Just few days ago Apple unveiled it’s vision of the future, iPhone X. Many, myself included, have been shocked by the sticker price, and pundits once again fuelled the talks that Apple is now done. However, for me it’s now clear that now is the right time to be bullish on Apple.
As a matter of fact, this spring I have switched from iPhone to Android (which I still use today), to explore the world of emerging markets, where Android, in some markets, is responsible for 99% of the market.
I use Android and I love it. But Android as a platform had run into a limit, inspired by it’s own success. Android manufacturers today are so fragmented, they all tend to stick to off the shelf components, such as GPUs and CPUs.
Today, every single Android flagship now comes with Snapdragon 835 and 4/6/8 Gb of RAM. The screens and other internals are all the largely same.
If any company comes out with an interesting technology, it naturally, due to it’s own limitations, becomes a gimmick, because full potential can only come out if developers are going to support it, and for a fraction of a percentage of a market share, developers can’t be bothered.
Any other technological tricks, like squeezable phone, just simply reshuffle same actions (like “Open/close” or “Switch”) to a new input method.
Apple, instead, can do incredible things. By end of this year, about 50 million iPhones would be in user’s hands with the new “bionic” chip that is capable of a whole new set of nifty tricks — Snapchat demo with accurate face tracking is just the beginning.
Apple’s Augmented Reality platform will be on something close to about 500 million devices by the beginning of 2018, bringing dollars and attention of developers to this tech.
Apple strength comes out of Android weakness. Apple can add hardware at scale to enable new software experiences.
No other smartphone manufacturer (maybe with exception of Samsung, but Samsung hasn’t shown interest in developing own set of new technologies) has the breadth that Apple has amassed. From custom-made AX-series chips, that start to outperform not just the latest Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, but also desktop Intel chips, Apple has the power to create unique chipsets needed for it’s particular needs, like a dedicated chip for graphics, security, dedicated chip for neural networks, and so on.
New software will be written, new developers will join to develop for Apple, new revolutionary applications (with clear monetization path) will be created, and thus industry will keep on humming — helping Apple lead in what’s important — useful and innovative applications. This shift leaves Android with more genetic, bland, one-size-fits-all applications.
Update: Om Malik wrote about this today as well: “Just imagine Apple having to depend on Qualcomm to supply its chips — it will be tied into Qualcomm’s ability to come up with new technology”.
Evgeny Tchebotarev is a founder of 11-million-photographers-strong community 500px, backed by Andreessen Horowitz; and currently helps other companies unlock 10x potential. He is usually based in Taipei, Taiwan.