Apple and Facebook started the ball rolling and have directly paid out billions to developers to date. Insatiable hater vituperation aside, the iOS space is still far n’ away the most lucrative and innovative place for devs to be. However, like so many created in Silicon Valley innovations, the app-conomy has taken on a life of its own, reshaping how software is made, sold and used.
Since Apple’s latest smartphone sensation shipped on Friday, October 14, it has been listed as out-of-stock on Apple Stores and at third-party resellers worldwide, meaning that ordering one probably meant waiting a week or more. That has finally changed with Apple and the great majority of its partnering showing immediate availability — yeah.
There were riots outside Apple’s Chinese stores and the iPhone 4S isn’t being sold there as a result, right? Actually, the “news” of the non-events in Beijing are much more exciting than the real events once you drill into the details. And, isn’t it interesting that the people who showed to buy iPhones came armed with eggs to throw (just in case)?
Every time a new iPhone goes on sale someplace, there will be lines. Though we’ve seen plenty of this kind of drama captured on film and in pictures around the world, nothing quite compares to what’s going on outside Apple Stores and resellers in China as the iPhone 4S launches.
The mothership has gotten heat from developers and pundits over its apparent inaction vis-a-vis app piracy, a problem observers say has only gotten worse in recent months. Although criticism of Apple is unlikely to subside, the biggest iOS pirate site has been pushed off shore and the problem has moved to countries ‘that do not have copyright laws.’
An almost surreal war of words has been playing out over the last few days. Whereas Apple centric news outlets and fan blogs have been singing Apple’s praises for bringing A5 processor manufacturing “back” to the US, a whole host of others have gone to great lengths to explain why it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
If someone asked me which is selling better, iPhone 3GS vs iPhone 4, I would certainly pick the model with the faster processor, graphics and camera. However, there’s another reason to choose Apple’s nearly three-year-old smartphone — price — and buyers in their millions like free.
Although it’s being reported as a patent legal fight, what Apple and Motorola are fighting over is over payment — the patent involved has been deemed a critical technology that cannot be withheld and must be offered on FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms. For whatever, Motorola thinks it’s owed four times the going rate.
Or, put another way, not assembled here. Apple and its manufacturing partner, Foxconn, have set up shop in Brazil and the first fruits of that labor are rolling off the line and the locals are pleased as punch. The switch is on, but will any of these jobs ever come home?
When it comes to statistics, some folks are stuck, neck deep, in last quarter’s shipment numbers. Much like Plato’s shadow watchers, they can only bask in the shipped vs. sold reflections of glories past. Oddly, ow matter how many units Android sellers sell, they’re perennially also rans — more isn’t best unless you are in fact the best.
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