Asymco

Asymmetric Intelligence

Horace Dediu

  3. Tim Cook: Apple just had best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers

    Nota Bene

    And it's not even Christmas

    Apple's CEO Tim Cook today said the Mac just had its "best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers," which suggests that the new MacBook Neo has been a hit with customers buying their first laptops or switching from Windows.


    Apple released the MacBook Neo last Wednesday, March 11. In the ...

    Source: MacRumors

    NB: See my recent note on the history of the Mac. We need to wait to hear if the language of "half of customers new to the Mac" changes. The churn has just begun. It reminds one of the Mac v. PC ad campaign.

  4. Apple, Samsung Dominate 2025 List of Highest-shipping Models Across Regions

    Nota Bene · 1 comment

    Apple led in markets where premium leads

    Apple led in NAM, Europe and Asia-Pacific, while Samsung led in LATAM and MEA.Premium models led in NAM, Europe and APAC, while entry- to mid-tier models led in LATAM and MEA.

    In NAM, Apple’s iPhone 16 5G led the market. Samsung’s Galaxy A16 5G was the only Android device to feature in the top five, driven by volumes in the prepaid segment.

    Within APAC, Apple secured all the top five positions. All top five models in LATAM and MEA were 4G smartphones.

    Apple and Samsung dominated the list of highest-shipping models globally in 2025, with the two brands capturing the top two spots across major markets, according to Counterpoint Research’s Market Monitor Monthly Shipment Tracker, 2025.

    However, regional variations did exist with premium models leading in North America (NAM), Europe, and Asia-Pacific (APAC), while entry- to mid-tier models led in Latin America (LATAM) and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).Top Five Highest-shipping Models by Region, 2025Source: Market Monitor Monthly Shipment Tracker, 2025

    Source: Counterpoint

    NB: Apple led the markets where premium was normative. This suggests that Apple still has opportunities in Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Stay tuned for an in-depth analysis of this at a country level.

  7. Apple lost more than 20,000 talented staff in 2025

    Research · 2 comments

    Executive exodus explicated

    In December, the company lost AI chief John Giannandrea, its top lawyer and a key design executive in a single week. Other recent headlines: "Apple faces unprecedented executive exodus", "Apple rocked by executive departures, with chip chief at risk of leaving next." "Apple home devices executive leaves for Finland's Oura" "Lisa Jackson is set to retire late January 2026, while Kate Adams will retire in late 2026".

    That's just the names we hear about. They represent senior executives. But the harsh truth is that Apple lost tens of thousands of talented developers, marketers and mangers last year and this year the numbers will be even higher. Is this indicative of an existential crisis in Cupertino which Tim Cook can't contain? Tim's head alone should be the first to roll to reverse this crisis in headcount.

    Alas, math rears its ugly head.

    Apple has over 166,000 employees including retail staff. According to one measure, Apple sees 58% of its staff turn over each year, having an average tenure of only 1.7 years, the worst in the tech world. That would imply 96,000 employees leave each year.

    That seemed excessive to me and I assumed retail skews the total significantly. Retail, according to comments on Reddit, sees a few months of work per employee. So what is the turnover for its more "permanent" talent?

    Let's assume that Apple can hold on to people as well as Alphabet/Google. We don't hear about the crisis of retention at Google. Their average tenure is 3.7 years, implying 27% would quit each year and indicate 49,000 Googlers leaving each year.

    That rate applying to Apple would imply 45,000 Apple employees leaving each year. Having twice the tenure of Google would still mean 20,000 Apple employees quit each year.

    A headline that screamed that between 20,000 and 30,000 Apple employees [quit, flee, abandon, escape] Apple each year would be perfectly reasonable and suggest a strong degree of loyalty. Moreover, next year the number will be higher because next year there will be more employees.

    Of those tens of thousands, surely a few are senior managers. In fact, surveys show that 60% of executives plan to change roles in 3 years. The fact that we only hear of a handful of departures each year implies that Apple is far better at retention than average.

    Nevertheless, the exodus continues.

    Read more:

    https://asymco.com/2026/03/17/tim-cook-squashes-retirement-rumors-says-he-cant-imagine-life-without-apple/

    https://asymco.com/2026/03/12/how-many-employees-does-apple-have-what-do-they-do/