Will you go for the new iPhone?
A placard advertises an Apple iPhone 4S for sale at an electronics market in Hong Kong. Apple's iPhone 4S was on sale on Hong Kong's grey market at the weekend, attracting hundreds of fans paying up to six times official prices to get their hands on the latest model. Photo: AFP
I have an iPhone 3GS, simply love it and bought it a year and a half back. Soon after that Apple released the iPhone 4, but I didn't upgrade simply because it was a slight improved version of its predecessor and thought would go for the next one.
So, there I was, eagerly waiting for the new version to come out. Like me many others were doing the same, and October 4 was that day, the day Apple announced that they would be launching a new iPhone at an event called 'Let's talk iPhone'. Everyone was expecting to see a new phone that they would buy and their expectation was natural.
There were lots of rumors that Apple would be launching a new phone along with an upgrade to the present iPhone 4, but most of us were sure that iPhone 5 was coming this time.
I followed the whole event on Twitter and was waiting for that particular tweet when there would be the mention of the new phone. I share my experience from the Tweets.
This product launch was different for a couple of reasons, firstly it was Apple's new CEO Tim Cook's first ever product launch after the iconic Steve Jobs left Apple who died the following day on October 5.
Cook cracked a joke when he took the stage at a small packed house at Apple's Town Hall in Cupertino, California headquarters saying "This is my first product launch since being named CEO, I'm sure you didn't know that."
After sharing some facts and figures on the company such as -- iPhone is the No. 1 phone in customer satisfaction survey, but only 5 per cent handsets sold in the world. Cook introduced Scott Forstall who spoke about iOS5, the new OS for 'i' devices which made available from October 12.
Newly promoted Apple VP, Eddie Cue then spoke about the iCloud, which will allow syncing docs, music and photos to the web and will also be launched with iOS5. Apple also announced a new free social network service called Find My Friends, which is somewhat similar to Google Latitude for GPS tracking buddies. Find My Friends includes parental control so that kids can't turn off tracking or connect with strangers.
Apple marketing executive Phil Schiller then spoke about iPods and after that the moment that everyone was eagerly waiting for came Apple announced the new phone, the iPhone 4S, a same looking phone with faster A5 processor, 8 MP camera and according to Apple, a better battery life.
So, till now one of the rumors was true -- the 'upgrade', still I was eagerly waiting to hear about a second phone, but to my disappointment there was no second phone, they spoke about a voice assistant software called Siri and after that the show was over.
Tim Cook closes up saying, "What sets these products apart and what puts Apple way out front is how they're engineered to work together so well."
I agree with Mr. Cook, but let's face the real story, this was his first product launch and quite frustrating for Apple fans around the world as they were expecting much more than an iPhone 4S and this also opens up an enormous opportunity for its rivals to exploit this rare letdown.
According to Reuters, analysts noted that Apple has decided to keep older iPhone models and slash their prices, potentially helping the company to expand sales in lower-end and developing markets, where Nokia and Samsung have dominated.
That is a good sign for a developing country like Bangladesh, where Apple does not have that much focus and most iPhones in the country are jailbroken and unlocked.
The iPhone -- introduced in 2007 with the touchscreen template since adopted by rivals -- has proved to be the gold standard in the booming smartphone market, and its surging sales have hit the ambitious plans of many competitors.
So who will buy the new iPhone? Count me out. What about so many who already own an iPhone 4, why should they buy it? It looks exactly the same, a little slimmer maybe.
Everyone was expecting a new phone with a larger screen and there are Samsung, HTC and Nokia phones with larger screens out there. This made their grounds stronger.
"Apple no longer has a leading edge, its cloud service is even behind Android (Google's mobile operating system); it can only sell on brand loyalty now," said Gartner analyst CK Lu in Taipei.
"Users may wait to buy the next iPhone; if they can't wait, they may shift to brands with more advanced specs."
The market impact was also quick, shares in Samsung Electronics, HTC and LG Electronics, which all make phones using Google's Android operating system, ended higher after Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S.
Phones based on Google's Android, which is available for free to handset vendors such as Samsung, HTC, LG and Motorola, have a greater combined market share than Apple's iPhone, which is still the world's biggest-selling smartphone.
Apple sold a record 20.3 million iPhones in the April-June quarter, with analysts estimating Samsung smartphone sales at 19 million handsets, well ahead of Nokia's 16.7 million.
So Apple fans out there, the wait for the '5' continues. Hope it's worth waiting.
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