Google famously discontinued Google Reader despite it having tens of millions of users because it represented a minuscule contribution to their bottom line.
Apple isn't a software company, it's a phone company. Everything that isn't an iPhone represents a minuscule contribution to their bottom line. Apple doesn't give a shit about pro users, even if it's profitable, because they're too big to care.
I was questioning your “Apple’s a phone company” claim, figuring services long ago surpassed iPhone sales, but in fact, services sits at about 30% of their revenue and the iPhone sits at about 55%, which is roughly 5% growth from last year!
Services may be at 30% but their profit margin for them is >70%, more than double of what they have for hardware.
I think they were conceding the point :>
They’ve lost many plots.
Musicians, developers, and even photographers.
Apple’s playbook seems to have changed to:
- Hook a demographic with functionality that’s anywhere from just good enough to excellent
- Railroad them in to using as many first-part services as possible (especially if that means getting them to buy more Apple devices)
- Slowly lock them down so it’s harder and harder to move to competitors (aka boil the frog)
- Move staff from those first party products as the users are trapped and it’s no longer necessary for the quality to be excellent