“I don’t mean to sound alarmist, but 2014 could well be the year that Apple makes its biggest mistake in recent history,” Gareth Beavis writes for TechRadar. “”
“No, I’m not talking about the iWatch – I still think that could actually be rather good,” Beavis writes. “No, Apple has to, HAS TO, bring out a large screen version of the iPhone or it’s going to really struggle to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world. The phablet, like it or loathe it, is here to stay.”
Beavis writes, “Stats from IDC last year showed that one in five smartphones were a large screen option – that’s 20% of the market that Apple is unable to capture.”
MacDailyNews Take: Not necessarily. Some portion of that 20% are too stupid, blind, or pathologically anti-Apple to have ever purchased an iPhone, regardless of screen size.
This is not to say that Apple, the world’s most valuable tech company, rolling in more billions of dollars than they know what to do with, shouldn’t have a larger screen iPhone available by now. They should. It’s criminal malpractice on the part of Tim Cook that they don’t. The sales Apple have left and continue to leave on the table should have been keeping Phil Schiller up at night for at least the last year.
Yes, Apple should have a bigger iPhone yesterday, but this is just simple logic: Not all phablet owners would have bought an iPhone even if a bigger iPhone was available.
“In markets like China the larger screen device is becoming a real must-have handset, and with lots of potential subscribers there, Apple has to throw away its pride (having maintained for years that 4-inch displays are big enough) and start playing in the big-screen leagues,” Beavis writes. “I’m not saying Apple should lose the 4-inch option – this is something that I’m happy to see on the market, as we should have choice as consumers. I can’t count the amount of people moaning at me that ‘phones are getting too big these days.’ But the clock is ticking. If Apple doesn’t end 2014 with a phablet in its ranks, then all its efforts to crack the Asian markets, as well as ticking the box of power users looking for an upgraded experience, will be for nothing.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We understand fragmentation. We understand the issues of producing apps that work on devices with various screen sizes (intimately).
None of it matters because too much of the market wants an iPhone with a bigger screen. Developers will simply work harder for the premium customers found on the premium platform. Period.
This omission – not iMacs and Mac Pros that miss Christmas or anything else – is Tim Cook’s biggest mistake to date. Apple should have a bigger iPhone on the market by now, but since, for some inexplicable reason a company with more cash at their disposal than Intel Corp. is worth doesn’t, the sooner the better.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]