Holly Riggle, a 29-year-old white-collar worker from Ohio, is just the
kind of everyday customer Apple Inc would love to have for its new
iPhone 6, which launches Friday.
But Riggle is sticking to her Android
smartphone, calling Apple less "original" than it was under former
chief executive Steve Jobs. She's one of the 16 percent of respondents
in a Reuters/Ipsos poll who said Apple had become somewhat or much less
cool in the last two years.
By comparison, some 11 percent of
respondents said that Android had lost some sheen in the same timeframe.
In a similar poll a year ago, 14.3 percent of 1,379 people surveyed
thought Apple had lost its cool image between 2011 and 2012.
While
still a juggernaut, with analysts expecting sales of around 9 million
iPhone 6 in its launch weekend, Apple may be losing some of its shine,
according to the poll.
More Americans feel that Apple has lost its
"coolness" quotient than has the Android brand, according to the poll,
conducted Sept. 8-13.
When questioned on how they perceive five
popular technology brands - Apple, Android, Microsoft, Dell Inc and
Hewlett-Packard - respondents gave the highest coolness factor rating to
the Android brand, which includes devices such as Samsung and others
that run on Google's mobile operating software.
About 50 percent
said that in the last one to two years, the Android brand had grown
cooler, compared with 48 percent who voted for Apple.
Although the
poll is based on a limited sample, it reflects how Android products,
which tend to be less expensive, have caused Apple to shed some of its
buzz.
"Especially when you have competitors who are doing a lot of
innovative things themselves and great advertising, it's not surprising
that Apple doesn't have the same cachet and coolness that it once did,"
said Kevin Lane Keller, a branding expert and professor at Dartmouth's
Tuck School of Business.
The mobile phone wars have become a lot
like politics, with battling Democrats and Republicans, said Rob Janoff,
the designer of the Apple logo and an independent branding and design
expert based in Chicago.
"You can't carry that magic forever,"
Janoff said, but that does not mean consumers should dismiss mature
brands. "I think people have to accept that companies that are out
there, they age."
Last year when it launched its previous version
of the iPhone, Apple sold 9 million iPhone 5s (Pictures) and iPhone 5c (Pictures) in the first
three days in stores. But drawing a comparison with the iPhone 6 is
tricky as sales are based on availability, and Apple has not shared
comparable details.
Also, this time the iPhone is not launching in
China on Friday, unlike last time, Shannon Cross, an analyst with Cross
Research, explained.
Many customers will need to wait until next
month for their new iPhones after Apple logged a record 4 million
first-day pre-orders, double the number for the iPhone 5 two years ago.
Errand-service
TaskRabbit said more than 500 people in the United States and London
have hired individuals at $25 an hour to stand in line at Apple stores
to grab the new iPhone, up 43 percent from requests during the iPhone 5 (Pictures)
launch two year ago.
Apple's iPhone is "easily broken and
expensive to fix," said Jim Jackson, a 55-year old from Phoenixville,
Pennsylvania, who participated in the survey.
"Apple is following
Samsung at this point in terms of design," Jackson added. "A couple of
years ago they were making fun of Samsung because Samsung grew big and
now they've gone big," he said, referring to the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and
5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus that will hit store shelves on Friday.
That was the only area where Riggle saw innovation at Apple.
"The only new idea they've come up with is that they're adjusting the size of their products," she said.
© Thomson Reuters 2014
iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max Glass-Aluminium Rear Panel Design Spotted on New Dummy Units22 March 2025
Search
![Gadgets 360 With Technical Guruji: Ask TG [ March 22, 2025]](https://c.ndtvimg.com/2024-12/5s52e4k_-ask-tg_640x480_14_December_24.jpg?downsize=180:*)
