iPhone 4S an iFail

Posted by By admin at 7 October, at 20 : 27 PM Print

It didn’t take long for journalists, bloggers and commenters to start declaring the iPhone 4S an iFail, a disappointment, a wide-open opportunity for competitors. I was mildly surprised that we didn’t see an iPhone 5, but in retrospect, I think I got caught up in the mass hysteria of rumors and supposition by bloggers and analysts alike. My nagging thoughts: Why would Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) deviate from its previous roadmap, where it set its basic strategy when it introduced the iPhone 3GS?

The 3GS offered a nice boost but was skippable by 3G owners, particularly those still married to two-year contracts. It sold just fine, even after Apple introduced the iPhone 4.

But suppose the Android competition was getting too intense — would that make Apple create an iPhone 5 with a whole new design? How about the fact that Steve Jobs was stepping down as CEO. Would that add pressure to wow?

Maybe it would, I thought. But in retrospect — and surely hindsight is 20/20, I know — Apple’s move makes plenty of sense. It’s just not what Apple fans wanted. And maybe that’s the crux of it: While Apple sets out to delight its customers, the company doesn’t rush headlong into new products just because it can. Actually, it seems as if Apple spends ages creating a solid design and then keeping that design on the market, giving it new paint and tires, for years. I’m sure that makes smart business sense, creating savings all up and down the product development and sales chains.

iphone 4s