The iPhone scene got a lot more interesting with the launch of new models, particularly the iPhone X (pronounced ten they said) commemorating 2007 and the passage of 10 years after the Steve Jobs launch that changed the face of the world.
The android versus iPhones debate will rage on even more now. Every time we see and follow an iPhone launch event in detail it must be said that it’s sorely tempting to buy one. The willpower needed to keep off a lifestyle product is indeed high.
There is sane advice from investment managers that one lakh rupees is better saved than in splurging on the lifestyle icon, which the iPhone X is certain to become. True, the features are great as seen when Tim Cook and his able assistants show us the new phone’s capabilities. It’s awesome what the new watch becomes a standalone communication device as in the Apple employee on the surfboard talking into the giant screen at the brand new Steve Jobs auditorium in Cupertino inside the futuristic, solar-powered Apple campus.
Where the Androids score is in packing the features most everyday users need into a price that is less than half what one has to pay for a comparable iPhone. Not that Job’s successors don't know the price resistance factor in India, which they are tackling constantly by dropping the price on their older models. To get into the Apple ecosystem is a big step. Your gut feeling tells you that once you are in, it's not that easy to exit and then there is the iPad and the watch to pair with the phone, etc.
In his need to lace every event with humour, the radio jockey says it’s time to sell both kidneys to buy the iPhone X. For a 24x7 companion that phones have become, pricing may not remain the biggest concern as aspirations drive people on to the best being offered - wider, brighter, bezel free, more battery life, etc. The comparative Android may not have the Super Retina, the Face ID or the bionic chip, but it does all the basic functions a user needs.
The battle at the high end may not be all about price though. The competitor Android may have a larger market share but Apple has staked out the high end well enough for its iconic presence among the elite and the passionate Apple product user who feels the word is his oyster. And then there is the personalised Animoji emoji feature to consider. Apple has consistently beaten the regular market forces in increasing the prices of its new phones while the Androids pride themselves on giving more for less even as their prices keep dropping.
I kind of like it that Android competition is driving prices down and you can own a perfectly workmanlike Android with the big RAM and bigger storage with battery life long enough to make it through a working day. Having seen too many iPhone owners struggle to make it through the day with portable phone chargers, the powerful Android seems to make sense. Of course, the new X model promises to last two hours longer on one charge and then there is also the convenience of the wireless charging that makes phone use more comfortable as the device pings away with incoming calls and messages while on the charge.
The high end Androids have the wireless charging feature too. The situation is probably highly in favour of the Androids at the moment but any scenario could see the iPhone rising, perhaps slowly in India, though not at the level of the X. Currently Apple has about 3 % share of the smartphone market in India. It can be expected to rise as aspirational Indians reach out for a symbol of the high life, a lifestyle accessory more than a utility device, a status symbol more than a communication device. Because the numbers are small at the moment, any growth for Apple would seem exponential. But they seem to have the mix right in offering discounts, buybacks, etc., which in Steve Jobs’ time would have been unthinkable although Jobs himself was a highly price conscious innovator.
When Jobs introduced the iPhone 10 years ago, it was a phone, internet gateway and an iPod rolled into one. Now it does so much more that it’s no more to be classified as a ‘phone’. It's a signpost to the future that the sci-fi “just a screen” look is likely to take off along with augmented reality, etc. But then the tech world changes so fast that there is no predicting when the next great thing will come along to make the iPhone X look old fashioned. Even so, I would personally settle for the Android while the iPad Pro lets me enjoy the features of the esoteric world of Cupertino.
