The ToyBox

Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin

The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

By Ricardo Bilton | October 5, 2011, 1:07pm PDT

Summary: With the iPhone 4S, Apple is doing more than targeting its existing customers.

In the post iPhone 4S announcement world, you’ve probably been hearing the word “disappointment” thrown around a lot. Investors, journalists, and even regular people were let down - nay, disappointed - by Apple’s decision to not let the its next iPhone completely blow their minds.

Instead, Apple took a page from its own book, dropping the iPhone 4S in the mental spot everyone had reserved for the iPhone 5. An iterative upgrade, the move to the iPhone 4S is almost identical what Apple did with the iPhone 3GS. But doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking.

Apple, however, isn’t all too concerned with emotions. Dealing strictly with numbers, the iPhone 4S is one of the savviest business decisions Apple has ever made. It’s proof that Apple is paying attention, not to the most vocal consumers and bloggers, but the remaining bulk of people who don’t own iPhones at all.

If you already have an iPhone, then the iPhone 4S isn’t for you. Or about you. Apple is playing the expansion game with its latest device, a reality that Tim Cook himself alluded to during Tuesday’s unveiling. “The iPhone has 5% share of the worldwide market of handsets,” Cook said yesterday, and you could hear behind his words the entirety of Apple’s new strategy: Expand.

That’s why the iPhone 4S is a world phone, compatible with both GSM and CDMA networks. And also why the little old iPhone 3GS is now free on contract, and why Sprint and Japan’s KDDI are finally in on the action. It’s also why Apple made such a big deal about China and the burgeoning smartphone market there. Apple isn’t interested in recapturing the hearts and wallets of people who already own an iPhone. It wants everyone else.

Apple didn’t unveil the iPhone 5 yesterday because the iPhone 5 wasn’t a part of the plan. A newer, more expensive iPhone won’t help Apple take on Android’s market share, at least not in the short term. The iPhone 4S is about getting iOS in the hands of more and more media-hungry consumers. There may be a lot of disappointed people out there, but Apple’s stockholders won’t be among them.

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Topics

Apple iPhone, Apple Inc., iPhone 4S, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications.

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iPhone in the bargin bin

William Farrell 5th Oct

I didn't think it would happen so quickly

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

msalzberg 5th Oct

@William Farrell

Yep, only 2 1/2 years since the 3Gs intro.

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

Rick_Kl 5th Oct

@msalzberg someone sound bitter that WP 7 phones hit the bargain bin in record time, What was it, less than two months? And a year old iPhone still commands a premium price. You know what they say, no matter how long you polish a turd, it is still a turd. happy

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

tatiGmail 5th Oct

Oh really? iPhone is now going to compete with Optimus 1?

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

dcdavy 6th Oct

what is optimus 1 ?

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

austinguy23 5th Oct

That made no sense. Apple is capturing new customers by offering the 3GS for free with contract and the iPhone 4 for $99 with contract. That has nothing to do with the new version as the new version still costs a minimum of $199 with contract. Apple could have designed a larger screen and new form factor and sold it for the same price - $199.

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

tatiGmail 5th Oct

@austinguy23 You make sense... but think... Apple needs to make money. They know whether the new iPhone is kick ass or not, they will sell millions. So, why waste extra energy and money creating a new one? The sad thing is, they could have released this thing in July. But still, Kaching.

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I have a suspicion that this was not the phone Apple wanted to release

toddybottom 5th Oct

@tatiGmail
"The sad thing is, they could have released this thing in July."

I agree. I think releasing the iPhone 4S was their plan B. I suspect that the iPhone 5 was taking longer and longer to complete and they had to release something so the iPhone 4S was it.

It actually makes me quite interested in what the iPhone 5 will be like when it is finally released. Apple will have had 2.5 years to design it so I am expecting something pretty spectacular.

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

austinguy23 5th Oct

@tatiGmail " So, why waste extra energy and money creating a new one?"

Because Android devices kick ass these days. Apple has to bring their 'A' game with each release to remain King of the Hill.

The only reason Apple was able to get away with releasing the 3GS 2.5 years ago is because competition was lackluster back then.

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Not sure if they really could release iPhone 4S in July: universal ce

DeRSSS 5th Oct

@tatiGmail: ... cellular connection chip was not ready, as well as possibly A5 (iPad 2 version is too big phisically; it possible that A5 for iPhone 4S already uses better norm, though not sure about it; we have to see).

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

global.philosopher Updated - 5th Oct

@tatiGmail
For some poeple it is he physical look that maters. Others it is the software or both. I would have liked a 4" screen but I think Siri, faster processor, improved Antenna, improved Camera, iOS5 and iCloud and keeping batery life good are equally important whilst maintaining the ecosystem. Think about Android and WP7 phones that just keep touting screen size and you realise that the iPhone was a good increment. The iPhone 5 will be even better - opefully with a 4" screen.

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

sukumar@... 5th Oct

One flaw in the argument: iPhone 5 would've captured both existing and new customers.

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It was the build up

rhonin 5th Oct

AFter waiting 16 months, have an i4 and can upgrade, we see this.... the 4GS.... ho hum physically (outshined by the majority of the higher end Android phones) with no reall upgrade externally... software that while sounding cool either is a "catch up to Android of 6 months ago" or sort of new with limited audience (Siri - son of Ping and Facetime).

When you compare it to it's direct competitors; the Galaxy SII, Nexus S, Droid Bionic, EVO4D, etc... you find all, yes all of these phones exceed the 4S in most or all areas.

3 months from now the 4S will be even further behind. There are improvements and new functions being released so quickly the iPhone does not have time to rest on its reputation.

This was so ho-hum that Apple has to rely on their software and hope.

All this for a 16 month wait sad

So long iPhone. I will look you up in 2 years when my new contract will expire. But why do I feel that it will make no difference......

plain

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Let's see. World phone, best quality camera on a phone

baggins_z 5th Oct

motion stabilized HD video capture, voice interaction, dual intelligent antenna switching to double data throughput on 3G networks and you say it's a ho-hum phone? Why? Simple: It looks the same as the iPhone 4. And I'll lay money right now that you are one of these people who say Apple is all flash no substance and that you don't care what your computer looks like as long as it does the job.

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

somkiat@... 5th Oct

This makes the most sense. I totally agree.

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Incorrect. Most regular people were not disappointed

baggins_z 5th Oct

they were jazzed at motion stabilization, 1080p HD camcorder capability and fast, supercrisp gorgeous photos from their cell phone. Most of them probably also thought it very cool that the iPhone can play games faster than anything else in its form factor and that you can carry on a conversation with your phone.

The people who were universally disappointed were the same people who for years were disappointed every time a new iPod came out without an FM tuner. In other words, tech pundits and geeks who think usability=feature checklist.

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

Rick_Kl 5th Oct

@baggins_z I think I may just go out and buy one (iPhone 4S). Maybe just for the fact that it will get the Windows fanboys knickers in a twist. But in reality it would be more cost efficient to buy an iPhone over a Windows phone for me. For one I do not have to pay the Microsoft tax, secondly I can transfer all my music , videos, and movies without having to repurchase them form Microsoft with that horrid Zune software.

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

bradavon 5th Oct

In a world of premium Samsung and HTC plus 4G phones, the 4S was a mistake.

Both the Galaxy S2 and Sensation are superior, and both were released 6 months ago.

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

dcdavy 6th Oct

ha, ha, ha. No matter how good the Samsung&HTC hardware is, the software on it is still the same crappy droid. I've got HTC for less than a year and I will break the contract as soon as the 4s is around.

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Try that again

eMJayy 5th Oct

CDMA? Meh. Globally, it's irrelevant and, for all intents and purposes, extinct outside the US and Japan. The iPhone 4S? It's still a $650 phone in the US and will cost in excess of $850 on average in the third world...just like every other iPhone ever produced. A free iPhone 3GS with a contract? What does that have to do with any country outside the US? Just because carriers in the US are willing and financially able to subsidize a 3GS to that extent doesn't mean the 3GS is going to be an affordable iPhone purchase in most places outside the US.

Outside of Western territories, expensive, high-end, highly marketable phones like the iPhone are always paired with pricey postpaid voice and data contracts, making it impossible for the vast numbers of ordinary folks to own one. Your free 3GS in the US is actually a $250+ phone in the third world and no carrier is going to put a phone that expensive on anything resembling a cheap monthly data plan for the masses. In developing countries, any phone that is too expensive to be offered on a prepaid plan will not see much adoption. That was always the fate of the iPhone. Nothing's changed.

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

dcdavy 6th Oct

the question is: who cares ?

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RE: The iPhone 4S isn't about you. It's about everyone else

Voltus 6th Oct

Apple make more profit by expanding the market. Revenue comes from application and music. More people use iPhone, more revenue. New iPhone 5 just make existing iPhone 4 user to move to iPhone 5, and transfer their apps and music. Apple don't get sales from music and apps. So, this strategy is right, and I hope iPhone 5 will come next year with fantastic feature (Surprise us !!!)

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me thinks

oneleft 6th Oct

that 5 will be reserved for 4g technology. and as we all know the 4g chip currently is a major battery drain and a bit large.
by the time 4g is more pervasive some of this may have been addressed and the iphone 5 will see larger screens and keep it's thinner design.