Over on my board,
Subject 58128
I've been pointing out for a year + that there is no fundamental distinction between tablets and smartphones, its a continuum, and that 5"+ devices are what wins in the end. I've been much laughed at by those who can't comprehend this, but I think CES finally was the wake-up call for many industry "analysts" and "pundits" who don't seem to be able to spot a trend unless its in the rear-view mirror. I've also been pointing out that SJ was clueless on this (he who was famous for saying you don't want to consult customers about what they want, you need to tell them what they should buy) and that as a result Apple is a bit screwed until they can admit that Saint Steve was out to lunch on the topic.
I've also pointed out a couple of other interesting facts in this drama. 1) Samsung pioneered the phablet segment, and given that Apple is on record repudiating the notion of this segement, Apple can't claim Samsung copied them, and indeed if Samsung was mildly wake, they have taken some design patents in this segment, just to make the point clearer to Apple. 2) Intel and MS are equally clueless about this, because Intel has stated their policy of trying to group tablets with PCs (both to run on Win8) while smartphones for Intel will be Android. I'm sure Intels hope here (and shared by MS) is to pull tablet usage towards the legacy Wintel model, thus keeping it more secure for x86. Its a wedge strategy between tablets and smartphones. Its also Freaking stupid and will fail.
Where I may have been a bit wrong is I didn't think it would extend up to 6", and now I'm less sure of that. I thought 5" was going to be the sweet spot, but it might be closer to 6" in the end. TWT.
Guess I'm not the only one wondering if/when Apple will become a follower of larger phone screens... |
