Clayton Christensen continually predicts that Apple will be disrupted because his theory does not incorporate the importance of the user experience.
The $550 iPhone 5C Makes Perfect Sense
I can sympathize with the inability of many folks to grok exactly what Apple is thinking with iPhone 5C pricing. I myself was confused until just before launch, when I wrote Thinking about iPhone Pricing and honed in on the idea of “good-enough.” In the case of the iPhone, the 3G was clearly better than […]
Two Minutes, Fifty-six Seconds
After endless dithering, that’s how long it took me to know the iPhone 5C would cost $549. It was at two minutes, fifty-six seconds1 that Tim Cook said there would be a video – a video! – about the iTunes Festival. And it was awesome. In case you didn’t watch the whole video (and you […]
Thinking about iPhone Pricing
Before the 5C was well-known, I argued that sticking with just one new iPhone model a year had a dangerous precedent: Ford, and the Model-T: Still, the idea that Ford became overly focused on production as opposed to customer needs is a worrying one; if this fall brings nothing more than a 5S, with the […]
Shameless Samsung
Samsung introduced the Galaxy Gear yesterday, and, yeah, it’s not great. Even Samsung fans are mocking the company saying they should have waited for Apple. — Sammy the Walrus IV (@SammyWalrusIV) September 4, 2013 I jumped on the leaked prototype, with the same general sentiment: Samsung’s watch will undoubtedly change drastically whenever Apple’s wearable is […]
If Apple is Disrupted, Will We Blame Tim Cook?
I’m not predicting the following will happen, but I’m also not saying it won’t.1 September 18, 2018, Beijing, China – In a development few could have foreseen even five years ago, it’s Beijing and its global icon Xiaomi that is the star of September, the role formerly filled by the increasingly irrelevant Apple. At 10AM […]
If Steve Ballmer Ran Apple
Bear with me, I know my premise is ridiculous. Imagine Steve Ballmer was right now the CEO of Apple, with the same set of products and opportunities. Suspend disbelief about cultural clashes, or organizational structure. Presume Ballmer could set the strategy, and that Apple would execute it accordingly. In this scenario Apple would make more […]
C is for Changing My Mind
Yesterday’s article about iPhone 5c pricing prompted a vigorous discussion on Twitter, and I’m changing my mind on a few points (I told you I have strong opinions weakly held!): I was always wavering on the 3G idea: Imagine an LTE iPhone 5C sold to post-pay carriers, and a non-LTE iPhone 5C sold at a […]
C is for Choices
I have to admit, it was a bit of a thrill breaking the news to the western world of the latest iPhone leak: Taiwan's Apple Daily claims to have iPhones 5C and 5S: http://t.co/bAZ8F49Wzn Double flash on 5S, highly scratch-resistant plastic on 5C. — Ben Thompson (@monkbent) August 21, 2013 Still, it really wasn’t anything new […]
The App Store Rainbow
Postulate: The greatest differentiator for iOS is the quality of its apps. That’s the position taken by Benedict Evans in a must-read piece: If total Android engagement moves decisively above iOS, the fact that iOS will remain big will be beside the point – it will move from first to first-equal and then perhaps second […]