Posted on 10/10/2011 8:34:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
When Apple launched the iPhone 4S instead of the iPhone 5 last week, I initially thought it was a disappointment and a mistake.
If Apple had launched the actual iPhone 5, I thought, they'd have sold more of them.
And that's probably right.
If Apple had launched a radically new iPhone 5, more of the folks who currently own iPhone 4s would have upgraded, so Apple would have sold some more 4S units. As it is, the iPhone 4S is likely to appeal primarily to iPhone 3G and 3GS owners, non-smartphone owners, and non-iPhone owners, most of whom (like me) are presumably stoked to buy the iPhone 4S.
But viewing the 4S as disappointing ignores Apple's likely thinking behind it, which Asymco analyst Horace Dediu explains very clearly here.
The thinking is that most iPhone 4 owners are still bound by the 2-year contracts they had to enter into when they bought the iPhone 4, so they'll be less likely to now upgrade anyway (barring carriers waving those contracts, which they might have if Apple had released the "5").
So the 4S isn't aimed at these folks. It's aimed at the other three categories of iPhone 4S buyers:
* Pre-iPhone 4 iPhone users (~70 million of them)
* Non-smartphone users (1+ billion, who can now get a 3GS for free, if price is an issue)
* Non-iPhone smartphone users (Blackberry, Android, Nokia)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
LOL - it's Apple! The iPhone 5 isn't ready. Jobs died. Bingo - instant marketing revenue stream possibility. So you shove what you have out the door, and people buy it because they associate it with Jobs, and because you connect it with a "for Steve" meme, and because you release an authorized bio of him and run his "wit and wisdom" in all the mags and newspapers. Then later, when the iPhone 5 is finally ready, you release that.
IMHO, this level of absolutely crass marketing of Job's death, to squeeze the last penny out of a not-ready beta product, is probably the only TRULY accurate memorial to the way the guy ACTUALLY lived that is ever going to happen.
Apple prepped the 4S for launch months before Jobs’ death, and a fall announcement has been pretty standard for them. This isn’t a “slap a new coat of paint” upgrade - it’s basically a totally new phone inside the iPhone 4 exterior (and display).
The iPhone 4S, short for:
- 4Sowhat’sthebigdeal?
- 4Sayonara,Steve
- 4S (a/k/a 4.5, “S” looks like a “5”)
It's a Beta 5, not ready for prime time, enabled up-to-but-not-past iPhone 4 emulation, that is... coincidentally... enjoying a massive marketing push from Job's death.
If you want to talk about "Apple standard," then never leave out shipping Beta.
But hey, you believe what you want : )
I believe you are correct, but not for the same reason.
Current LTE phones are power hogs. The battery life would be shortened significantly. Some heavy users have problems getting an iPhone to last all day -- this would make it worse.
There are new LTE chipsets on the horizon with significantly less power requirements. At least one is expected to be available shortly before the next iPhone would normally be released.
Apple did the same thing with 3G: they introduced a non-3G phone when it the technology wasn't quite yet mature. Everyone laughed, but when the real 3G phone was introduced, it was the biggest roll-out yet.
The 4S doesn’t do 4G so what’s the point?
We do the same... I don’t want to get in trouble for getting the wrong item from the store!
Mrs. F has the iPhone 4, and I have the Samsung Droid Charge, both with Verizon. We made our respective choices based on time of product release & what our particular smartphone needs were at that time.
iPhone 4:
hmm maybe I should change my tagline since Apple isn’t about innovation anymore
thank you.
My Samsung Droid Charge phone (see above post) has 4G. Me likee.
True 4G, as defined by the ITU.. no. Even the LTE currently deployed by Verizon (in many metro markets) and AT&T in only a few markets is really either 3G+++, or 4G-lite.
The marketeers have co-opted the "4G" term to mean something they think is 4G. T-Mobile is the worst offender.
” More apps than Droid phones”
Both android and apple have so many apps that I only go to the market when I’m looking for a specific app. I only search for apps that I’ve read a review on or somebody told me about. 250000 or 400000 doesn’t matter much. Both have so many useless apps you have to wade through to find a good one.
a friend changed from iPhone to Android and was amazed at the openness of the OS. Unchained from iTunes changed how he thinks of smart phones.
I went from Windows phone 6.5 to Android 1 year ago, and could never go back. I have the Epic 4g (Galaxy S w/keyboard) and will be going to the newest Samsung available in late spring. I’d wait for iPhone 5 if you are married to the format in more ways than you are willing to change, or jump when the new iPhones come out to Android and take the cost break.
I was talking about this issue with a friend of mine, and he brought up what I think is the main reason Apple released a 4S instead of a 5: the iPhone 4 is still the best phone on the market even 16 months after its introduction. There’s no need to rush out a revolutionary change when minor updates to keep the “spec list” up there with the higher-end Droid hardware is good enough to hold off the competition until next year.
My wife and I tried to pre-order the 4S on Apple’s website and it said that if you are an AT&T customer, you had to wait till March 2012 to get a phone and that it would cost over $400. That has got to be wrong. Has anyone else seen that and knows what that’s about? Certainly I am missunderstanding that. I hope I am. I would hope that anyone, regardless of plan, could walk into an Apple store and pick up a 16 gig 4S for $200.
It may have something to do with Sprint’s 20 billion dollar deal with Apple. Nobody knows what exactly that money bought in the deal.
If you are already an AT&T customer and it's that expensive, then you aren't eligible for an upgrade. There are reportedly problems with Apple's interface to AT&T systems to check eligibility for existing customers, so that may be incorrect for that reason alone.
The March 2012 delivery date is probably because Apple has sold out their current production run, and cannot/won't commit to an earlier availability date.
I would hope that anyone, regardless of plan, could walk into an Apple store and pick up a 16 gig 4S for $200.
Maybe. Apple will have some additional handsets available in stores on 2011-10-14. You'll have to stand in line, though. And, if you are still under contract with AT&T, you'll have to pay the unsubsidized price, or switch to another carrier and pay the contract termination fee.
If you are an AT&T customer, go to AT&T's website. You can pre-order there. However, my understanding is that AT&T has already sold their initial allotment, and new pre-orders aren't expected to be fulfilled until 1-2 weeks later.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.