iPhone 5 Color Option by ColarWare
Last week I brainstormed with Ken Segall about the holes in the current iPhone product line and what the future product line and roadmap will likely be. So, first the holes; unlike the iPod, and even to a certain degree the iPad, the iPhone never expanded it’s product line up, sticking essentially with the original phone, and keeping on older lines as better cost alternatives.
Sure, the iPhone 5 was marginally bigger but it’s clear that it wasn’t meant to be a distinctly different product from the original iPhone, simply a refinement of the original. So, the holes are really bookend products at the low end, and the top end.
Ken Segall
First of all we need to understand Apple, and what it is all about. The Apple vision isn’t to pump out a bunch of products, like Samsung does in a desperate attempt to see which sticks; it’s about the experience, the joy of owning an ultra-high quality product that just works. And by works, i mean beyond it’s capabilities, rather more in terms of fitting a life style.
Apple has already established the Smartphone vision, but the vision is incomplete. So future products will likely broaden the product line, while seamlessly integrating with the entire Apple ecosystem. So, we see the current iPhone 5 as the anchor to be flanked on either side with complimentary products.
On the left is a lower cost, ultra-high quality plastic iPhone available in multiple colors. Very similar in concept to the iPod nano. It will leverage iPhone 5 internals to get economies of scale, and differentiate in cost and color; and also in size. Nothing over the top, perhaps 4.5 inches. And priced as a lower cost alternative, perhaps available in the $300-$400 price range without the need for a contract.
…there’s great value in there for Apple to say…meet the new iPhone family. Perhaps a super high-quality plastic, multi-colored model at the low end, targeted to the Chinese market.
Ken Segall
The current iPhone 5 will get upgraded in every way; speed, memory, camera and display. It is likely to bifurcate into two related products that will differ only in size. You’ll have the current 4 inch screen and the same screen in the low cost multi-color model, 4.5 inches. This could be considered the pro model, and will have pro features, fit and finish. This is the anchor products just spreading its wings a bit.
And all the way to the right is the off the hook iPhone phablet, This iPhone will seem like it’s spilling into the iPad territory. It will have a much larger screen, perhaps 5 inches or slightly bigger. It will have all the pro features of the anchor product, but with a screen that will set the new standard for mobile devices.
Thinking of Samsung as a leader is kind of a joke of a thought actually
Ken Segall