Why will the 3G iPhone fail (if it indeed does)?

xintelinsanex

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I think there are a couple of reasons why the 3G iPhone might fail:

  1. iPhone is priced higher than original iPhone
  2. AT&T increases the price of the iPhone plan

And by price, I think it will have to be >$599.
 

Nick9283

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I believe it could fail due to a lack of keyboard. much like malatesta said in the wmexperts podcast if your not use to an iphone you kind of want to chuck it across the room. (as long as its not your). a keyboard is a big deal for a lot of people and prohibit apple from reaching full potential
 

taylorh

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Define fail.

I would say people start switching away from (instead of to) the iPhone is failure. But ncreasing install base can't be described as anything but variations of success.
 

caseychan

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I agree with taylorh, you should define fail.

Personally, I think the biggest issue for me would be form factor. I absolutely love the current iteration of the iPhone, metal backing and all. I think the current form factor adds incredible prestige that no other phone can match. If they step away from the current materials, as it looks like they will, it'll be hard for me to immediately jump on board.

But then again, Apple has rarely, if ever, put out a product that I didn't think was THE best looking product in its class. I put my trust in Jonathan Ive and his magical team of Oompa Loompas, or whatever they use over in Cupertino.

Guess we shall see.
 

IrishJK09

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I agree with taylorh, you should define fail.

Personally, I think the biggest issue for me would be form factor. I absolutely love the current iteration of the iPhone, metal backing and all. I think the current form factor adds incredible prestige that no other phone can match. If they step away from the current materials, as it looks like they will, it'll be hard for me to immediately jump on board.

But then again, Apple has rarely, if ever, put out a product that I didn't think was THE best looking product in its class. I put my trust in Jonathan Ive and his magical team of Oompa Loompas, or whatever they use over in Cupertino.

Guess we shall see.

Oompa Loompas! LOL!

<cough> Excuse me <cough>

Ok, anyway... I can't see them "failing" unless they completely fail to deliver. If they release the 3G iPhone and its only upgrade is 3G, well, I predict a shizzy storm of unprecedented magnitude. I don't think they need to live up to all the hype, but they had better come damned close. Simply put, if a company is going to be more secretive than the CIA about their goings on, and as such leave all the intraweb rumors unanswered, they better be packing, and packing big.

As far as I can see, the important aspects need to be the following:

1. A form factor true to the company. It needs to keep in line with the original iPhone while mixing it up ever so slightly to keep it fresh. People are going to want their 3G iPhone to not only be recognized as an iPhone, but also recognized as the latest and greatest iPhone. The caveat is that they want this from a distance; they don't want to have to show the tiny badge at the bottom of the back of the device. (Generalization, but it holds true) Aside from that, people just want an aesthetically pleasing device. Apple wins prestigious awards for their designs, so I doubt this will even be a concern.

2. It needs to include some of the BEGGED for features. MMS is a given, but not the killer one due to being able to send MMS through email if you use your brain. The killer is cut and paste! People have begged, and begged for this from the word go, and for good reason. I have seen it done via Jailbroken apps, so I KNOW Apple has the coding knowledge to do it too. If they choose to ignore all other asked for features, they had better still add this one. While I don't think it will be the end all, be all decider of the device's future, it will certainly play a factor in the current fan/pseudo-fan-base's faith in Apple's ability to listen and implement.

Obviously, listening to the cries for the addition of multiple attachments per email, forwarding SMS, stereo bluetooth, saving email images/web images (supposedly coming with FW2.0), etc; is important as well. Cut and paste just seems to have an importance all its own though...

3. Price! I mentioned in another post that increasing the memory —and features for that matter— is important. This is assuming that you can keep the cost reasonable in light of the improvements. If the cheapest iPhone is $499, and the most expensive is $699, there is going to be a problem. I know the rumors are flying about subsidy, but subsidy is worthless to someone that isn't a new customer, or up for contract renewal. No, they need to make the retail price reasonable as well. I would rather own a $400 16 gig iPhone than stare longingly at a $7-800 64 gig version.

I can't see Apple making this particular mistake again though; not after the flak they caught during, and immediately after, the initial iPhone launch.

Summary? Style, adding REQUESTED (read: BEGGED FOR) features, and price. These are the three most important things for Apple right now. We already know 3G is coming, we already know GPS is likely, we already know it will offer business friendly Exchange support. What we don't know is what the three items I mentioned are going to turn out like.

I would like to add, finally, that I can't see an ultimate Apple failure, regardless of what they do right or wrong. I personally think that the worst case scenario for Apple right now is their iPhone being relegated a niche product, much like their main computer line is now. Apple is a highly successful company that caters to a highly specific market. If that never changes, I would be fine with that and I am sure they would too. Basically, I don't think they will ever outright fail with the iPhone; they may just fail at making it the next mainstream thing.
 
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xintelinsanex

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I believe it could fail due to a lack of keyboard. much like malatesta said in the wmexperts podcast if your not use to an iphone you kind of want to chuck it across the room. (as long as its not your). a keyboard is a big deal for a lot of people and prohibit apple from reaching full potential
I've never used a smartphone with a fixed keyboard before, this is actually my first smartphone so I am use to the iPhone keyboard. I personally love the sleek, little button look. For me, if they ad a fixed keyboard it wouldn't be a deal breaker, but it would certainly make me think twice. This will probably never happen since the reconfigurable keyboard was a selling point.
 

xintelinsanex

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Define fail.

I would say people start switching away from (instead of to) the iPhone is failure. But ncreasing install base can't be described as anything but variations of success.
When I originally created this thread, I was defining failure has not being able to live up to all the hype around it. I guess all this hype were created from rumors, so if some of these rumors prove not true, it will just be the people's fault for creating those rumors and expecting too much.
 

smileyboy

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I'm not see the iPhone failing. Too much of a Dream Phone. Till Palm, WM and Symbian even get in the same range, I'm not considering this in the least. These other OS's are sooooooo far behind it isn't even funny.
 

Ahambone

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I agree with the OP mentioning price as being a reason that the phone *could* fail. Even if the new iPhone isn't very different from the old one, they'll still make money off of it based on the sexiness factor- that is, unless it's priced outrageously.
 

NPR_Aficionado

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iPhone could fail based on price...but you still need a lot of up sales from current iPhone owners (they obviously have the money). So...it could also fail if it is not different enough from the first generation. As I saw mentioned in another thread, the ones that care enough about 3G are on these forums and are technology oriented, but that is not the majority of iPhone buyers. Outside of supply issues recently, sales of current generation phones has been slowing. Those that want on have one, and it is priced out the the range of the rest. So they need to put something in this phone that makes more people want one, above and beyond what is currently offered. Basically something that is a big "wow" factor, something new.
 

xintelinsanex

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Price seems like the main consensus on why the iPhone might fail. But my thoughts are Apple will not price it higher than $599 (the price of the 8 GB original iPhone). If subsidies are included with the new iPhone, then I'm pretty sure price won't be a factor for its failure. With subsidies there are going to be a lot of price points for this new iPhone.
 

Limozulu

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I think there are a couple of reasons why the 3G iPhone might fail:

  1. iPhone is priced higher than original iPhone
  2. AT&T increases the price of the iPhone plan

And by price, I think it will have to be >$599.
I think that the reason it will fail if it will, is if it will be too big, heavy or bad battery.
anyway, I think that the price won't be more than 500$
 

xintelinsanex

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I think the battery life will meet or exceed the current battery life even though there are a ton of additional chips and hardware changes. And I don't think it will be any bigger, maybe slightly heavier.

Price will be a determining factor for its much anticipated success.
 

emceechad

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If the low-end iPhone is priced at $499> without the subsidy then I see that that's going cause a HUGE problem. I also think that if the only internal upgrade is 3G, then that would also cause friction, I'm guessing Apple is targeting the consensus of just about everyone here, and I don't think you can just upgrade it to 3g and call it a day.
 

mullrat

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I think other than the excellent responses made already, if the network is unable to meet expectations, then the iphone will fail. The major upgrade people have been wanting since the first iphone is a faster cellular connection. Additionally if the processor is unable to run java and flash efficiently, then users of the device will become quite disgruntled. As far as applications and abilities like cut and paste, as well as neat features like VOIP, if it's not there at launch, I'm counting on apple doing it the apple way, which is to do it later with a major upgrade of the software, like they've done in the past. They hold back many features for a reason I believe. Which is to continuously keep the product fresh. Those of you who know apple know that they release their updates and additions in a very calculated manner. So for me if MMS or video chat or other bells and whistles are not there, I'll be ok as long as the core elements like processor and internet speed are there. In other words, if the hardware can keep up with the upcoming software, I'll be satisfied

Additionally, I think in all honesty, that price will be a small factor in many people's decision. That's proven by sales of the previous product which was $5-600. Hundreds of thousands of units were sold on the first day regardless. Also with corporate sales and a proven track record, apple can prob lean on AT&T to give even previous owners a subsidy.
 
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IrishJK09

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If the low-end iPhone is priced at $499> without the subsidy then I see that that's going cause a HUGE problem. I also think that if the only internal upgrade is 3G, then that would also cause friction, I'm guessing Apple is targeting the consensus of just about everyone here, and I don't think you can just upgrade it to 3g and call it a day.

I think you got your > and < mixed up...
 

IrishJK09

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I hope it does fail, just to prove apple is real and not a religion.

The iPhone catches enough flak on other device's boards... You are welcome to your opinion, but we really don't need those kinds of comments here as well.

(Edited just for you xintelinsanex :D)
 
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xintelinsanex

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Although I agree it is indeed a fan board and I absolutely do not agree with xtreker15, he/she does have free will to express whatever they want. whether it was appropriate or not is debatable. Oh well, people need to stop hating.
 

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