> "Five years ago, the Motorola Razr was the top-selling phone," says
> Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Chaplin. "Imagine trying to sell 6
> million of them today."
The thing about the RAZR is that it was a sleek, small form factor. I don't remember anyone who had one tout its functionality as the reason they got it. So the next sleek phone or better featured phone could easily displace it. The iPhone on the other hand combines excellent engineering of its hardware with tremendous strength in the software; not to mention the brand cachet. That's a significant competitive advantage and is harder to displace.
The RAZR is still pretty much the epitome of "just a phone" in contrast with modern smartphones. Nothing really surpasses it, save for Verizon crippling them. Optimize it for what it will be used for, instead of making it do what users don't want, and it would sell well unto 6 million today.
There are plenty of us who have suitable portable computers (iPad in particular) who don't want an iPad Nano overlapping functionality.
The RAZR I had just prior to getting an iPhone was a horrible experience. It looked nice, the hardware seemed to function ok, but the software was terrible. When navigating the menus, no matter where my thumb was, the next press needed to be on the opposite side of the keypad. I don't remember what my phone before it was (Nokia maybe?), but I remember my thumb was always were it needed to be. I hated that RAZR. Thinking about it brings up feelings akin to fingernails on a chalkboard.
Actually, I remember numerous friends describing the original iPhone as having terrible reception. An old boss switched to skype for phone calls so he could keep using his iPhone for its apps (or something).
It seems more like the iPhone combines generally good-but-not-fabulous engineering with the continued irrational loyalty of "Apple Fanboys".
Edit: But this too may indeed be a competitive advantage that's hard to match...
Yes. That's how mac works. The instant anyone ever purchases an apple product, they are irrevocably an apple zealot.
Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't organized into a massive armed malita, given the amount of hatred and bigotry apple fanboys bring to a discussion. It seems like the complete solidarity of everyone to ever pass a credit card to Apple would make them a formidable force.
I guess design doesn't count towards the success or usability of the iPhone's "irrational" loyalty? Android is waiting with open arms for your "rational" assessment of technology. Enjoy them.
