Apple Again
Steve Jobs announces the newest 3G iPhone (8GB and 16GB), with Vodafone, Optus and Telstra already confirming they will stock the phone in Australia. The news comes as loyal fans express their anger over the huge drop in prices, a huge US$400 difference from just over a year ago. Apple has also done a total back flip, deciding to release the phone in 3G, previously citing battery life concerns for its omission from earlier models.
Wait a minute. Sound familiar? Remember the beating that Apple shares took when just 2 months after releasing the iPhone they decided to drop the price by 30%? The best explanation Steve Jobs could come up with was that "that's technology". Whilst I accept that price reductions are inevitable, these shock reductions could also be drastic measures to increase sales - not hallmarks of a SUCCESSFUL BRAND. Apple did not expect people to snub their $599 creation; after all they tried to ride on the success of other products completely forgetting that the handset market is already saturated with cheaper, technologically more advance no-strings-attached options. The only thing they had going for them was LOOKS since everything else about the iPhone had already been tried, tested and reinvented to death (by Nokia, for instance). They also ended up scrapping the 4GB model because it was unpopular... don't tell me they didn't know that was coming. Seriously.
I admit I almost jumped the boat but looking back now thank god I'm not GENERIC. This is certainly not the Apple I grew up with - I guess once you go mainstream everything is compromised. Think Smashing Pumpkins, Coldplay and Silverchair. A quick check on eBay and the 2G phones are still selling for over AU$700. These "early-birds" never learn.
Wait a minute. Sound familiar? Remember the beating that Apple shares took when just 2 months after releasing the iPhone they decided to drop the price by 30%? The best explanation Steve Jobs could come up with was that "that's technology". Whilst I accept that price reductions are inevitable, these shock reductions could also be drastic measures to increase sales - not hallmarks of a SUCCESSFUL BRAND. Apple did not expect people to snub their $599 creation; after all they tried to ride on the success of other products completely forgetting that the handset market is already saturated with cheaper, technologically more advance no-strings-attached options. The only thing they had going for them was LOOKS since everything else about the iPhone had already been tried, tested and reinvented to death (by Nokia, for instance). They also ended up scrapping the 4GB model because it was unpopular... don't tell me they didn't know that was coming. Seriously.
I admit I almost jumped the boat but looking back now thank god I'm not GENERIC. This is certainly not the Apple I grew up with - I guess once you go mainstream everything is compromised. Think Smashing Pumpkins, Coldplay and Silverchair. A quick check on eBay and the 2G phones are still selling for over AU$700. These "early-birds" never learn.
Labels: rant
Fell from the sky at 8:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home