Apple: still setting the agenda after all these years…
How has Apple succeeded in setting the agenda of an entire industry that at least on the basis of units sold, it does not lead?
A decade on, nobody would dispute that the iPhone changed the technological ecosystem. At the time it generated criticism: it was expensive, it was not 3G, it was not the most comfortable to make calls on, it had no keyboard… and yet soon after, every new device tried to look as much as possible as an iPhone, each hoping to be crowned the iPhone-killer.
Little has changed: the iPhone X is not the first smartphone with facial recognition, but it does seem to be the first to have got it right. It is not even the first bezel-less terminal, but again, its interface is better designed interface with that in mind: from now on all smartphones will be bezel-less. And so on with any number of other details: the company is not an innovator, but it somehow makes official each feature and function it incorporates, making them obligatory for everyone else. No brand, no matter how hard it tries, can make its product launches into global events to which being invited is a privilege, dominating media coverage in the process.
It has even managed to break the price barrier: the time has come, says Apple, to spend more than €1,000 on a smartphone. And the market will accept this, because the thinking is that a smartphone is already much more than a mere phone, we use it continually throughout the day, in many cases, more than we do a computer, so it makes sense it should cost as much as a computer. After all, it is more complex technologically, has as many functions, but packed into a much smaller space, and in addition, smartphones have components and sensors that laptops and desktop do not.
Taking battery technology to the limit, creating new identification systems, devising new camera technologies and incorporating machine learning systems and specifically prepared chips all cost money: a mobile phone does not scan your face to identify you as its user, it doesn’t have cameras that apply machine learning algorithms to optimize each photograph they take, that can be charged simply by leaving it on a base, or that incorporate or optimize a few more functions. The price of smartphones as a category has long been declining thanks to the development of increasingly accessible terminals for countries with weak or developing economies, but Apple knows that this is not their market, and isn’t interested in competing in it.
At the same time, the company is willing to make a clear commitment to services in its strategy: if you are an Apple user you can pay for additional storage on iCloud, for Apple Music, and given the price of their terminals, for insurance at AppleCare, which consequently increases its prices. In return devices that its users love and that they systematically give high satisfaction rating that other brands can only dream of, that last longer, and if they have a problem, they can take it to a store where pleasant, intelligent people treat you and your luxury product with respect.
As the man said: you pays your money and you takes your choice: the luxury market is what it is. For those who do not want luxury, there are plenty of other brands. Meanwhile, a decade on, with Steve Jobs or without him, Apple continues to set the agenda.
(En español, aquí)
