Now the phone pictured above, the iPhone 5, is an insanely popular phone. Apple sold more than two million on the devices first sales weekend in China, which added to the five million Apple sold on the first weekend in the rest of the world! So let us be in no doubt that Apple and their brands are still insanely popular. But, having said that there are reports coming in which are suggesting that Apple may be coming towards a need for change, because their popularity may actually conspire against them!
There are a lot of iPhones out there in the wild and it seems that teenagers, who intently strive to stand out from the crowd, are starting to feel this with regard to their phones! Forbes have posted some research from Buzz Marketing who have said that so many people rocking devices which are exactly the same has removed some of Apple's X-factor. Tina Wells, the head of the youth marketing agency, said:
“Teens are telling us Apple is done... Apple has done a great job of embracing Gen X and older [Millennials], but I don’t think they are connecting with Millennial kids. [They’re] all about Surface tablets/laptops and Galaxy.”We bluntly disagree with the 'Apple is done' statement, but we do see where the research is coming from. There is currently a lot of iPhones and this 'cool factor' was one of the problems RIM faced a couple of years ago with teenagers, where it reached the point that 'everyone had one' and so people started getting iPhones. Tina Wells concurs saying:
"Everything moves in cycles and you can’t rest on your past glory. You’ve got to evolve to maintain relevance. Apple just needs to focus on innovation and teens will come back."There's currently the perception in teenage circles that 'everyone has iPhones' so teenagers are turning again to something new, it's just how they work! I actually had an example of this the other day when I went to dinner with a group of eight friends. I was the only one who didn't have an iPhone but, to my surprise people were intrigued by the Samsung Galaxy S3 in my hand: everyone was taken aback by the size and 'uniqueness' of it, which is surprising given the vast amount of these which you see around and about!
With this in mind, it is interesting to hear that Insites-Consulting’s Joeri Van den Bergh said:
“There was quite some negative buzz about the iPhone 5 and the lack of a real incremental innovation, except for the screen size and weight, when compared to the 4S. So this has an effect on the originality component of coolness."We're quite sure that there is something in this: iOS hasn't been changed in interface terms for a while and you can't really personalise it to show off to your friends. Combine this with a lot of kids seeing their parents, teachers and in some cases, hip grandparents rocking the 'easy to use' iPhone then it's not surprising the kids aren't feeling it. This is by no means a problem Apple as Mr. Youth's, Matt Britton, explains:
"Samsung and the Android platform is indeed a formidable competitor. But the interwoven ecosystem and flawless nature of Apple’s products will make its growth prospects pretty much a sure thing for the foreseeable future. Remember, the entire U.S. smartphone market has just passed 50% penetration, so both platforms have nothing but growth ahead of them."We couldn't have put it better than that ourselves!
Via Forbes.
