Theory – Apple are copying Sony’s model

T

takenthesmeg

macrumors member
This might be obvious to a lot of you. But it just crystallised for me and I wanted to get some further thoughts on the subject.

The reason there is not yet an iPhone Nano is because there is not an old iPhone model to produce smaller and cheaper. There is really only one iPhone at this point (3G is a tac on). Nokia don’t sell completely new models cheaply, that would be crazy. They simply take old technology that has already paid itself off and make it cheaply. A perfect example of this type of thing is the Sony PS1.

In addition, Apple appears to be copying the console model. I.e. same hardware, same OS, keep it the same for years = easy for developers + all games work for everyone.

And put this together…. Smaller, cheaper, but otherwise identical iPhone 3G = iPhone Nano. Complete with a back catalogue of programs and proven technology. This makes even more sense when you consider the res of the iPhone screen isn’t that high, thus making it smaller with the same res shouldn’t be a problem at all.

If the above proves correct then I think competitors are going to get smashed on all levels. Not just at the top end. Thoughts?

This topic is continued in a new thread
 
How can you compare Apple to Sony? Count the total number of products that Apple makes, and then count the total number of products that Sony makes, and explain to me how you can compare their business models in any way whatsoever.
 
I think your biggest error was the whole "same hardware same software", see that is what other companies do, they make something cool ( like PS1 ) and then they beat every dollar out of that dead horse until they notice a significant decline in sales at which point they will either make a small change ( Like smaller hardware that does the same thing ) or if they don't think a change like that will be profitable THEN and only then will they consider making something new ( PS2, PS3 etc. ).

Apple has a philosophy of always being on the cutting edge of innovation, so once we all touched our first iPhone, they were already wrapping up designing iPhone 3G. Think of any of their products, walk into an Apple store and look around, is anything "Old Technology" like walking through the electronics aisle at Best Buy? Everything is cutting edge AND most likely everything in the store has huge improvements in hardware and software in the works.

That is why Apple is so great, they never stop innovating, they never wait for the end of a products life to create new versions of it... They're constantly moving forward.
 
xbuddycorex. lol at your quote "beat every dollar out of that dead horse until they notice a significant decline in sales".

I guess what I am trying to suggest is that there won't be an iPhone nano until Apple can make the current iPhone 3G smaller and much cheaper, while releasing a much better new model. That said, I think you are right that Apple wouldn't stop innovating and would probably throw some minor new features into the nano.
 
MAG. said:
The truth is all companies copy each others ideas and make them 'look' like it's their own.
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Yup! This is called industrial design! Happens in art, photography, music, and just about every "creative" industry you can name. :)
 
And I highly doubt we would ever see an iPhone Nano unless 10 million Derek Zoolanders appeared. It just seems to me they would have to dumb down some of the features to make a smaller multi-touch screen possible. I know that Apple has tossed around an idea for a flip iPhone ( even got a patent for the design ) but at the same time if you look through Apples patent history you'll find a lot of interesting ideas that never came to fruition. It's just part of their innovating and protecting their inventions.
 
How about this scenario: 2009 Apple bring out iPhone 2.0 with sexy hardware upgrades. Then sometime after that (maybe 2010) when the hardware for the current iPhone 3G becomes cheap to make, they bring out an iPhone Lite. Basically the same as iPhone 3G, but thinner, lighter, and cheaper. I guess there would be no major reason to make the screen smaller.
 
takenthesmeg said:
How about this scenario: 2009 Apple bring out iPhone 2.0 with sexy hardware upgrades. Then sometime after that (maybe 2010) when the hardware for the current iPhone 3G becomes cheap to make, they bring out an iPhone Lite. Basically the same as iPhone 3G, but thinner, lighter, and cheaper. I guess there would be no major reason to make the screen smaller.
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All of these theories have been sufficiently shot down already. No matter how much business clout you think yourself to have, the bottom line is it isn't Apple's philosophy.
 
takenthesmeg said:
SNIP
And put this together…. Smaller, cheaper, but otherwise identical iPhone 3G = iPhone Nano. Complete with a back catalogue of programs and proven technology. This makes even more sense when you consider the res of the iPhone screen isn’t that high, thus making it smaller with the same res shouldn’t be a problem at all.

If the above proves correct then I think competitors are going to get smashed on all levels. Not just at the top end. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

The size of your fingers does not change. Hence the UI guidelines for the iPhone and the size of things on the iPhone. Apple's using Apple's model.
Sony isn't even using it's own "model"!

You can't just fit the same UI in a smaller screen, through using a higher resolution - as making the icons, spacing etc smaller than a certain size runs into the finger problem - see the usefulness ofa landscape keyboard vs portrait one.
 
I have a theory, that you copied the CNET's idea with its theory article of Apple becoming Sony without Steve Jobs.
 
All of Apple's products have a base set of requirements...functions they must be able to perform. For example, all of its desktops and laptops can make advanced movies with iMovie (the hardware is good enough to allow fast rendering, etc.), work with photos, browse the web at high speeds, etc.

Apple sets up a higher tier when there are features beyond those of every consumer's need...aka faster video card, larger screen, quad- or octo-processing, etc. Not everyone heavily uses Photoshop and be a pro-user.

The iPhone will be split when this happens in the iPhone market...when there are features that clearly every user does not need. This might mean video calling, this might mean 4G speeds, etc. Or, if costs remain low enough, it might never happen. Just maybe, Apple will feel that every user needs all of those features, and that iPhone would be incomplete without them. In that case, the line might never be split.

Right now, the one-size-fits-all phone works well. Until that is no longer the case, I really see no reason for Apple to dillute the line and vary prices a bit (not that anyone would complain if AT&T lowered those data prices just a tad).
 
takenthesmeg said:
xbuddycorex. lol at your quote "beat every dollar out of that dead horse until they notice a significant decline in sales".

I guess what I am trying to suggest is that there won't be an iPhone nano until Apple can make the current iPhone 3G smaller and much cheaper, while releasing a much better new model. That said, I think you are right that Apple wouldn't stop innovating and would probably throw some minor new features into the nano.
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Better suggestion, we wont see an iphone nano.

To quote steve jobs "Babe Ruth only had one homerun, but he kept on hitting it over and over"


Apple at this point doesn't want to diversify their iphone, they just want to stick to one model and make it better and better.
 
takenthesmeg said:
This might be obvious to a lot of you. But it just crystallised for me and I wanted to get some further thoughts on the subject.

The reason there is not yet an iPhone Nano is because there is not an old iPhone model to produce smaller and cheaper. There is really only one iPhone at this point (3G is a tac on). Nokia don’t sell completely new models cheaply, that would be crazy. They simply take old technology that has already paid itself off and make it cheaply. A perfect example of this type of thing is the Sony PS1.

In addition, Apple appears to be copying the console model. I.e. same hardware, same OS, keep it the same for years = easy for developers + all games work for everyone.

And put this together…. Smaller, cheaper, but otherwise identical iPhone 3G = iPhone Nano. Complete with a back catalogue of programs and proven technology. This makes even more sense when you consider the res of the iPhone screen isn’t that high, thus making it smaller with the same res shouldn’t be a problem at all.

If the above proves correct then I think competitors are going to get smashed on all levels. Not just at the top end. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I think it’s safe to say the consensus is that Apple won’t be reducing the size of the screen anytime soon.

That said. There are around 17 Million iPhones at this point. In a few years time I assume there will still be a lot of these old phones in use. Combine that with the near certainty Apple will be releasing upgraded hardware, then there is guaranteed to be two or more classes of iPhone. Developers will no doubt keep this in mind. Sure Apple will probably keep iPhone Gen 1 up to date with software (Listening Nokia?). But they can’t change the old hardware out there.

….At this point Apple will have a choice. Do they release iPhone Lite (based on the original iPhone – which will be around for a while to come)? Or just keep focusing on the latest and greatest. Should they release iPhone Lite, they could then start competing in the lower segments of the market as it would almost certainly be much cheaper to produce the hardware by then.

Thoughts?
 
Wasn't the N-series keyboard designed by the same person who designed the MacBook keyboard? :confused:
 
takenthesmeg said:
I think it’s safe to say the consensus is that Apple won’t be reducing the size of the screen anytime soon.

That said. There are around 17 Million iPhones at this point. In a few years time I assume there will still be a lot of these old phones in use. Combine that with the near certainty Apple will be releasing upgraded hardware, then there is guaranteed to be two or more classes of iPhone. Developers will no doubt keep this in mind. Sure Apple will probably keep iPhone Gen 1 up to date with software (Listening Nokia?). But they can’t change the old hardware out there.

….At this point Apple will have a choice. Do they release iPhone Lite (based on the original iPhone – which will be around for a while to come)? Or just keep focusing on the latest and greatest. Should they release iPhone Lite, they could then start competing in the lower segments of the market as it would almost certainly be much cheaper to produce the hardware by then.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I don't think there is a point of competing in the lower priced market because the markets are converging. The high priced smart phone market is basically becoming a sub category of the regular cellular market (as prices drop, and demand increases), and chances are that in the near future you won't really find the class of phones that we might define as regular cell phones (like the phones of 5 years ago). I figure Apple should just stick to the one-size-fits-all philosophy that has done them so well, because by virtue of the product itself (the iPhone), Apple has altered the characteristics of the market (people want an all purpose device). You probably won't see many new phones without email, internet, or music capabilities (as being the focus) as a result of the near universal appeal of that model to the market. Conversely, you'll probably see the price of smart phones like the iPhone continue to drop, until they supplant the lower priced market completely.
 
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