Apple 'leaving money on the table' by not releasing big-screen iPhone

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  • Reply 241 of 318
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,211member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post





    I'm sure Apple isn't gonna spend money just to spend it. Why waste 12.5 billion on a has-been mobile device company?



    Btw, you prob mean Android 4.2 is better because most Android devices are stuck at 2.x.


    Perhaps a little surprising: Over 42% are now reported to be running 4.x.


    It's a slow grind, and you're right that just over half are still on a 2.x version, but it's getting better.

  • Reply 242 of 318
    jason98jason98 Posts: 768member
    drewyboy wrote: »
    Yawn,
    Same people said Apple was "leaving money on the table" when netbooks came about. All I have to say is WHEN Apple releases an "iMessage" for voice calls, it will shift the market.

    What are you talking about. Such an app exists for long time. It is called FaceTime. And guess what it supports video as well.
  • Reply 243 of 318
    arlorarlor Posts: 532member


    With about 99% confidence, I believe that:


     


    1. Apple will eventually make a 4.5-5" phone (and perhaps keep making a smaller model as well). 


     


    2. About 95%* of the people who have written in this thread to argue that either (a) that Apple never will do so and/or (b) that such a device would be useless/dangerous/thiefbait will eventually own and like one. I would save the evidence of what they're saying now so that I can write "gotcha" when they reverse themselves later, but I'm too lazy.


     


     


    * Respect to tallest skil for not reversing himself on the value of the iPad mini...so far. He did have to admit he was wrong about the market demand for it, though.


     


    Bonus thought: IMO, I think 4.5" is the right size for a phone, 7" (4x3 aspect) the right size for an ebook reader, and 10" (16x9 or 16x10) the right size for a full-function tablet. But I'm not going to pretend that my preferences are the God-Given Truth for everybody.

  • Reply 244 of 318

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    There's a reason for that.



    You're right, and I explained it fully in the post you quoted from.

  • Reply 245 of 318
    Poor eyesight is a big driver behind these big phones. Seniors like the simplicity of use of iOS, but they can't see what they're doing because they're old with crappy eyesight. They love the ipad because they can see it. Just give them the big iphone they want and I'll buy one too.
  • Reply 246 of 318
    ruel24ruel24 Posts: 432member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    The opposite, in fact.





    You keep saying it, but providing no proof. The Mac is a niche player, period. It's a great computer, but it's not for everyone, and the market mostly has dismissed it, thus far. I love the Mac, but lets get real here. It's only a few percentage points above Linux in the market, and if you factor in enterprise usage, it gets waxed by Linux. It's a niche player, period.

  • Reply 247 of 318
    ruel24ruel24 Posts: 432member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Arlor View Post


    2. About 95%* of the people who have written in this thread to argue that either (a) that Apple never will do so and/or (b) that such a device would be useless/dangerous/thiefbait will eventually own and like one. I would save the evidence of what they're saying now so that I can write "gotcha" when they reverse themselves later, but I'm too lazy.



    Isn't that the truth? Some of the devoted ones here will argue on and on that if Apple didn't think of it, it's stupid. "Why would anyone want a bigger phone? Steve Jobs thought they were all too big. Besides, Apple knows best. If the current iPhone is what Apple makes, it must be best for everyone." This mentality is really off-putting and makes many people steer clear of Apple products. You should see the comments from people all over the internet about how narrow minded and hypnotized the Apple devoted are. They literally want to puke, and many cite it as a reason they avoid Apple products. People, you're not helping Apple by being so blind.

  • Reply 248 of 318


    Originally Posted by ruel24 View Post

    The Mac is a niche player, period.


     


    No, it's built for the middle man. For the everyone. It's the computer designed for the person in the middle of the road, everyone, as broad as possible, to cover as large a market as possible. The niches are the people for whom it doesn't work. The people who believe they need multiple internal hard drives or the ones who DO need copious amounts of RAM and workstation processors. 






    It's a niche player, period.



     


    Ah, the old "If I keep repeating it, that makes it true" bit.

  • Reply 249 of 318
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by toysandme View Post



    I'm getting a 5 inch +/- this year. Apple had better have one for me.


     


    Or..what? You'll send Tim Cook an angry email? Apple is not going to make a 5inch phone this year. Accept that and move on. 

  • Reply 250 of 318
    bautc wrote: »
    herbapou wrote: »
    If apple doesnt have a big screen when my contract expires, i am buying a nexus phone. And i am not alone
    Agree.  I will also go with a larger screen if Apple does have one when my iphone contract expires--it would be first non-Apple phone since the iPhone was released.  Also, no I don't want phone functions in an iPad mini.  Finally, I also understand that many of you don't want a larger screen.  That's fine.  It's why there is an 11" and 13" MBA and a 13" and 15" MBP.  People want some options with screen size.  I will make due with pocketability problems and one handed operation problems to gain the benefits of the larger screen,

    Apple could solve this issue by releasing two models and doing away with the others.  1. A plastic low end model with a 3GS body, lightning connector, and 4" screen.  2. A high end 5" screen with current body style of the ipad mini or current iphone five with upgraded internals.  This would solve their problem with size of screens.  Gives them a lower cost option and pushes lightning across all phones.
    What about the people, who currently make up the vast majority of iPhone 5 and 4s users, who want a high end, smaller phone, with the best quality build anf best internals?
  • Reply 251 of 318
    arlorarlor Posts: 532member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tonton View Post





    What about the people, who currently make up the vast majority of iPhone 5 and 4s users, who want a high end, smaller phone, with the best quality build anf best internals?


     


    I don't think anybody would hold it against Apple for making (continuing to make) that product for those customers. 


     


    Why should they resent Apple making a phone with a bigger screen for the other customers? I haven't counted, but on skimming through the whole thread it seems to me that at least 1/3 of the posters say they would buy it. 


     


    ps. I'll resist saying (citation needed) on "vast majority." I think all that's definitively established is that the people with iPhones prefer iPhones to other brand/OS combinations. The 5 has already outsold the 4S, right? That suggests that the 1/2-inch increase was not a mistake. I just can't believe that selling 2 sizes would destroy the iPhone magic. Heck, there are already two colors! That's one more than Google has put on its Nexus models. 

  • Reply 252 of 318

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    No, it's built for the middle man. For the everyone. It's the computer designed for the person in the middle of the road, everyone, as broad as possible, to cover as large a market as possible. The niches are the people for whom it doesn't work. The people who believe they need multiple internal hard drives or the ones who DO need copious amounts of RAM and workstation processors. 



    I don't think Macs are a niche product, but I don't think your criteria are the right ones.  To serve a niche a product doesn't have to be peculiar or useless for the rest of the market.  I would consider Linux a niche product as far as general consumers are concerned, but that doesn't mean it's not designed to be used by everyone.  Linux could very easily replace Windows or Mac from a functionality standpoint, but it's a niche product because a very small number of people prefer it over the other platforms.

  • Reply 253 of 318
    ruel24ruel24 Posts: 432member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wakefinance View Post


    I don't think Macs are a niche product, but I don't think your criteria are the right ones.  To serve a niche a product doesn't have to be peculiar or useless for the rest of the market.  I would consider Linux a niche product as far as general consumers are concerned, but that doesn't mean it's not designed to be used by everyone.  Linux could very easily replace Windows or Mac from a functionality standpoint, but it's a niche product because a very small number of people prefer it over the other platforms.





    Which is why I say the Mac is a niche product. The Mac has about 6.4 percent of the market for consumer use.


     


    http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0

  • Reply 254 of 318


    Macs are mainstream computing devices. They're built with the same intel / nvidia components as Wintel PCs, and OS X is a BSD UNIX based operating system with support for the GNU toolchain. And you can run goddamned Microsoft Office and Outlook on it. You'd better believe Macs competes directly with Windows boxes. Even if most buyers choose Windows.


     


    Open a dictionary: niche does not mean "tiny market." Niche means specialized. Macs aren't specialized: they are general purpose computers for anyone who is ready to kick Windows to the curb. Macs aren't as popular as Windows because Windows compatibility (and familiarity) creates "stickiness" to Microsoft's platform. That has to be overcome to win market share away from Windows.


     


    Got it?

  • Reply 255 of 318
    kavokkavok Posts: 51member
    I like the iPhone just the way it is. Those wider pieces of plastic are just fugly and I'd be worried about how I was going to put that thing in my pocket, let alone sit down somewhere while it's in there.

    The iPhone was designed to be primarily a phone, and that's what it is. The others are trying to be phone and tablet-jack of all trades, master of none.
  • Reply 256 of 318
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,211member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tonton View Post





    What about the people, who currently make up the vast majority of iPhone 5 and 4s users, who want a high end, smaller phone, with the best quality build anf best internals?


    You've seen a significant share of current iPhone users clamoring for a display smaller than 3.5"?? That's hard to believe, but I guess it's possible. Is there some survey somewhere you've seen? Just curious, no biggie.

  • Reply 257 of 318


    If you have a problem reading on your iPhone. Navigate to your Settings menu and open it. Scroll down until you see the options to tinker with your General settings. To change the size of the fonts used on your iPhone, you’ll need to open up the device’s Accessibility options. With your iPhone’s Accessibility options pane now open, select Large Text. Your iPhone supports fonts up to 56 points in size. Choose the size that is most comfortable for you.


     


    Summary: You don't need to buy a new phone with a big screen to read it.  

  • Reply 258 of 318
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,320moderator
    Oh... so the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S weren't selling that well so Apple brought out the 4" iPhone 5 to compete with the larger phones that were selling well...  :rolleyes:

    The 4 and 4S were selling just fine. Having a bigger screen is better to the point it doesn't affect the usability of the device so they pushed it as far as they could with the iPhone 5.

    If they choose to go further, they're going affect usability. They could choose to do that and market it differently but they retained the PPI going to the iPhone 5. They can't do that going to a bigger phone without having another resolution for developers to deal with.
    elliots11 wrote:
    Seniors like the simplicity of use of iOS, but they can't see what they're doing because they're old with crappy eyesight.

    Really? It's all old people walking around with their $500 Galaxy S3 phones sexting and running apps? I would love to meet these cool oldies.
    ruel24 wrote:
    I love the Mac, but lets get real here. It's only a few percentage points above Linux in the market

    Yeah as in 1.2% vs 7%:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems

    as in nearly 6x the marketshare. Linux is to OS X what OS X is to Windows 7 (no, not better than OS X).

    OS X share is more impressive when you factor in that it only runs on more expensive Mac hardware. Linux runs on everything and it's free and still nobody wants it. Also, at some point they'll have to factor in tablets for everyone and Apple is doing pretty well there:

    http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/14/2706292/apple-ipad-computer-market-share-chart
  • Reply 259 of 318


    Linux is hard. OS X is easy but expensive. Windows is easy and cheap.


    Linux is great and powerful. OS X is very good and quite powerful. Windows is.


     


    From that matrix, you can conclude that most people prefer easy and cheap over powerful and great, on a ratio of 1 to 6 for each increment.


     


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post







    OS X share is more impressive when you factor in that it only runs on more expensive Mac hardware. Linux runs on everything and it's free and still nobody wants it. 

  • Reply 260 of 318
    jas99jas99 Posts: 149member
    ruel24 wrote: »

    Funny, given the marketshare outside US, the market seems to disagree with you. Android now pummels the iPhone in worldwide marketshare.
    Not in smartphone marketshare. Don't add stupid "feature phones" to the argument.
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