iPhone 6 Concept by Nikola Cirkovic
That headline probably isn’t a huge surprise. Apple fans may want to pretend that it doesn’t need to chase Android down the “phablet” hole. What they may not know is Apple is and has been well aware of the trend since 2012.
In a presentation uncovered during the Apple-Samsung court wars, Apple displayed two slides that showed the only two areas were it could grow in the smartphone market were if it sold a smartphone that was cheaper than $300, and a smartphone larger than its customary 4-inch screen.
People in the U.S. for the most part have accepted the fact that Apple products are more expensive. All the noise for a cheaper iPhone has come from emerging global markets where Android…and BlackBerry for that matter, have been eating Apple’s lunch.
Additionally, Apple has been in the media claiming why it doesn’t make a larger phone…some weird commercials about thumb placement. That reason has been deemed “unacceptable” by the public, and the growth of 5-inch smartphones and phablets powered by Android, and subsequent shrinking of Apple’s mobile market share over the past two years is the proof.
As an Apple fan that has added a 5-inch Android and Windows Phone device to my daily lineup, I hope that Apple has its ear to the ground to what the public wants, and is paying attention to its own research.
Tech blogs and consumers have been begging Apple to go larger and cheaper for years. Maybe the new smartphone cycle of fall 2014 (read: iPhone 6) will be the year Apple finally buckles to the pressure?
What do you think? Will Apple make larger and cheaper devices this year?