One Trick Pony?

Apple stock has hit a new high … again. Sales are up, Macs are showing up in more homes than ever, iPhones are everywhere, and things are super fantastic in Apple land. Are we getting a little ahead of ourselves here. While stock owners are smiling ear to ear, analysts are a little more critical. Has Apple become a one trick pony? Sure, Macs and Macbooks are being bought up by consumers but overall Macs makeup a small percentage of overall computer sales. The bulk of the revenue is coming from iPhones. How many more iPhones can Apple continue to sell? Eventually the market will become saturated and increased competition from Android phones will only bring down the Apple train.

Another concerning factor was the less than spectacular sales numbers of iPods. An 8% drop from the previous year. Quite a significant drop. Despite being the clear leader in portable media device less people are buying iPods. For a while Apple’s newer versions brought something new to the table but the latest iPods seems to have stalled in the innovation department.

Bottom line, sales numbers are up. That’s good but Apple engineers hopefully are working on the next big thing to give shareholders something to look forward to.

Goodbye monopoly

Well what do we have here? Who knew Telus and Bell could put together a HSPA so quickly in time for the Olympics no doubt AND (score!) a fresh deal with Apple. So expect a whole new offering of phones from both networks for the upcoming Christmas rush. But with new networks there will be bugs to work out, especially with something rushed to market. There’s going to be a whole lot of network traffic, who knows how well it will hold up under the stress.

However if you’re sick of the Rogers bullshit then feel free to try out the competitors. Iphone sales are expected to start up as early as next month (November) so get ready to spend some money on a new phone. So long as your phone is HSPA compatible you may not even need to get a new phone.

What Phone Should You Go With?

Let’s face it, nowadays if you’re in the market for a new cell phone there are 2 options: iPhone or Android phone. No longer is your phone just a phone, it’s an mp3 player, media device, social networking tool, gps, text messenger, contact list, address book, camera and so much more. Reception and display are features that are expected and not luxuries. Applications are going to drive phone sales going forward and not features.

When it comes to free apps Apple’s iTunes store just has Android beat. By sheer numbers and of course a head start didn’t hurt either. When it comes to the app store money talks to developers. Android is still viewed as the open source phone where free apps are just expected by the community. But free stuff never brings out the good talent. In retrospect iPhone users will ultimately end up spending that $1 or $2 a month on that useful application. Why not? It’s only a dollar right?

It’s going to come down to what you’re willing to spend on a monthly basis. If you’re prepared to get an iPhone you’re going to be spending more than the average user. If you’re looking for the cheaper option you’re going to go with the Android phone.

Iphone users sucking up all the 3G?

An interesting article here points out some very interesting numbers about the iPhone, their users, and the drain on AT&T’s 3G network. Which makes me wonder whether this whole idea of iPhone exclusivity was a detriment to the service provider. On the one hand you’re revenue stream is almost guaranteed for the next few years. On the other hand it’s also a guarantee that your 3G service will be limited, expect service outages. It’s no secret the many disgruntled iPhone users in the U.S. are unhappy with AT&T. But how much of that is to be blamed on the network and how much is to be blamed on the user? Is it unreasonable that the average iPhone user suck up 10 times the 3G bandwidth than the average 3G subscriber?

Perhaps it’s time to lay off the tweets, hmm? You don’t NEED to check your email every 5 minutes. The 3G pipe intended to serve all users has been used up by thirsty iPhone users. The other argument could be made that AT&T was not prepared for the deal it made with Apple and that the pipe should be bigger to begin with. However that takes a whole lot of money invested in infrastructure. Money which AT&T has been slow to recoup from 3G data plans. Plus Apple getting cut as well doesn’t help.

Spreading out the load over several service providers might make a difference but it still does not solve the excessive 3G usage problem. Just save some 3G for me will ya?

More Handset Choices Please

The Canadian cellphone market sucks. No news here. Not only are you limited in service providers but as well you’re limited in the choice of good handsets. You’d at least expect a decent selection for a country who’s average cellular plan is one of the most expensive in the world. So what are you paying for exactly? Go ahead, checkout the available handsets for Canadian cellphone providers: Telus, Rogers, Bell. Unless you want a Blackberry then you’ve got problems. iPhone? Enjoy your 3 year 500mb data plan at $25 a month. Perhaps you actually like crappy handsets like LG and Samsung?

Ok, so there are some decent phones available but if you take a look at the models that are offered to the ones that are actually produced by the manufacturer you will notice a problem here. We’re about 6 months behind other countries when it comes to the latest and greatest phones. Last year’s phones with outdated features. Why must I resort to buying an unlocked phone from eBay when it should be readily available from an existing service provider. How long did it take for the iPhone to come to Canada? Exactly. While many are already enjoying the Palm Pre, Bell Canada still advertises “coming soon”. For Android lovers, I wouldn’t be holding my breath on the HTC Hero.