CrowdWisers™--- the subscriber area has no ads and those above are not selected or endorsed by this site ---
INVN outlook from Apple event ?2
15:18 07-Sep-16
The Apple event is wrapping up with the usual spectacle. For any remaining INVN shareholders, here are the important points:
- iPhone 7: uses OIS, presumably from InvenSense. Better
battery life also offers hope that the company has finally
gotten past the dual-gyro
kludge. We'll know after Sept. 16 when the device becomes
available.
- Series 2 Watch: we'll have to wait and see if
InvenSense gets a win for this last hold out. Any statements
about battery life were glaringly absent. A photo of the
backside seemed to show two PPG heart monitors which would be
consistent with the patent I'd mentioned earlier rather than the
InvenSense approach. Availability was fuzzy, though a Nike
version will be available in late October.
- Airpods: these are wireless ear buds, also available in
late October, which include accelerometers and microphones. The
professed battery lifetime is only 5 hours.
My overall take is that the announcements were neutral to
slightly negative for InvenSense. Emphasis seems to be continuing
a gradual shift from hardware to services and software. Where
hardware is highlighted, Apple is doing more and more on its own,
and not very well. From a pure sales cycle perspective, some
commentators were disappointed with the current battery life of
the Watch and the lack of improvement there. Whether customers
will want more devices to charge is highly questionable.