The iPhone 4S, the start of Apple’s downfall?

By now I trust you are all up to speed on the new(?) iPhone 4S that Apple announced on Tuesday. The much anticipated iPhone 5 turned out to be a misplaced expectation of the public. When looking at the ever evolving mobile market, people just expected something new from Apple this time. The iPhone 4 has been out for over a year now, in this time HTC or Samsung have released 2/3 high end smartphones. And Android Ice Cream Sandwich together with the next generation of Android phones is right around the corner. Apple really could not afford to just update the iPhone 4, the public wanted something new like a new design or finally a larger screen. That is why lots of people were disappointed after the announcement and even Apple’s stock prices dropped.

My view is that Apple has created such a hype around its products, that it has gotten out of control. They can’t live up to the hype they themselves created. When you present revolutionary products to people, they expect that you will do this every time you present a new product. This is why people speculated heavily about the iPhone 5, hoping for a larger screen, better camera, thinner profile, different design and a gesture input area. Instead, Apple presents a phone which is hardly any better than the one they presented last year, just an updated processor, updated camera and a voice-activated personal assistant. This is just strange when you consider that the Samsung Galaxy S2 has been on the market for 6 months and has better features than the iPhone 4S (faster chipset / larger screen / Super AMOLED technology / lighter / less expensive).

Better yet, in a week Google and Samsung will present the next generation of Android, with a new high-end device called the Nexus Prime, sporting a 1280x720px screen and 1,2GHz dual-core TI OMAP chipset. This means that in a week time, Apple will already lag behind on the market and if they need another year for a new phone, they will lose serious ground on the marketplace. People who have not completely been brainwashed by Apple will look past the flashy looks and promises of magic and wonders and will opt for the less expensive Android phones which have significantly better features which are at the cutting edge of what the market offers. Hopefully Google will help make my case by presenting an awesome new iteration of Android next week.