Thoughts on iPhone and iOS

Posted by Sanjaychandra on March 21, 2013 09:00 am 9

There are many flagships which are announced from past 3 months from almost all companies.Question is , how does iPhone 5 competes with them ?

My personal opinion is that , Even though iPhone "line-up" is never about bragging marketshare (compared to iPad line-up where Apple always speaks of marketshare numbers) , Its not because Apple doesn't care about marketshare of iPhone but because number aren't great in comparison to Android.

I have been watching carefully , Ever since Android got 50% share , Apple stopped talking about marketshare of iPhone in every single keynote , In 4S keynote I think Cook said "We think all phones will eventually become smartphones and iPhone has 5% share worldwide".In Steve's keynote , there is always mention of iPhone's marketshare in US.

Android dominance is clearly seen from past 3 years And now there are blackberry , WP and there will be Ubuntu , Tizen in future.But Apple gets like 2/3rd profits of smartphone business , so marketshare may be irrelevant.But how does iPhone 5 stand out from those ? iPhone 5 is definitely not the fastest anymore after so many devices which came after it.iPhone is definitely not having anything to brag about to be "the best" apart from sales.

I think there is unfair comparison made by people about iPhone , for screen people compare it to Lumia 920 , for speed they compare it to S3 or S4 most probably.For each aspect they compare different device.But there is something which is special about iPhone , Answer is "overall package" you can get.

In individual aspects , there is nothing "the best" in iPhone but when u look at the "whole device" itself , iPhone definitely excels others.

Recently PCMag released their reader's choice saying WP8 is the best voted OS with iOS coming runner up.There are some interesting arguments I heard from people and I think they are very legit and fair :

"Different between Android-iOS users and WIndows Phone users is that , WP users most probably had a big chance that they are coming from iOS or Android but Android-iOS users definitely have the lowest chance that they are coming from WP8 , therefore making BS about WP8 is wrong"

"Most WP users come to Windows Phone platform with their own interest but they don't get a WP because their friends or family has it , So its natural that loyalty in WP base is high"

I think that's the same reason why iPhone came out second . I did try out WP8 and even wrote my experience , even though WP8 rocks in many ways , There are some tiny things which make a big frustration.iPhone's battery is another argument where people say iPhone leads over other devices but I have seen lots of posts in Apple website and even in Apple core regarding disappointing battery life in iPhone 5 (Lot of threads not just few) but good thing is recharging is very fast.

From the past few months , Consumer satisfaction rates are equally given to WP8 and Android devices along with iOS .Generally consumer satisfaction is one of the areas what iPhone used to brag about but now other platforms are doing pretty good as well.

But One thing is true , iPhone was never meant to be about speeds and feeds.It about "Experience" always.

But where does iPhone Excel at ?

Apps , Games and Eco System along with service/support provided by Apple.This is where other platforms fail very bad.Its overall package and experience.

Apple products are like pieces of a puzzle where each piece is one product and when u get more products , The "picture" gets clear and Things get better.

At the end :

Where does it fall short of ?

Answer is easy , less options to customize and highly limited hardware choice.iPhone is not the best in any "Individual aspect".

This is exactly where competitors take advantage of.

Your thoughts ?