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Apple is concerned about the onward march of Android‘s market share and will counter by releasing a new iPad and iPhone every six months. That’s the view of an analyst from a German bank we’ve never heard of.
Adnaan Ahmad of Berenberg Bank suggests that Apple should halve the length of the update cycle for its phone and tablet in order to better compete with rivals. As reported by Business Insider, he also believes Apple will launch a cheaper iPhone to compete with some lower-specification Android devices.
We’re not convinced by Ahmad’s arguments. Apple shifted 18.65 million iPhones globally in the first quarter of this year. That represents a 113 per cent growth in sales compared to the same quarter the year before, and puts Apple behind only Nokia in terms of phone-shipment numbers. The iPad is dominating the tablet market too. It doesn’t seem like Apple needs to panic about the competition just yet.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that the iPhone 4 is still insanely popular almost a year after its release. Apple handsets don’t seem to lose their lustre in the eyes of the masses just because they’re getting a little long in the tooth.
The media frenzy that surrounds the release of a new iPhone and helps to drive sales would also surely be dampened somewhat were Apple to release two phones a year.
It’s the likes of Nokia and RIM who should be worried about Android. Nokia big cheese Stephen Elop must be pretty bummed right now — profits have been slashed, there won’t be any Windows Phone handsets for months, and he has to cosy up to Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer. No-one wants to do that. Apple, on the other hand, is doing just fine without rushing products to market.
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