Monthly Archives: September 2010

The comment of the day goes to Bob- “Apple’s mobile products are not aimed at techies (or just techies). The main advantage of having lots of different products is that your brand takes up more shelf space. Remember Beta vs VHS. There were lots of VHS brands but very few Beta. However, lots of different products can be confusing.

Most people don’t upgrade that frequently. Especially if they follow their contract’s upgrade cycle of 1 or 2 years.”

At the HTC event last week I was talking to an intelligent chap who said that he didn’t like the iPhone because there was only one phone he could buy and that the release schedule of one new phone per year was to slow for him. He wanted change and that was important to him in making a decision as to which mobile platform to choose. The constant change of Android and the various hardware options were an enticement in his eyes and this struck me as curious. However, it seemed to be a general theme from the people I spoke to on the evening and one which I have not witnessed in any other product category.

I wouldn’t buy a car because Ford was likely to release a better version within the next few months and the same applies to washing machines, computers, kettles and whatever else. It is an unusual phenomenon and one which I struggle to grasp.

The release schedules of the major smartphone manufacturers are frequent for the majority. Nokia seems to release a new phone every other week and HTC is not far behind. Samsung is becoming more active along with LG and Sony Ericsson. RIM tends to release a few devices at the same time two or three times a year and Palm (HP) is on an unknown schedule at this time. Apple sticks out like a sore thumb in comparison with one device launched once a year. This is completely at odds with every other manufacturer, but does bring with it some advantages. It enables the release of a significantly updated phone, it brings more publicity to the event when it happens (unlike having Christmas every day) and it builds loyalty to the phone the individual is using because they are not continually opened up to phones that do things better than what they are using now.

Personally I believe that the incremental updating of phones by the likes of HTC and Nokia takes away much of the impact and this was summed up at the HTC event last week. The Desire HD and Z are excellent phones and I could see huge potential in them, particularly the Z, but I sat on the train on the way home and realised that I was not blown away. As good as they are, they are not a million miles away from the original Desire and this is why I reluctantly prefer the slower schedule of releases.

If a company sets itself a long-term target with the aim of doing something new and innovative it will happen. If a company is on a schedule of continual change, the innovation gets left behind along the way.