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Tech Breakthroughs Take a Backseat in Upcoming Apple iPhone Launch (reuters.com)

Stephen Nellis, reporting for Reuters: The new iPhone is expected to include new features such as high-resolution displays, wireless charging and 3-D sensors. Rather than representing major breakthroughs, however, most of the innovations have been available in competing phones for several years. Apple's relatively slow adoption of new features both reflects and reinforces the fact smartphone customers are holding onto their phones longer. Timothy Arcuri, an analyst at Cowen & Co, believes upwards of 40 percent of iPhones on the market are more than two years old, a historical high. That is a big reason why investors have driven Apple shares to an all-time high. There is pent-up demand for a new iPhone, even if it does not offer breakthrough technologies. It is not clear whether Apple deliberately held off on packing some of the new features into the current iPhone 7, which has been criticized for a lack of differentiation from its predecessor. Still, the development and roll-out of the anniversary iPhone suggest Apple's product strategy is driven less by technological innovation than by consumer upgrade cycles and Apple's own business and marketing needs.

7 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. I know a tech innovation they should include... by dbialac · · Score: 2, Insightful

    a headphone jack.

  2. iTunes hasn't been a requirement for years by sjbe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Get rid of that awful fucking iTunes software and let me access the phone like any normal USB device.

    I honestly cannot remember the last time I opened iTunes on a desktop computer or synced my iPhone with it. That hasn't been a requirement for years.

    As for using it as a USB device, I feel you but doubt it is going to happen any time soon.

  3. Re:Well there's a surprise by bigdady92 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Apple's Marketing is awesome like that.

    One thing I will give Apple is that they will take technology that is mostly mature, fix lots of bugs and kinks, then roll it out and proclaim it "New! Exciting! So Pleased to show you!"

    Yes Premium Android Smartphones have had everything that the Iphone8 will have for years. Apple will bring that capability to the masses and then the fleet of android handset manufacturers will push those features out till every single phone has it.

    --
    Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
  4. Upgrade for the sake of upgrade? by HalAtWork · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "There is pent-up demand for a new iPhone, even if it does not offer breakthrough technologies"

    Why is there demand for a very modest upgrade? It seems like people are holding onto their old phones because the upgrades are insignificant..

  5. Re:Well there's a surprise by whoever57 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "if you want to know what is coming in the next iPhone, just look at what was new on Android two years ago"

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  6. Re:Well there's a surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's not the marketing, it's the consumer. The vast majority of consumers want mature technology. They don't find bugs and quirky behavior a selling point nor do they want that on them even if it means some kind of bragging rights. Apple does it right by consumer demand. It's not cutting edge but it works and I'm more than happy with that. I can't recall the last time Apple put something out there that I really felt that they should have done sooner. I remember far too many rushed-to-production "features" on Android that finally got me to give Apple a try. It's a trade off but it's well worth it at the end of the day.

  7. Re:Well there's a surprise by fred6666 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Turn by turn GPS navigation, WiFi hotspot, contact cloud synchronization, large displays, water resistance all worked just fine on Android before being copied by Apple. I don't mind if it is called "beta" by Google as long as it works.