It looks like efforts by Steve jobs to end Antennagate have failed to turn the story around. People are still upset and a free case just isn’t cutting it. As this whole thing began to spin out of control, we saw Consumer Reports unable to recommend purchase of the device. This was despite that they say it’s the best smartphone available. Of course, if you can’t make calls with the phone, that’s kind of a big deal. Around the same time, Apple’s stock took a pretty steep dive.
Apple has been on the come up this year, overtaking Microsoft early on. It looked like Apple might be entering some type of golden age. How quickly things can take a turn for the worst, though. While the iPhone 3GS is arguably the gold standard not only for Apple products, but for smartphones in general, the iPhone 4 just slightly misses the mark.
On the other side of things, Microsoft has completely redeemed themselves from that whole Vista thing. Windows 7 is selling like hotcakes. Microsoft is paying attention to the direction of technology and going with the flow, integrating Office 2010 and Outlook with social media using Social Connector. They are taking their place as a competitor on the desktop and in the cloud. They are working hard to actually offer value and stay relevant, which is a change from them simply dictating what relevant is.
And maybe that is where the problem lies. Apple has done whatever they’ve wanted up until this point. They have created trends and pushed technology, even for those who are not fans of the company. People who are fans are usually very passionate about Apple and their products. In this case, Apple made a design choice that they felt was right. They focused a little too much on form and not enough on function in one particular area: antenna design. They also fell short in responding to complaints and, when they did, they refused to take blame and even seemed nonchalant and annoyed by their customers.
It will be interesting to see if Apple continues on a downward trend. Android phones are improving and multiplying. Tablets/Slates will be coming later this year featuring Android, WebOS, and some variation of Windows. Christmas is going to by crazy. Apple may have been the first to reach higher ground, but it looks like they might be outnumbered and surrounded.
via Lost Crown: Apple No Longer Worth More Than Microsoft.