The Apple Watch (iWatch) [Video]

The Apple Watch is finally here. This video, which was released four months ago, was pretty much accurate. With the exception of the NFC enabled payment system.

 

 

The Apple Watch might get Apple some more customers, and is another goodie for the fanboys to collect. However, it’s not clear if the iWatch has enough features to convince those of us who had forsaken a wristwatch for being a mono-functional device in a multi-functional world, to return to owning a timepiece. More discussions in #hkuiom !

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Samsung v. Apple

This infographic by MBAOnline.com highlights how Samsung is catching up with Apple in the numbers game and exceeds Apple in everything, except the thing that matters – profits. A key point is that Samsung’s R&D spending is 3 times that of Apple. Implications are long term …

 

via MBAOnline.com

Steve Jobs Memorial Video

Apple paid tribute to Steve Jobs on the one-year anniversary of his death by posted the below memorial video, titled “Remembering Steve”, on its home page.

 

 

As I wrote a year ago, very few people have had such a profound impact on the world as Steve Jobs.

 

Very few people have had such a profound impact on the world as Steve Jobs. On his passing, we have lost a champion – the Da Vinci and Edison of our times. As the creative genius behind Apple and Pixar, Steve Jobs was a pioneer of the digital age. His creations, ideas and simple elegant solutions touched the lives of millions of people. His legacy will inspire countless others to try to change the world and make it a better place.

Thank you for everything. Rest in Peace Steve.

Amazon’s iPhone Buyback

Apple is not the only one looking to make money off the iPhone 5. Amazon has sent the following email to its customers:

 

 

The email links to this page.

 

World’s Largest Retailer: Apple

Apple recently became the world’s most valuable company – EVER. The below infographic by statista showcases exactly how much larger Apple’s market cap is when compared to other largest companies, media companies, and tech companies. But then, as the following infographic by onlinemba illustrates, perhaps one should not compare Apple with other ‘pure play’ technology companies. After all, not many tech firms  have nearly 70% of their workforce spread across 400 retail locations, which attracted 85 million footfalls (and thus potential customers) in Q1 2012!

 

Image via Statista

You will find more statistics at Statista.

Image via OnlineMBA.com

See the original Statista infographic on Apple’s market cap here. See the original OnlineMBA inforgraphic on Apple’s in-store retail here.

Apple: finally making a play for riches at the bottom of the pyramid?

Apple’s iPhone 3GS is now available in India for less than 200 USD (Rs. 9999).

Image via Wikipedia

This represents a price reduction of 50% over the past year or so and might signal a change in strategy. Apple might be finally moving to tap the riches at the bottom of the pyramid and trying to gain a foothold in the fast growing smartphone market of India. As this article correctly points out, the iPhone 3GS is still a superior when compared to the low-end Android phones offered to the Indian consumer. Coupled with its ability to upgrade to IOS 6, Apple might finally have a winner.

Or this might just be another ‘inventory clearing exercise’ as Apple readies for the launch of the iPhone 5. Either way, one hopes that increased iPhone sales in India will lead to an improvement in the Apple Experience and service coverage available in India.

Smartphone Wars: iPhone Trade-Ins

 

 

On the heels of recent news that Samsung has overtaken Apple as the largest Smartphone manufacturer, one is seeing more aggressive marketing. There was a recent deal on Groupon in Hong Kong, which offered a Samsung Galaxy SIII in return for an iPhone 4S plus 90 US dollars. While this seems quite a steal, there were not many takers for this deal. This implies that either folks are not keen on the switch (iPhone 4 s to SIII), or that there are better (cheaper!) trade-in offers available in the Hong Kong market. Note that long-term contracts are not in vogue in this market, hence contract lock-in can be plausibly ruled out as the cause for low uptake of this offer.

 

Image via Groupon (Hong Kong)