MEDIA and
TECHNOLOGY
Has Apple
lost its Mojo?
Apple’s
recent annual showcase of new products in early September – in advance of the
college school year and Christmas sales -- has received its usual excess of publicity
in the days leading up to the event, the day of the event - led by Apple’s Tom Cook and singer Bono -- and
the day thereafter.
Unfortunately
for Apple, most of the post-event news has been bad, bad and more bad.
Apple
announced, as expected,:
1. the next
generation iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus,
2. a smart watch
3. and a new
app that allows instant payment using NFC technology thereby eliminating the
need for and delay of credit cards or cash.
Immediately
after the launch, the general media and many stock market experts praised the
‘new releases’ and ‘breakthroughs’ and advised people to buy, buy, buy Apple’s
over-inflated stock.
iPhone 6 series
Yes, the
iPhone 6 series has many improvements, as has every new iPhone in history as
with all other manufacturers. The biggest and most important change and improvement
was the introduction of two choices of much larger screens at 4.7 and 5.5 inches
and , a major break from Steve Job’s the one-size fits all mindset.
While the
bigger screens has already led to record pre-order sales and people from Australia
onward have lined up for hours to get the new phones, anyone outside Apple
loyalists and ‘groupies’ knows full well that the iPhone 6s are merely ‘catching
up’ to Samsung and a host of other Android cell phone manufacturers who already
have been offering the other upgrades and larger screens for up to 3 years now!!! The screen of a Coolpad 9976A is 7 inches, Samsung
Galaxy Mega is 6.3 inches, ZTE Boost 5.7 inches and Samsung’s new Note 4, still at 5.7 inches is already considered
superior to the iPhone Plus in various ways. (See comparative data from http://smartphones.findthebest.com/app-question/10/Which-smartphone-has-the-largest-screen-size
and Wikipedia, “galaxy Note”.)
Put simply,
Apple is not leading this ‘revolution’ but trying to stay in the game,
in a category that already has a name, “phablets”, and
which is the hottest segment of the cell phone market especially in Asia and
China where big size screens rule! The Samsung Galaxy Note series, first
released in the fall of 2011, has already sold over 50,000,000 units
worldwide!!!
As well, the
new complaints about the iPhone 6 Plus: that it is too long to fit into a pocket
or backpack and BENDS – already tagged as “bendgate” - has already been solved
by LG Flex with its CURVED smart phone which Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus
copies in overall size and screen. The LG
Flex is great for back jean pockets even when sat on. My friend, who at
6”6” tall and some 275 lbs, has had no problems or butt pain since using his LG
for months now.
Meanwhile, Samsung has introduced the Round with a
curved horizontal screen which solves 3 key nuisances: it virtually
eliminates reflection of your own face and the lighting behind you, blocks
ambient light from the sides, and thereby allows for a sharper, more readable
screen using less battery power. The
screen is also flexible and this too has benefits as outlined by http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_Round_ShootOut_1.htm.
So, put simply, even the oversized and novel Apple’s iPhone 6
plus is neither leading edge nor the best design on the market. LG and Samsung are way ahead.
Apple
smart watch
As for the Apple smart watch, this too is a late comer
to a market segment with Samsung and Sony and LG and Motorola and of course
Pebble and others already having the same product out for at least 6 months to
3 years!!! (See the comparison at http://smartwatches.findthebest.com/)
And two days
after the launch Apple announced its smart watch is still not ready for sale
due to “technical considerations”, and will only be released “sometime in
2015”!!!
When the key
feature hyped is the fact the wrist strap comes in 3 colours and an 18 carat
gold version, it says it all: only the glitzy
bling factor and snob appeal differentiate this new smart watch from
the rest of the already extensive pack.
So much for Apple innovation and leadership – again.
Apple Pay
Finally,
while trying to pitch its new instant purchase app in hope of mimicking iTunes
great success, Apple is overly optimistic if not delusional and again distorts
what is reality already happened in this area.
NFC
technology, which allows a smart phone to face a vending machine or counter pay
terminal and complete an instant ‘sale’, is OLD NEWS and has been used
widely in Japan for some two decades!!!
As mentioned in my earlier blog, Blackberry, Samsung and many other
manufacturers have had NFC capable smart phones for the longest time.
Put simply,
we in North America are at the tail end of the technological innovation (retail)
market – which begins with Japan, then the rest of Asia, then Europe and
finally the U.S.A. and Canada!!!
For Apple to
laud itself for entering the NFC race years after many other cell phone manufacturers
is pathetic and a sad joke!!
The fact
that this ‘new product’ will not be offered immediately in Canada is truly
embarrassing and may offend loyal Apple-philes in the True North, but there is
really no need for Apple Pay.
Firstly,
Canada already has NFC service available from our major banks who have already
created their own apps for this:
CIBC, TD, Royal Bank, Bank of Montreal, Scotia Bank and others. As they control the Visa and MasterCard
business in Canada, instant purchases using NFC with be available everywhere
once you simply:
a. buy and install to your android smart
phone a NFC SIM card purchased from Bell, Rogers, TELUS or other
network provider
b. download your bank’s free app
c. find a vending machine or payment machine upgraded
to NFC
So why need
an Apple Pay app? Who knows? The boat has already left on this one. Apple is delusional if it thinks the banks and
credit card companies and Coscos and Macys and gas station companies will pay
it a commission to ‘middle man’ what they can do themselves with a simple app
which they themselves control.
Non-Apple phones that already are available with
NFC capability are Blachberry 9000, Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, S5. Samsung Galaxy
Note 2, Note 3, Galaxy S4 Mini and HTC One. (TD website list.)
Mojo lost
So, to all
the loyal and faithful Apple product buyers, let me conclude: Apple makes good products and often they look
cooler than the competition, but as for innovation and leadership re: technology,
Apple is no longer heads and shoulders above the rest – if this ever was the
case.
Today, it is
simply ‘faking it’ and using hype and bluster and self-serving accolades to
cover up the simple fact that re: innovation, it has lost its mojo. It is hoping against hope that its fans and
the general media and the stock market do not notice that this emperor no
longer rules!
P.S. Other problems:
Late
September -- iOS8 update -- which was released with the iPhone 6 series -- has
had to be withdrawn as it was found to have connectivity glitches and rapid
battery draining.
October 7,
2014 – Collateral damage -- thanks to Apple -- is its joint partner, GT Advanced
Technologies Inc. which has had to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It had begun
building an Arizona plant to build sapphire screens for the new iPhone 6 and
other Apple products but Apple has decided not to use sapphire glass across its
iPhones and other devices.
Apple, as
joint partner, lost a bundle but will not miss a billion dollars here or
there. Not so for its trusting partner! (Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2014
story.)
October 17 –
New and improved iPad Air 2 is not
expected by analysts to save the day as Apple iPad sales are slowing down and
competitors are expanding their market share as they offer the same or ‘more’
for less cost. (G&M, B3)
More
importantly, the tablet market is reaching saturation—just as the PC desktop
market before it -- as too many
people already have one or more tablets. And, simultaneously, the niche market is
being made redundant as smart phones become bigger and bigger.
Put simply, Samsung, LG and even now Apple are
cannibalizing their tablet lines with their larger smart phones.
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