Apple to launch new iPhone
I remember being excited about the first time Apple (with SonyErikson) offered its phone to the market - a real disapointment as it turns out with little semblance to the anything ipod. Jobs seems to have learnt his lesson and the new look phone looks rather swish. Apple's success rather reminds me of that of Richard Branson's. Everything he touches seems to just fit with the market's desires. Whilst I am personally not going to be rushing out to buy the iPhone I can at least appreciate the fact that Apple is responding to market demand (and in fact creating it with its vast numbers of followers). Branson's Virgin does exactly the same thing, and success seems to focus around the creation of a consumer culture that has come to expect innovation in all of its endeavors (Virgin Rail, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Blue, Virgin Internet, Vigrin Galatic etc…). For me personally I cant bring myself to ditch the Ipaq phone I currently use, it's skype ready, slingmedia enabled and GPS ready. Somehow though I expect a large number of third party add-ons will be available for the iPhone just as there are for its iPod.
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While you are not rushing to the store. I am thinking about two things. How to get the iPod faster than it’s going to be launched in Europe (which is realistically in 2008). My second concern is how to show up in my Samsung office with that device
iPhone will be my weekend and vacation phone. I love it sooooo much! Looks like a good reason for me to switch to a smart phone as this one hopefully will be a truly smart one and not too complicated.
I think the iPhone (or whatever it’s called when Cisco gets done with them) is a beautiful, exciting product. However, I think it has serious positioning problems…who exactly is this for?
The young iPod fanatic set is outpriced. The corporate accounts that Cingular thrives on will not be in a hurry to figure out how to integrate syncing of an Apple portable device into their IT systems, not to mention shelling out the cash to replace sufficient phone and PDA equipment. And the early adopters who could normally be counted on to snatch up such a gadget are, based on the blogging activity and our conversations here at Cornell, highly skeptical of the Cingular service.
The tight relationship between the iPhone and iPod brand, mixed with the price point and the exclusive relationship with Cingular, makes the positioning very confusing. Who is this device for?
It’s a great product, but I don’t think that this generation is going to see the adoption Jobs is hoping for. I personally will not be purchasing one. As much as I would love to have it (it really is a beautiful piece, and I’m in the market for an integrated device post-graduation), I simply will not sign on for Cingular service.
I am at the intersection of their potential targets–into gadgets, willing to pay the price, practical need for the product–and they missed.