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Will innovative Apple oust Nokia as the ruler in the smartphone category by the year 2013? Who will rule?

Along the highway of technology, you can never drive past the ‘The End’ milestone... Be it innovation, security issues, phishing problems... or even war between technological hardware giants, like the one for the future of smartphones, between Apple and Nokia.

Research is what proves the evitable, and so here comes such a report from UK’s tech-watcher, Generator Research (GR), which has suggested that Apple could easily snatch away the numero uno smartphone manufacturing crown from Nokia in the next four years. As per forecasts by GR, by the year 2013, Apple’s iPhone product line would have been expanded with a range of new additions, which could help it garner a global marketshare of around 40% in the smartphone category. It also calculates that Nokia’s market share would erode by 50% by 2013. Conclusively, as per GR, while Apple would sell a mindblowing 77 million units in 2013, Nokia’s count would plummet to just 38.5 million in the smartphones category, a figure close to what it sold even during 2008!

Indeed, these estimations sound a tad too optimistic when it comes to Apple’s future, but GR’s Research Chief, Andrew Sheehy, justified his findings as he pointed out a number of key factors driving Apple’s upward trajectory. Apple’s near-to-total focus is on smartphones with a broad product line that would hit market shelves over the next few years. Secondly, Apple has the AppStore, and with it, has been laid out the groundwork for online services that multiply manifold the smartphone’s value. More so, increase in count of integrated third-party apps and services will further help Apple (and other smartphone manufacturers) to create a product beyond what the hardware alone defines.

Future developments to the AppStore will see coders accessing not only iPhone resources with greater ease, but also the network operator assets. Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group, adds few more reasons to make us believe in Apple’s future supremacy as, “A sharp focus on both product design and tightly coupled demand generation marketing strategy has always been Apple’s strength, and this will play to its advantage. Unlike most vendors which build a lot of products to target widely differing customer needs, Apple builds few and then drives customer needs to the products...” Looking at how Apple’s iPhone sales have risen over the past two years, innovation surely seems to have paid-off for this Silicon Valley giant. And the cult? Well, surely, the passion that an Apple customer shares is hard to match by any other technological producer, leave alone Nokia!

Delivering network operator APIs through the iPhone would allow the platform to rapidly gain ‘missing’ features, such as the ability to send one text message to a group of users. Opening up the system this way allows Apple to expand the capabilities of its devices, while encouraging third-party app development on favourable commercial terms at the same time. However, Apple does face a challenge too – that of losing Steve Jobs, as Enderle says, “Apple’s biggest problem is the loss of Steve Jobs, as he is the guy who made this model (tightly coupled demand generation marketing) work. In his absence, the model might break and that may just have a negative impact!”

Clearly, for now Nokia has two choices: innovate or innovate, for without innovation, its attempt to either get ahead of Apple, RIM and Palm in the future, or the use of marketing to redefine consumer wants will never work. The future of smartphones is broad, bright and deep, and Apple has promises to keep... Will it?

Arun Kumar Roy

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Homeward ho!

Home is where the heart is. A probable explanation to the homing instincts of pigeons. In any case, whatever it is that makes pigeons come home to roost, it has made for a favourite activity of sport since the early 19th century. Pigeon racing, popular in the West – particularly United Kingdom and Belgium – is also one of India’s best kept secrets.

The playground at Evershine English School in Bangalore, on the last Thursday of January this year, bore testimony to the sport’s fervent followership. Pigeon racing involves transporting the birds from their lofts across the intended course of the race and then releasing them to see which one finds its way back to homestead the fastest. Before being displaced, each of the racing pigeons are tagged with a ring around their legs containing details of name, gender, age, address of the loft, and a certain identification number. Just what the Karnataka Racing Pigeon Club (KRPC) was overseeing at the Evershine playground, as the pigeons were ‘ringed’ and were packed – with sufficient food of course – into bamboo boxes to be loaded on the train to Nanded, Maharashtra – the starting point for this race.

“I grew a strong fascination for pigeons in my childhood itself. It has now become a hobby that gives me immense pleasure. The mere idea of my pigeons taking flight for a race puts me on cloud nine,” says an exuberant pigeon fancier and member of the Club, Prabhu. After the sport traveled to South Asia, Bangalore has now played host for not less than 80 years. Established in 1920, the Bangalore Homing Society was re-christened KRPC in 1975. Much credit for the Club goes to Lt. Col. F C Smith who, with his immense love and curiosity for birds, served the Club for nearly 25 years as Chief. Now, KRPC has 16 bird lovers for its members with each member fostering more than 100 pigeons in his/her house. For the Nanded race, the excitement is palpable.....Continue

Obama pens fresh US foreign relations policies

However, some experts believe that the Guantanamo step has been taken in a bit of haste. Reacting on the decision, Michael Scheuer, a previous CIA agent and an old hand on Al-Qaeda told TSI: “It is pretty unclear what will happen to the detainees. I don't make out where they would be taken. We have two choices with us. We can gun them down in the combat zone or treat them as POWs and discharge them when the conflict is over; so possibly never.”

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that ex-Senator George Mitchell would join Obama bandwagon as a special envoy for Middle-East peace, particularly resolution of Arab-Israeli issues. Mitchell, in the past, had led the peace initiative in Northern Ireland. She also named former US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who negotiated the Dayton Accords to end Balkan Wars, as special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The choice of Mitchell conveys an obvious pointer that the US will be back as an honest negotiator and will drift away from being Israel's lawyer, which Bush administration was. While, time and again, Obama has confirmed US's support to Israel, he's also indicated that he will refrain from towing the Likud's point of view on the issue. In one of his speeches, he expressed surprise and irony that while statesmen in Israel were open to disscussions, their supporters in the US took a very narrow view of the things. ....Continue

THE DESTINATION DOSSIER

Steering the course:
A number of airline options are available from almost all metros. Booking well in advance can get one great deals.

Cosy corners:
Be self indulgent in the city’s most luxurious full-service apartment complex, the Hilton, or one can check out many commercial guest houses.

The ‘season’ed traveller goes now:
The driest (and the best) season is from December to March for the west coast, the south coast and the Hill Country.

‘Savour’ faire:
Mallung is fondly eaten with curries, Lamprais is a dish with unique flavour and Wattalapam is a mouth-watering dessert. Eating them is much easier and delightful than ordering it.

Get to work:
From art galleries to casinos, from adventure sports to ayurvedic spas. However, a must is the ballooning over the cultural triangle.

What’s the word?
Just order your pitcher by asking for “kendiya” and thank him by saying “s-tu-ti”

Keepsake courtesies:
Blue sapphires, cheap clothing and accessories and almost anything to do with coconuts.....Continue