Hacker News Reader

I really do wish they'd go touchscreen. Several times per week, I try to touch my work MBP's screen because I'm so used to my surface that I use at home.

View on HN

I don’t think Apple will ever release a 2-in-1. Why? It’ll cannibalize their own product lines, the MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. Microsoft doesn’t really have that issue, and hence can make that product.

Honestly, there’s an opportunity here for some companies like Microsoft and Google to catch up in terms of innovation by designing products that Apple would never.

Apple has never been shy to cannibalize their own sales, in fact it's straight out of the Steve Jobs playbook (“If you don’t cannibalize yourself, someone else will”). I'd challenge you to find a company better at it than they are.

Examples include:

iPod mini cannibalizing iPod

iPhone cannibalizing all iPods

iPad cannibalizing Macs

iPad (2017) cannibalizing iPad Pro

iPhone XR cannibalizing iPhone XS

They're even organized to support product cannibalization, being functionally organized instead of divisionally. If they had an 'iPod division', that division would fight tooth & nail against the 'iPhone division' to keep their P&L running.

They're not doing a 2-in-1 because it's not a product they feel makes sense right now. That's all.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com