The iPhone 5 rumor mill is a double-edged sword for Apple.
On one hand, the technology giant enjoys a buzz machine and media circus that rival companies like Nokia, Samsung, and even Google could only dream of. The excitement that surrounds an iPhone release is unprecedented in the marketplace — you’d be hard-pressed to find any other product that gets as much attention from the media and consumers.
And yet, the downside to such a media circus and consumer frenzy is that Apple is always at risk of failing to live up to the dreamed-up standards that it places on whatever the next iPhone is bound to be.
We see it playing out with the iPhone 5 right now: the expectations for the next iPhone have rollercoastered up and down for almost a year no, undulating between the breathless excitements of a totally redesigned iPhone 5 to a simply refreshed iPhone 4s. And for as much as the iPhone 4s in place of the iPhone 5 would be a disappointment for some, it would not come as a complete surprise, seeing as Apple has released a refresh model (the 3Gs) before.
However, these new rumors that Apple will indeed co-release an iPhone 5 and accompanying iPhone 4s places a great deal of pressure on Cupertino, and if in the end “only” the iPhone 5 is released, imagined expectations could once again be dashed and feelings could even get hurt.
There is already enough at stake with the iPhone 5: iPhone users desperately want a product-leading iPhone that they feel will either match or exceed what Android is currently offering. This speculation-driven expectation alone is hard enough for Apple to meet — though I think we can all agree that they are up to the task.
However, the rumor of the iPhone 4s is a trickier matter, because of the manner in which top tech analysts are framing it.
Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmor put it this way in a recent article: “”[T]here are large swaths of the world — especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where iPhone penetration is low — where customers prefer to pay the full cost of the phone upfront,” This perspective, which joins further speculation that Apple will do what it takes technologically to make sure their new partner China Mobile gets on board the iPhone 5 train, puts a lot of pressure on Apple to make the iPhone 5 some kind of globalizing miracle gadget that the entire world must have access to. Now, instead of the iPhone being a premium smartphone, analysts are calling for Apple to make it accessible to anyone and everyone.
That’s a tough challenge for Apple to meet, and not because they are disinterested in the developing world. It’s just that the bread and butter of Apple’s business model has not ever succeeded on being price leaders in the marketplace. Sure, they’re trotted out the iPod Shuffle and Mac Mini — but those products are not the ones that consumers hunger for: they want the iPhone. the iPad. The MacBook Pro.
For all we know, apple has absolutely no plans or interest in offering a stripped down, value-priced, contract-free, el-cheap-o iPhone 4s for the developing world. It is worth stating again that there is no real evidence that the iPhone 4s will be mass produced. While it may have been a demo model crafted for a few of the top app developers, there really is no reason to believe that the iPhone 4s is imminent.
And yet, the iPhone 4s rumor is getting major traction. Even IBT is positively convinced that it is coming.
Now, Apple is put into a tough spot of failing to live up to expectations if the “only” new thing we get in September is an impressive iPhone 5.
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