Has Apple lost the plot with the iPhone 6?

Back in 2010, the late Steve Job’s, Apple’s founder, famously said “No one’s going to buy a big phone!” Four years later, the current CEO Tim Cook, has proudly unveiled Apple’s latest flagship product, the iPhone 6, in 2 screen sizes, the new standard 4.7” and the whopping 5.5” Plus model, both considerably larger than the Jobs inspired iPhone 5.

Was this the common sense Apple applied when designing iPhone 6 without Steve Jobs?

In 2012, when Apple delivered Steve Jobs’ legacy in the form of ‘the best iPhone ever’, the video ad at the time proclaimed the “dazzling display of common sense” of being able to reach all 4 corners of the screen with your thumb, whilst holding the phone in one hand. It was beautifully simple, elegant and just plain common sence.

Back then, Apple were the design innovators that others would imitate, today, however, the rolls have reversed. There seems little reason for Apple to abandon the ethos of their visionary leader and produce a larger phone, other than to try and emulate the success of the large screen Android phones that dominate the smartphone markets outside of America and Europe.

However, Apple have missed the point. Android phones don’t dominate just because they are large, it’s because they are a cheaper and (possibly) better alternative! The iPhone 6 starts at $649 (P29,000, without a contract) and top of the range is an eye watering $949 (P42,000). That’s an almost impossible sum for the majority of the World’s population to afford. By contrast Google’s Android One, which launched in India recently, is just $105 (P4,700), and carrier subsidies could reduce that to around $60 (P2,600). Apple are not going to win this battle with any size of phone!

Technology analyst Robe Enderle sums it up, “The iPhone 6 is an attractive me-too product, but nothing to pull you across. There’s no revolution here and Apple is losing its innovative soul, chasing after Android and Windows rivals with bigger sized iPhones, while still lagging on fundamental features like screen and camera resolutions, and inductive charging for example.”

Google say that the Android One will be available in much of Asia in time for Christmas. The phone will have expandable storage and features such as dual SIM cards, a replaceable battery and built-in FM radio. Once again, Santa wont be delivering many iPhones in the Philippines this year.

If the history of technology tells us anything, it’s that devices not only get better over time, they also get cheaper. The high priced seller will loose out to the cheaper and better alternative, that’s why Apple and Microsoft killed off the IBM mainframe. Over the last 7 years, Apple have provided the disruptive technology that has seen off Nokia and Blackberry, but they are now in real danger of suffering the same fate themselves.

The American and European smartphone markets are approaching saturation (the vast majority of iPhone 6 sales will be upgrades, not bought by new customers) and Apple are pricing themselves out of the emerging growth markets in Asia. Whilst Google understands what will sell in Mountain View, might not in Mumbai or Manila, it seems that Apple has forgotten the lessons they once taught to others.

Steve Jobs will be turning in his grave.

Extract from my original article on visayanbizpost.com