: The New Apple TV
The overhauled Apple TV took three years to be updated, and so it deserves its own section here. The new Apple TV now has its own App Store and a new touchpad remote, which would help it close the gap made by rivals Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast and Roku due to the long time it took for Apple to update the device.
Lose: The Complicated Apple Music
Apple entered the music streaming industry with Apple Music to take on stalwarts such as Spotify and Pandora. There was much fanfare regarding the service as it is a complete music platform that also includes exclusive concert videos and interviews with tons of social content, but right now, Apple Music is still complicated. Complicated not in terms of using the service, but on what it wants to be with multiple personalities and multiple priorities.
Loss: Apple Pencil Shortage
When Apple announced and subsequently released the iPad Pro, one of the biggest draws of the 12.9-inch tablet was the complementary Apple Pencil. The first stylus made for the iPad by Apple allows users to make the most out of the massive tablet, but when the iPad Pro was released, the Apple Pencil was in short supply. Another complementary accessory, the Smart Keyboard, also faced shortages, but a third-party equivalent in the form of the Logitech Create was available. There is nothing like the Apple Pencil for the iPad Pro, and users had to wait weeks before they acquired one.
Win/Loss: The Launch Of The Apple Watch
Apple's entry into the wearable device category was highly anticipated, with the massive demand and sales of the Apple Watch showing its vast potential. However, for its launch, purchases for the Apple Watch was restricted to only online means, and even then, certain models were in back-order for up to weeks. It was not until six months after the official launch of the device when Apple was able to fill in the demand to widen the availability of the Apple Watch to include third-party retail stores.
Loss: Malware Hitting The App Store
The year marks the first time that malware was able to pierce through the App Store's security. Previously, only jailbroken Apple devices had to worry about malware as the approval process on the App Store is very tough.
However, apps that were infected by malware were able to pass through Apple's security protocols through the usage of Xcode, which is the code that developers use to write apps for Apple's platforms. Certain developers in China used the XcodeGhost, an infected Xcode, to write their apps, as downloading that version was faster than downloading the legitimate one. A few weeks later, another malware strain named the YiSpecter was able to penetrate the App Store.
Undecided: Rumors On The Apple Car
There are rumors that Apple is working on its own electric self-driving car, though the company has not confirmed it. Apple has been hiring car experts along with specialists in artificial intelligence and deep learning, which point to the fact that Apple is working on such a project. Rumors continued when Apple was reported to be on the hunt for a facility to secretly test something, which was assumed to be a vehicle, with the company meeting with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to talk about the self-driving vehicle regulations of the state.
