iPhone5 – What Do Our Experts Think?

Sept. 27, 2012 - PRLog -- So as the Apple iPhone5 handset hits UK stores, three Cass experts share their view on the device and what it means for the world's richest company.

Ajay Bhalla, Professor of Global Innovation Management says "Many technology commentators have claimed that Apple has failed to deliver a truly innovative offering. Few recognize that for Apple the iPhone 5 is just the icing on the cake. Sure, Apple had to launch a new iPhone in line with developments occurring elsewhere in the technology industry, such as faster processors and the launch of 4G networks. But for Apple, the challenge has been to make internal progress on bets it made in fusing the advancements in devices and software many years ago. Apple has long realized and worked towards developing a formidable ecosystem of tightly knitted devices and software. With the launch of iOS6, OSX10.8, and ongoing investments in iCloud this vision will bear fruit for some time. Any new device such as Apple TV will immediately benefit from these investments and propel the company into the next phase of its growth.

Feng Li, Professor of Information Management (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/courses/masters) says "Commercially, the iPhone 5 will be a great success. A word of caution, however, is that there is a distinctive lack of revolutionary features for the new iPhone. It is unclear whether, and for how long, Apple can maintain its lead, as Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and HTC have all launched (or are planning to launch) new products that offer similar features. Nevertheless, regardless of whether future generations of the iPhone can maintain market dominance, the Mobile Revolution it unleashed - for individuals, organisations and our society - will be here to stay, and will continue to deliver changes to our lives for many years to come."

Vince Mitchell, Cass (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/) Professor of Consumer Marketing says "What a waste of a significant marketing opportunity the new iPhone5 is. It's marginally better than the iPhone4S on a number of features, and very similar on most of its competitors on the most of the other features. Apple seem to have lost not only their innovative and radical design edge , but also their ability to follow through on tantalising and sophisticated marketing from which the number 5 could have benefitted.

"For example, the Olympic Games have five interlocked rings; Aristotle, suggested the universe is made up of five classical elements: water, earth, air, fire and ether; and almost all amphibians, reptiles, and mammals which have fingers or toes have five of them on each extremity. The number 5 has religious significance too in that Muslims pray to Allah five times a day; five-pointed star, bears religious significance in various faiths including Christianity and the book of Psalms is arranged into five books, paralleling the Five Books of Moses.

"With so many inspirational parallels to choose from, the new iPhoney5 is a technical and marketing (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/courses/...) disappointment, more 4.5 than 5."