Is one phone an advantage?

The entire iPhone smartphone range is in effect one phone. OK, we have the 3G and 3GS, but they are so similar to each other in the minds of the majority that people still just see the iPhone. No other mobile operating system is supported by one phone and I can’t work out if this is an advantage or a disadvantage.

Android has a plethora of phones already available from the likes of HTC, LG and others and a range of OS versions that are starting to get in the way of each other. This means that more users can have the form factor they desire, but that some will get just a little bit narked at soon having a phone which does not support the latest OS version. In the case of Android it is good and bad because more phones means more sales, but Google needs to get a handle on the number of revisions coming out.

Symbian has more phones than any other and they do cover almost every possible form factor. From QWERTY front faced devices to touch screens you can buy whatever you want, but the OS is either disliked or bought by people who do not care what OS they are using. I have little doubt that in the case of Nokia, multiple phones is an advantage.

RIM also makes a variety of smartphones, but only the Storm varies greatly from the Curve and Bold range with the Pearl adding something more phone-like to the mix. In reality the BlackBerry phones are on the whole too similar to each other to be classed as a varied range, and I’m not convinced that just producing one very good phone would not be an advantage.

In the case of Apple, the iPhone is ‘the iPhone’ and the lack of variety plays well in creating an iconic status for the phone. If Apple was to produce a variety of keyboarded and touch screen iPhones something would be lost, although I would still like to see this happen. I think that the one phone model for Apple is a huge advantage, but the others have no choice and will continue to attack from all sides to generate market share.