Apple’s iPhone was the talk of the town after its January 9 launch. Industry observers were by and large impressed with the new device, praising its user interface, innovation, and seamless integration. But two senior ABI Research analysts — wireless research director Stuart Carlaw, and principal mobile broadband analyst Philip Solis — point out that while the iPhone is undoubtedly clever and capable, it is not correct to call it a smartphone, as much of the media has done.
ABI Research defines a smartphone as a cellular handset using an open, commercial operating system that supports third party applications. The iPhone runs the Apple Macintosh computer operating system, OS X, so at first glance it would seem to fall into the smartphone category, which might help justify its announced $500+ pricetag. But, says Solis in a press release, “It turns out that this device will be closed to third party applications. Therefore we must conclude at this point that, based on our current definition, the iPhone is not a smartphone: it is a very high-end feature phone.”
Feature phones’ functionality (dictated by the software which controls the hardware) is closed and controlled by an operator or the device manufacturer, whereas smartphones are supported by a third-party ecosystem, where competition in the software space creates applications that add value. “Sure,” concedes Solis, “feature phones have third party applications too – but these are relatively weak and limited applications that work with the middleware such as Java and BREW. Applications designed for smartphones can be written to access core functionality from the OS itself, and are therefore usually more powerful and efficient. The competition in an open environment also yields more cutting edge, rich applications.”
Stuart Carlaw adds, “Consumers will not be willing to settle for a second-rate cell phone just to have superior music. Apple must get the phone engineering part of the equation right, and it is difficult to see how they will accomplish that with no track record in the industry. Even though they are working with some prominent suppliers, the task of putting all of the building blocks together cannot be underestimated.”
More info: http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Mobile_Devices_Research _Service
Correct. Apple’s iPhone is not a so-called “smartphone.” It’s much, much more; as Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies, said of Apple’s iPhone, “This goes beyond smartphones and should be given its own category called ‘brilliant’ phones.” At least initially, iPhone users will get software from just one source. Thankfully, that sole source, Apple Inc., just happens to make the best software in the world. Apple understands very well that too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth.
In the future, we expect Apple to follow along the lines of iPod and vet third-party software (ie., games) to ensure the best possible iPhone user experience. When the first iPhone game from Electronic Arts appears for sale on the iTunes Store, will ABI Research then define iPhone as a “smartphone?” As if it matters what ABI Research’s definition happens to be. Apple doesn’t usually conform to someone else’s definitions, they often creates new ones.
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pr:
Fewest dropped calls = We suck less than the others.
I use Cingular, and I found that my old (givaway with contract) Nokia pulled in signals better than my upgraded Sony Ericsson bluetooth phone. I hope the iPhone excels in it’s “killer app”– phone calls.
Wow I am so glad to hear Stuart Carlaw’s and Philip Solis’s opinion on this matter….
Now I can go on with my life.
From now on ppl…everytime somebody at Apple tries to release a new product, they need to ask themselves…What would Stuart Carlaw think?
Just my $0.02
YA RLY!
Um, why are people using Wikipedia as an authoritative source for anything? You might as well just say “I’m right because I say so.”
Oh good God.
THese guys dont even deserve a response. I can’t believe they wrote an entire article about how the iPhone can’t be called a smartphone. It’s beyond retarded. It’s simple guys. If you like the phone and what it can do, and are willing to pay the price… then buy it. Otherwise don’t. Who cares what class of phone it falls into? Of all the “features” of this phone, I dont think anyone is going to sit there and say “Oh.. this phone rocks.. if only it conformed to the formal definition of smartphone I would buy it.”
@We’ll See – Thats a pretty silly argument. Of course Steve had 3 iPhones at the podium. He is giving a live demo, that will eventually be seen by hundreds of thousands of people, of a pre-release product that is still 6 MONTHS away from being shipped. The best presenters always have a backup. (in this case he had 2)
I tells you nothing about the final quality of hte device.
“Will Steve be available to answer the question of why did the thing go black when I tried to send the photo?” No but I assume Apple support would be there for this kind of thing. Call me crazy but I dont call Bill Gates to inform him of every BSOD I get.
“…Apple must get the phone engineering part of the equation right, and it is difficult to see how they will accomplish that with no track record in the industry…”
Challenging Apple to out-engineer you is a recipe for disaster. Next to macs, cell phones are toys.
MDN:
“When the first iPhone game from Electronic Arts appears for sale on the iTunes Store, will ABI Research then define iPhone as a “smartphone?” “
Probably not because they said,
““feature phones have third party applications too – but these are relatively weak and limited applications”…like the iPod games.
iPhone needs a whole new category as it has redefined the word “smart”. It should be called something else.
I never knew that the term “smart” meant only for
3rd-party conglomeration of dumb connecting ideas.
They now should be called dumbphones.
They’re all so used to phones being HARD, FIXED, and inflexible that they’re missing the point that the iPhone is SOFTWARE driven – I won’t necessarily have to buy a 2nd generation iPhone as much as I will be able to updat the software on the one I am absolutely going to buy in JUNE!
Did ABI Research get one to play with before knowing it all?? I don’t think so.
Does anyone who was actually at the keynote write any articles pooping the iPhone? I don’t think so. Has anyone who was actually allowed to play with one pooped the iPhone? I don’t think so. The guys who are writing all the articles were at CES, instead. They were at the wrong keynote along with their dumbphones. Apple envyists!
“You might as well just say “‘I’m right because I say so.'”
So true. Usually these threads contain simple, rational declarations that are pertinent, even-tempered, logical, bereft of bizarre comparisons to politics, nationality or religion and backed up with widely accepted references.
More idiots who don’t know what they’re talking about and have never even looked at the iPhone.
It’s running OSX for gods sake! Some people write with there heads up there @$$.
Anaysts sell out — that’s their business model. But they are very concerned that they never look like they are selling out, so that makes tem prickly to work with. <—Microsoft Effective Evangelism document.
They seem to be following the model: “Developers, developers, developers—> The competition in an open environment also yields more cutting edge, rich applications <—like iTunes, eh?
And now for the money shot—> Consumers will not be willing to settle for a second-rate cell phone just to have superior music.
And the payoff—> Uh, can you give us dollars this time? We’re awash with xboxes and can’t even sell the zunes.
— Sorry guys, we can only give you promotional copies of Vista this time.
Oh, and closed doesn’t mean that 3rd party developers will not be able to develop software for the iPhone. It only means that Apple will Q.C. there application before they allow it to be installed on the iPhone.
So don’t call it a “smart phone.” Big deal. Compared to other so-called smartphones, iPhone is far “smarter” and it is far more than just a “phone.”
spare us all about “closed” system vs “open” system bullcrap!! This FUD writer is NO SMART WRITER!!
I can totally understand the reason why Apple wants to keep the iPhone locked for now but it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if they decided to release in the future “Apple iPhone certified” widgets, developed externally. games will certainly make an appearance soon after the release as well IMO.
Now that Smart Phone OS’ have been declared ‘Open’ I wont feel to bad when I make copies of them. I wish these guys would not call Symbian, Palm or WinCE, since I assume they are not referring to Linux. Guys, it just makes you sound ignorant or bigoted!
Had Apple called it something other than “iPhone” it’d be a different story. If I had one, the feature that I’d probably use the least would be, yes, the PHONE. But it’d be good to have the ability to make calls on it, of course. Icing on the cake? Yes. Cake? No.
Since I saw it on the keynote, I was very disappointed that it was being differentiated from the iPod when in fact it’s really an iPod finally done right.
Should have stayed “iPod” all along.
Well, I never heard that one before…..I’m betting the iPhone is smarter then HE is….
Jim
Whatever Research Institute: ABI Research is no smart reasearcher.
BuTwo senior ABI Research analysts — wireless research director Stuart Carlaw, and principal mobile broadband analyst Philip Solis
hey people….These are smart guys.
One is a Rhode Island scholar
The other went to Oxferd.
This article is correct.
The iPhone is not a smart phone – it is a genuis phone!
The iPhone is in a category all its own.
DOH! can’t spell. “genius” phone.
What a lot of nonsense. It sounds like a microsoft press release. In fact Apple have produced a lot of excellent application software over time. iLife, iWork, iTunes – all get rave reviews.
Having used an “open system” smartphone/pda from HP/microsoft i am sure anything from apple will work much better. Try using CoPilot GPS Navigation software on an HP PDA running Windows Portable O/S – this is undoubtedly the saddest, clunkiest, least intuituve, most unreliable combination i have ever encountered. It is awful as a phone (big, slow, clunky interface) – so awful I changed to a Razr (which I also hate). Its ok as a PDA (but won’t interface to my Apple apps, or even Entourage) so I don’t even use it for contacts and appointments, and it is almost useless as a GPS Navigation tool (the battery goes flat, it loses the bluletooth connection to the GPS frequently and it hangs mysteriously on a frequent basis.)
Yuk. If this is what a smartphone has to be, give me a dumb phone from Apple any day.