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Just another iLaunch, or a new line in the sand? [ITP.net (United Arab Emirates)](ITP.net (United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Cupertino's Apple is seen in many quarters as a fading maestro with precious few tricks left. While smartphone shipments have shown continued growth, the iMaker's market share has dwindled as emerging consumers have gravitated towards cheaper handsets, particularly in China, which is the world's largest market for smart devices. But the launch of new iPhones always has the potential to whip analysts, pundits and fans into a frenzy of expectation, despite past blunders. Most would argue that this week's product launch was Apple's most important since the iPad. The inveterate innovator had failed to truly dazzle in many years and needed to sort out two main problems. First, the US giant needed to plug a long-term gap in its product portfolio. It lacked a competing handset for the phablet category, which has several players, but is dominated by Apple's arch-rival Samsung Electronics. Along with a slightly larger 4.7-inch iPhone 6, Apple also unveiled the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. Check. Secondly, Apple needed a new category, ideally a wearable device, as Samsung had already released two generations of Gear companion watches and a next-gen standalone smartwatch in the Gear S. Apple released the Apple Watch. Check. But in taking genuine steps forward in both handsets and wearables, has Apple really distinguished itself from the rest of the pack? Will the larger phones eat into the market share of others? And will the Watch define a category in which Samsung already has a head start, and where the South Korean firm has gone a step further in bringing to market a standalone device, where the Apple Watch must be twinned with an iPhone? Continues on next page>> "There were few surprises in the two new iPhones," says Ezra Gottheil, principal analyst, Computing Practice, Technology Business Research (TBR). "Most of the new features and capabilities had been rumoured or disclosed at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in June 2014, and most of the improvements were incremental. Nevertheless, the enhancements taken together are a better phone and, TBR believes, a leader in premium smartphones. For Apple, the introduction of a larger 5.5-inch model, the iPhone 6 Plus, removes a major handicap - the lack of a large-screen model - something many users prefer." "Larger screen iPhones remove a key differentiator that has insulated Samsung, Sony, HTC and LG's large screen flagship smartphones from iPhone competition," says Ian Fogg, senior director, IHS. "Shrewdly, Apple has prepared the ground to make sure its app ecosystem will be available quickly on the new iPhones by providing developers with the tools to easily support different screen sizes in iOS8, which was unveiled to developers three months ago at WWDC." Wearables are a relatively new category and worldwide take-up has been lax so far. Some analysts believe that Apple may not only be the player to accelerate adoption rates, but that iPhone sales may actually benefit from the introduction of an attractive device that needs an iPhone to operate. "Apple will drive this market," predicts Martin Scott, head of Consumer Services research at Analysys Mason. "Other manufacturers will benefit from a 'halo' of increased interest and awareness in smartwatches as a credible device type, but we do not anticipate any vendor matching Apple in the short or medium term. The restriction of the Apple Watch to iPhone customers, and future cross-working with HomeKit and HealthKit strongly reinforce Apple's device and lifestyle ecosystem." Continues on next page>> "Apple aims to reset the wearable market and make 2014 year zero for wearables, as 2007 became the start of the true smartphone market because of the iPhone," says IHS's Fogg. "But moving into a new category is a bold, expensive and risky effort. This Apple Watch is a first generation device, whether it is successful or not, Apple will aim to iterate and make it a must have companion for every iPhone owner." Depending on just how seductive the Watch is with consumers, the smartphone and wearables categories may both be affected. In the interim, Samsung may say that Apple's wearable remains a companion device and that Samsung has moved on to standalones with the Gear S. But this would assume that consumers badly want a smart wrist device that can go it alone. "The Apple Watch will at first have a chilling effect on competitors, followed by a spike in sales upon launch," posits Enrique Velasco-Castillo, digital economy analyst at Analysys Mason. "Apple's new wearable will significantly slow down sales of competing devices in the final quarter of 2014 as consumers wait for the Apple Watch to reach stores in the first quarter of 2015. Analysys Mason expects just under 1m smartwatches to have sold by the end of 2014; this will leap to 13.6m sales in 2015 following the Apple Watch launch." The analyst verdict on Apple's new wares is broadly optimistic. The Watch's Digital Crown GUI lives comfortably on a device of that size and Apple has apparently unleashed a wearable that is actually functional, rather than being just an aesthetic novelty. "Apple CEO Tim Cook was ebullient, looser and more comfortable in public than we have ever seen, as he answered the question of whether Apple can continue to innovate and lead without Steve Jobs," said TBR's Gottheil. "TBR believes the answer is 'yes it can'." Maybe so. Perhaps the maestro is back. (c) 2014 ITP Business Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |