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 […]
HTC’s – and Windows Phone’s – Missing Market
According to Digitimes, HTC won’t use the top-of-the-line Qualcomm processor in their new phablet: HTC reportedly will adopt an old Qualcomm processor, the quad-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ 8064, for production of its first large-size HTC One Max to be launched in October 2013, according to sources in the supply chain. Some sources said […]
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 […]
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 iPad is like the iPod, not the iPhone
Most folks seem to instinctively compare the iPad and the tablet market to the iPhone and smartphone market, and it’s easy to see why. They share the same OS, the same competitor, many of the same apps, and, of course, the same time period – the present. But in reality – and this touches on […]
Observations on the App Annie Index
App Annie posted their quarterly app report this week, and there were three big-picture trends that jumped out at me. 1. Google Play is getting over the monetization hump, and it’s likely due to in-app purchase From the report: Over the past quarter, Google Play has achieved higher growth rates than the iOS App Store […]
The iPad and the Disaggregation of Computing
In the 10 days this blog has been online I’ve spent a lot of time on mobile, and understandably so! It’s the biggest business in tech, and the entry point to computing for much of the world. But, like many geeks, it is traditional computers that have always been closest to my heart, and what […]