Notes
URL
V Will Apple lose it's Cool in 2012?
* Brian Deagon at Investor’s Business Daily says so.
V His argument in 3 points:
* Designs are stale, The iPhone is "boxy"
* Smartphones and tablets will become commodity items and Android will "win"
* Apple can't Samsung in TVs
V Boxy, but good.
* Demand for Apple's devices is still incredibly high, in fact Apple still can't make them fast enough
* 4 and 4.5" tablet-phones, to me look bulky, even when you try to trim the edges.
V Bigger, not always better
* Analysts always want to point to marketshare, but that isn't the whole picture of "success".
* Apple makes more money, has more developers making money, and iOS users do more on their devices
* Apple has 15% of the smartphone market, nut over 50% of the profits
* Apple has about 85% to 90% market share of the total dollars spent on mobile apps. (Piper Jaffray)
V Let's go device by device and not lump "Android" into a category
* Almost every manufacture put their own UI stuff on top of default Android, which means they need to put their updates on top of Androids updates before they can release it.
* Android 4.0 is out and the only phone with support is Google's own Galaxy Nexus
* HTC Rezound, DROID RAZR and DROID Bionic will also see the update at some point this year, but some phones that are capable or running the OS may never get an offical update from the handset make or carrier.
* The Open Handset Alliance that includes LG, HTC, Motorola, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T, among others, has pledged with Google to end fragmentation and offer the latest Android operating system for 18 months after a devices release date, however we have yet to see any action from this promise.
V It's how you use it that counts
* iOS accounted for 54.07% of the mobile browser market in January 2011 and dropped slightly to 52.10% by the end of the year. (Net Applications)
* In October, after the launch of the 4S, Apple's yearly mobile browser share was at it's highest 61.5%
* While Apple fell slightly Android gained, up to 16.29% from 12.75% at the beginning of the year
* But notice Apple's browser share is 3.25 times that of Android and the number are completely reversed when compared to US Smartphone marketshare. Android 52.5% and iPhone 15.0% (Gartner, November 2011)
V I'm only speculating, but these numbers make it seem like Android owners colume bet getting a "smartphone", but not really using the "smart" feature
* Safari creates a better browsing experience
* More connected and cooler mobile apps
* Bundled apps that suck, Twitdoid.
V Apple can't crack TVs
* Two words, "disruptive technology"
* 4 years ago everyone said Apple couldn't compete against Nokia, RIM, or Motorola in phones.
* Apple completely re-invented MP3 players and created a paid digital Music market from scratch.
* I'll say it again with TVs, it's not about the hardware, althogh if they make it Apple's WILL be cool.
V It's the experience and integration
* iTunes content and distribution + millions of mobile devices on a unified platform + Airplay + Siri and Webkit could equal something disruptive and revolutionary in Apple's hands
V Predictions and Hopes
* What will Apple do in 2012
* I think a lot of the same things they have always done
* My hope is that IS what they do. The magic formula of putting the customer and user experience first has proven fruitful, especially recently.
* The concern is that without Steve's vison the could lose sight of that, but I don;t think they will.