GLOBAL, APRIL 30, 2013 – The latest release of flagship Android smartphones by Samsung and HTC could spell the end for Apple’s dominance in the mobile computing market, according to Mindshare, but has the tech giant already moved onto the next big thing?
The early adoption phase for smartphone and tablets is over, and as Apple has always taken a small volume, large value approach against Google’s large volume, low revenue formula, the news that ten years after the launch of iTunes Apple is faced with flagging sales of the iPhone and iPad range, while devices running Google’s Android are in the ascendancy*, should not be a surprise.
The question is whether Samsung’s new Galaxy S4, for instance – which feels like the most complete smartphone yet and replaces your living room remote, can monitor your calorie intake and even allow you beam content on your phone directly to any other Samsung device – signals the end of an era for Apple, or merely the beginning of a new disruptive decade?
Mindshare Worldwide chief digital officer Norm Johnston said: “The big question is what is Apple up to now? Has Apple already committed itself to disrupting the TV market with Apple TV? Or will the company that has defined the early 2000s now move to redefine mobility itself, with new smart watches and other wearable technology that connects our lives to the internet of things?”
With Apple products now in a post-Jobs era, Johnston believes we are at a pivotal point and while there is no doubt that Apple remains an important player in the smartphone market, the fact that other brands such as HTC and Samsung, not to mention Sony, have caught up, has given consumers far more choice when it comes to choosing their next phone.
“There was a time where the latest iPhone release was a seminal moment in technology each year but the last few launches have not captured the imagination in the way Apple products once did. Where Apple goes next in mobility will be key to opening up new advertising and product possibilities for brands that are willing to embrace a new adaptive environment.
“The Nike+ Fuelband is just one example of how data, mobility and wearable tech is coming together. Google Glass is another example, so if Apple is working on the next era of mobility, we should all be excited and it could help to open up new markets and opportunities for brands.”
* A recent study by the technology sector analysis firm IDC reported that Apple’s majority rule of the tablet market will end in 2013 for the first time since the iPad was introduced, with the Cupertino, Calif., company’s share of the market expected to drop from 51 percent in 2012 to 46 percent in 2013. Android devices will grow from 41.5 percent of the market in 2012 to more than 48 percent in 2013, the study concluded http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23946013.
Photo from: phoneArena.com
