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06 Aug 2007
Apple's iPhone, while undeniably popular, is not cutting edge enough to revolutionise the smartphone market, experts believe.
According to Stuart Carlaw, wireless research director at ABI Research, the iPhone is not actually cutting edge in terms of its technology.
“The iPhone will not revolutionise the smartphone market,” Carlaw said.
"But it is a significant evolutionary step forward. As was pointed out once its specifications were made public, the iPhone is not cutting-edge telecommunications. Where it is radical – in its user-interface and functionality – it will certainly change forever the way handset manufacturers think about their design philosophies," he added.
"And from the commercial point of view, it is significant in the way it assembles its offerings in a completely integrated, brand-heavy package.”
ABI's new report Smartphones and the OS Market, notes that certain technologies critical to smartphone interfaces are likely to receive greater attention as a result of the iPhone. Chief among these will be touch-screens, which will become more sensitive, and accelerometers, which the iPhone uses to orient its displays and active/deactivate controls depending on how the handset is held.
Carlaw added that, “The iPhone’s effect on the market will be similar to that of Motorola’s RAZR. It will spawn a number of look-and-feel-alikes and will be seen as a benchmark for future design. One thing for certain is that the product is not intended to be an enterprise device, so its impact will be most keenly felt in the high-tier feature phone market and in the emerging prosumer market segment."
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Do you agree?
Other phones vs. the iPhone
Its not that other phones can't do some of the things the iPhone does - the miraculous thing about the iPhone - apart from its amazing touch-screen interface - is all the things it puts into one package. Video, great email, contact information, Calendar, real web browser, video player, MP3 player, can use Widgets, has Wi-Fi that works incredibly well, its ability to read Word, Excel and PDF documents, etc... No other phone does ALL these things, and that is revolutionary, in a small sense anyway. The author is right, this phone is the new benchmark for all other phones. I also love the fact that the iphone syncs with Outlook AND MAC calendars and contacts. I left Sprint to grab an iPhone just so I could finally synch all the info on my Mac to a phone - I'm tired of cell phone makers not catering to Mac users. Maybe this will be a small wake-up call
Posted by: jhuck 08 Aug 2007
arrogant "expert"
I think I'd like to have a job in which task is to stand around and act unimpressed all the time. Arrogant clods like the "Expert" quoted typically miss the market because they're focused on their pet technologies and issues instead of what people actually want.
Posted by: Rebutter 06 Aug 2007
Bizarre
The first phone that can show REAL web pages. The first phone with visual voice-mail. The first phone that can play full length movies. The first phone with a true "multi-touch" screen that redefines the touch screen interface. The first phone with 8Gigs of memory. And yes, the first phone with an enjoyable, logical interface.
Posted by: Synthmeister 06 Aug 2007
The iPod wasn't innovative...
The iPod wasn't innovative to the music player manufacturers, yet somehow the iPod satisfied the consumer's needs so it sold well. The response of iPhone buyers has been quite enthusiastic for what is a version 1.0 device. The smartphone manufacturers are scrambling now to field a challenger. Meanwhile they must pretend to be unimpressed with the iPhone. They will produce iPhone knockoff just like the Music Player manufacturers did iPod knockoffs. Those iPod knockoffs never did well in the market, because the iPod was never about the hardware but was about the user experience. Apple's competitors always seem to get the latter wrong.
Posted by: Louis Wheeler 06 Aug 2007
yeah
Not wanting to throw my cellphone (in this case, iPhone) into the river IS a revolutionary step forward. The iphone does what I want - it works with no muss or fuss. Wouldn't be too sure that it won'r make it into business (gotta love double-negatives).
Posted by: geo 06 Aug 2007
So what IS cutting-edge?
It says, "is not cutting-edge telecommunications." SHEESH! OK. It doesn't use some new kind of quantum chip, or Star Trek AI. But "...radical ? in its user-interface and functionality ? it will certainly change forever the way handset manufacturers think about their design philosophies" looks like cutting-edge to me!
Posted by: Michael Linehan 06 Aug 2007
Not quite
Synthmeister, I've been browsing REAL Web pages with Opera on a Symbian phone for quite a while now.
Posted by: William 06 Aug 2007