Apple is a leading force in the smartphone market because they simplify services and enable people to fit their world in their pocket.
Yesterday, Steve Jobs announced the latest iPhone 4 at WWDC but what struck me was the way he structured his presentation. Jobs focused early on about the success of the App Store for both consumers and developers. There is now 225,000 apps available, 5 billion downloads and Apple has paid out $1 billion dollars to developers. Apple has created a vibrant market place for mobile apps and services with more big brands to launch later this year. That is success unrivalled by anyone.
To cover all this first was smart because Jobs was focusing on the services and the benefits of owning (or developing content for) an iPhone. After all the device features are becoming less important over time whereas services and content is increasingly driving consumer demand in the smartphone (as opposed to the feature phone) market.
Apple have understood this for years because nothing about the iPhone 4 is particularly new, multitasking, video calling, high resolution screens and cameras have been around for a while. Whilst other smartphone makers have focused on handset features Apple have focused on what the consumer can do with their phone. These are very different strategies and Apple has clearly chosen the right path.
The really clever thing that Apple does is the way they take old features, like multitasking, simplify them and re-package them as if they have just been invented for the first time. By making features like these easy to use, those who aren’t particularly tech savvy believe that Apple invented them. Apple did exactly this with Apps, they made them easily accessible, streamlined the purchase and installation process and most importantly made the content exciting and relevant. A recent tweet from Steve Jobs exemplifies this perfectly:
“No one used computers until Macintosh. No one listened to MP3 players until iPod. No one made video calls until iPhone 4″
However, unlike a few years ago, there are now many strong competitors to the iPhone. There are many Android based alternatives that offer tightly integrated services, varied apps and some argue better features. Nokia will be launching their revamped version of Symbian OS on the N8 and Microsoft will also be introducing Windows Phone 7 towards the end of 2010. Most importantly, however, the services are improving quickly and whilst they haven’t achieved the success of Apple’s App Store they are quickly gaining ground.
Despite all the buzz around the iPhone 4 not everyone can afford one. With many compelling alternatives at cheaper price points, Apple faces much stiffer competition than they have faced upon the launch of previous iPhones.
What do you think of the new iPhone 4? Will you be buying one?
