5 Reasons Why iPhones are Not That Cool Anymore
4. The tough competition
It’s well known that Samsung has emerged as Apple’s biggest rival. It has already surpassed it in terms of volume sales and may soon surpass it in pure value terms sales as well. Samsung’s success has in fact been due to its efforts to bring its own innovations and create a better user experience on a smartphone. Its various patented technologies like the stylus pens, the AMOLED screens and now we hear of bendable screens as well sensors which detect users eye movements etc. have given Samsung phones the top slot in customer choice. Even companies such as Nokia which are perceived to be laggards in terms of catching up on the latest consumer trends have introduced certain cool features such as NFC (near field charging to do away with wires for charging a phone) and superior camera capabilities (Carl Zeiss technology). This begs the question, when there is so much going for other brands, why should one still buy an iPhone?
5. The cost
iPhones have never been cheap. The iPhone 5 costs about Rs 50,000 in India. This is more than an average software engineer makes in a month. In countries such as USA, the iPhone comes bundled with a carrier making it a little more affordable to the general populace. However, in India, it is only the very rich or the very maniacal who venture to buy an iPhone. At such steep prices, the iPhone cannot but simply be the best. The cost of the phone is such that the customers have every right to be extremely demanding and unforgiving when it comes to the iPhone. And that is something the iPhone has had trouble keeping up with – case in point the maps fiasco with iPhone 5 where Tim Cooks had to publicly apologize for the goof up and suggested people use Google Maps instead! Such instances really do take the sheen off what was once the Mecca of technology companies.
