There's a new concept for you: the phablet. I came across it here.
I wonder if it's phabulous? (Sorry. I couldn't resist. :-D )
The phablet, otherwise known as a "big screen phone". Smaller than an iPad Mini, but larger than a phone. I guess about the size of some of those Android-phones I saw the other day. Definitely a bigger screen than the iPhone.
The question isn't, as the article alleges, if Apple is "losing the screen-size war". It's if Apple cares.
The iPhone has never been about ultimate screen size or memory or what-have-you. The technical specs aren't con because they generally don't matter. Where Apple wins is in user experience. It has a coherent, pleasurable user-experience. Oh I have no doubt Apple will think about responding - it's not like they don't have the technical prowess - but I'd be concerned about such a silly sideshow becoming the main attraction. That would be meaningless for everyone. I think other companies should pay attention to the one technical spec Apple does broadcast: the screen resolution. They might want to take note of how Apple has the supplier market for very high resolution screens pretty much locked up. (To the point where they can affect national industrial policies.)
For those who are thinking about getting Apple to lose this or that war - you first have to get Apple to notice you. And then agree that your competitive advantage is worth their time countering. Now, there is the whole "death by a thousand cuts" thing, but when those cuts are meandering and delivered randomly, they become quite meaningless. Apple has a strategy that other phone makers, including Google, respond to. Can Apple ignore what's going on in the cellphone market? No. But they have the luxury of being able to pick and choose how they respond. That's a pretty powerful marketing strategy in and of itself!
Samsung is doing a good job of taking on Apple. They're definitely leveling the playing field with them, and confronting them on some key technology pieces. Eventually the two behemoths will arrive at some compromise, stop suing the heck out of each other and start actually trying to out-innovate each other. (What we've seen so far is the flirting. We haven't even got to the doorway kiss.)
As for the question "is Apple losing the screen size war"? I'm not convinced it matters as much as the other phone makers want it to.
Carolyn Ann
I'll go with some of that.
ReplyDeleteI hope Apple doesn't go for the big screen. The fact that the phones do not have a 5" screen is about the only redeeming feature they have at the moment.
PPI - you know, the tech spec that they *screamed* about and for good reason with the retina screen. Well they lost about 12 months ago, and are not going to get it back any time soon.
The rest of the tech specs of the iPhone are decidedly generations old - but the crippled OS does mean that it's not generally noticeable. And yes, it is crippled in order to hide the short comings of the hardware. But for your average user it's probably not going to matter too much. Only to power users - so I can forgive them that too.
I do really hope that Apple and Samsung get back to innovation. the iPhone 3G was the best phone on the market because they made an OS that, whilst crippled, worked smoothly and easily. That's why I spent my hard earned money on one.
But that was 2007 and they are still stuck there.
Samsung... Well... They also give incremental upgrades more than anything else.
The two most innovative phones at the moment are, I think, the Sony Xperia Z (seriously, mega phone, 1080p screen and almost Panasonic Toughbook in the way it's been made). I want!
The other is the new HTC One. It's not plastic as Android phones can be, it has speakers pointing the right way (the *only* phone I have seen that does that) so that the person holding the phone has sound directed at them, rather than to the people standing behind the phone (old HTC, Sony, Samsung) or to the floor (Apple). And also 1080p (that's what I meant about pixel density. My phone beats the Apple hands down, but even that is nothing like the latest handsets.
The downside of both... 5" and 4.7" respectively. And that is too big.
But, yes it does matter. Lots of non-hard core, die hard fans are starting to notice. I know too many people who have switched to Windows 8 (because it does the job just as well as the Apple and costs half the amount to buy) or from iPhones to HTC / Samsung (not so much Sony...) Features (people I know) and not wanting to own your parents phone (anecdotes I have heard) were causes until recently. I now hear too many people complaining about those wonderful screens...
It is not hurting Apple yet - they are still selling enough phones to carry on making a (rather large) profit. They would be foolish to ignore it though - and I think the fact that they are is maybe one of the reasons why the company has lost 33% of it's market capitol in 6 months...
Stace
I don't think they will go for the big screen, Stace. It's too reminiscent of the whole "netbook" thing from a few years back - a flash in the pan. A compromise that seems appealing but isn't once it's implemented. My wife's phone is about the limit for a large screen and a decent size for a phone; I keep forgetting what it is, but it has a very nice screen.
DeleteAre Windows phones selling in Europe? They're barely moving in the US, from what I've heard. They're generally reckoned to be a bit of a commercial disaster.
If I were to guess, I'd say that Apple is starting to redefine the market. There are some indicators it's trying to do a "luxury/standard" grading - with Apple as being the luxurious one. They do have the luxury product - it's priced and marketed as such. So I'm not so sure they're concerned about losing so much of the marketshare; they can afford to because they're not actually in the business of selling "just" phones - they make more money from iTunes and the App Store. It's a bit like thinking that Chevrolet and Ford are car companies. They make cars, but they're actually financial firms - both make much more money arranging financial products around their physical products. Apple is in a similar position - it makes more money from the App Store and iTunes than it does elsewhere. And then there's the $130B in cash that David Einhorn is trying to pry loose...