I agree... it's getting a little over-hyped out there. That said, a few legitimate things are driving the buzz today:
1) The S5 fingerprint sensor is excellent and is going to be integrated with an accelerate adoption of mobile payments.
2) The S5 is waterproof (for all practical purposes). There have been a couple phones that were water resistant in the past, but this takes it to new level. A leading cause of phone damage/loss is water, so this effectively increases the value of the phone... much more likely to last you, nothing to worry about at the pool, etc.
3) While iPhones have historically had the best resale value, *recent* trends are that Samsung phones have caught up, and might even surpass. (Reported on CNBC via Gazelle CEO). The S3 - their first great phone - hitting two years old might be driving it, and the new waterproof S5 should contribute as well (as a waterproof phone is longer-lived, better condition when resold).
*4) The Gear 2 watch/bands are pretty awesome. They are stealing the iWatch thunder,as Apple has missed the opportunity to be seen as the first company to release a nice wearable medical/heart/biometric device to closely integrate with a phone. If the Gear 2 prices are low, it would solve the issue I outlined in previous posts and it could dominate the new product segment. Maybe the iWatch will take it to a new level, but the Gear ones are certainly being well-received and establish a market lead.
Rather surprised AAPL isn't taking more of a hit today. As this info is more widely disseminated and people discuss, it could cause a sharp drop. We'll see. For those who think the Samsung releases aren't going to do much when they hit the market (perhaps because pricing will be too high), any AAPL pullback would be a great chance to buy! |
