“Critics of Apple have often pointed to the supposed inferiority of the iPhone’s screen and rear camera to substantiate a bear case,” Mark Hibben writes for Seeking Alpha. “It was claimed that the iPhone’s faults made it vulnerable to competition from better performing Android devices. Samsung’s Galaxy series was often extolled for its superior OLED technology, while Google’s Pixel smartphone had the better camera.”
“Such deficiencies must constitute a defect in the value proposition of iPhone, it was assumed. Consumers would ultimately come to their senses and choose superior competing devices, or ‘good enough’ commodity devices at a lower price,” Hibben writes. “Apple would succumb to commodity smartphones, as it had commodity PCs. The smartphone market, which had somehow been capsized by Apple, would right itself at last.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s indomitable Mac, of course, never succumbed to commodity PCs. Apple’s Mac just posted its all-time sales record last quarter. Apple’s Mac doesn’t even compete in the same market as commodity PCs. Unit share is one thing. Profit share is quite another. Anyone can move PC units. No one can generate revenue from personal computers like Apple.
“But iPhone didn’t succumb to commoditization, and critics can’t even assert its inferiority, now that iPhone X has arrived,” Hibben writes. “iPhone X has scored top marks for both its display and its rear camera. These ratings come from sources that often provided fodder for the bear case, DisplayMate and DXOMark.”
“Will these scores be enough to silence the critics? Probably not, but then Apple’s critics have not understood the value proposition of iPhone,” Hibben writes. “iPhone’s appeal is less about benchmark scores and specs and more about the overall user experience. User experience is admittedly hard to quantify, but it’s driven by Apple’s excellent hardware/software integration.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s critics, who seem to look only at spec sheets and thereby proclaim doom for iPhone, have at least one screw loose.
SEE ALSO:
Michael Gartenberg: iPhone X is the best smartphone you can buy today, and likely tomorrow; Apple is now a full generation ahead of their competitors – November 10, 2017
T3 reviews Apple’s iPhone X: Brilliant, five stars, 2017’s best smartphone – November 8, 2017
DisplayMate: Apple’s iPhone X has the most color accurate display we’ve ever measured; it is visually indistinguishable from perfect – November 8, 2017
Ars Technica reviews iPhone X: Easy to recommend if you want a glimpse at the future – November 3, 2017
iMore reviews iPhone X: The best damn product Apple has ever made – November 2, 2017
TechCrunch reviews Apple’s iPhone X: ‘Like using the future of smartphones, today’ – November 1, 2017
Tim Bajarin’s first impression of Apple’s iPhone X: Face ID worked flawlessly – November 1, 2017
The Verge reviews Apple’s iPhone X: Clearly the best iPhone ever made, despite being marred by its ugly notch – November 1, 2017
Above Avalon’s first impressions of Apple’s iPhone X: ‘An entirely new iPhone experience’ – October 31, 2017
The Independent reviews Apple’s iPhone X: ‘This feels like the future’ – October 31, 2017
David Pogue reviews Apple’s iPhone X: ‘The best thing is its size’ – October 31, 2017
Forbes reviews Apple’s iPhone X: Opulent, gorgeous, classy; the best iPhone yet – October 31, 2017
CNBC reviews Apple’s iPhone X: ‘The best smartphone on the market’ – October 31, 2017