There’s an excellent post over at Mobile Behavior that uses Apple’s announcement that they’ve sold 1.5 billion apps to synthesize what makes everyone’s approach to out-Apple-ing Apple seem so very myopic.
As I see it, those competitors tend to miss the point on two main fronts:
1. They overestimate the importance of hardware
Apple has always managed to have beautiful hardware while still managing to avoid the spec pissing contest that many others get roped into.
The increasing consolidation in the electronics and chip-making business means that any hardware innovation will quickly be copied by competitors, making any device’s advantages short lived.
The hardware spec battle has a limited lifespan, especially with the general public. Sure the iPhone doesn’t have a camera the caliber of some other devices but at some point soon that arms race is going to yield limited returns and it’s amazing how others can still miss that point . With time, the best hardware will continue to get cheaper and smaller for everyone. Thoughtful, integrated design will not come as easily.
Apple clearly knows that hardware is important but with the iPhone they’ve managed to turn the usual framework on its head, making the hardware (not the software) the “platform”.
2. They underestimate the importance of software
Apple has successfully built an entire user experience ecosystem across multiple devices – Mac, iPod, AppleTV, iPhone etc. – with iTunes as the initial (and core) foundation. This creates the crystal clear consumer proposition, in terms of content, services as well as payment, that has made users comfortable buying things they were historically very averse to cracking their wallet for (digital music, movies, tv shows and now mobile apps). They’ve set the bar on what a truly integrated experience should feel like and users are going to continue to grow less and less tolerant of anything that falls short of that. Why shouldn’t they?
The answer lies somewhere in the middle
If you believe some of the pieces being written recently you can see how Apple’s setup allows them to enter (and reshape) entire industries without having to do much transforming internally on their end. Their competitors (for the most part) are nowhere nearly as flexible.
One cannot overstate the benefit of Apple not being a first mover in this space – not only were they able to learn from others’ mistakes but they also weren’t beholden to their own past (i.e. supporting a legacy OS). That last part is what makes me excited about Android but I fear that they might be undercutting the profundity of their potential impact on the mobile space by having an inconsistent UI across devices that’s ultimately going to make it more difficult for developers to know what they’re building for.
To pull users away from the iPhone, you’re going to need to start with a better platform and developer setup than Apple has. The combination of their lowered pricing, rumors of expanding to other carriers, and constantly improving feature (hardware and software) set is making this a race that becomes harder and harder to win with every day that goes by.
At this point, Apple happens to be the most attractive provider in terms of this software/hardware synergy. They currently have not only the most advanced mobile device, but also the largest base of customers, making them the most attractive partner for mobile developers. But who’s to say this arrangement couldn’t be upended by a rival?
To do so, Apple’s competitors like Blackberry, Android, Nokia, Palm, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are going to need to move beyond their current focus on higher megapixel cameras and touch screens. Instead they must embrace unique and compelling mobile software platforms, streamlining their bland app store offerings and mobile OS choices to maximize end user benefit.
(with inspiration from Innovation and Exclusivity in a Mobile World « MobileBehavior)
