Do you remember queues to Apple stores before new iPhone and iPad releases? The 'hype machine' behind it may be an evil creation for some and an object of envy for the others. And it definitely doesn't work for Android phones—which is, in my opinion, for the platform's good.
But it seems like there's a strong opinion that such a hype machine is a must for today's manufacturers.
In a
recent editorial, The Verge's Chris Ziegler crushed Android phone vendors together with the platform itself, comparing one device per year released by Apple and around 8-10 of them released by other manufacturers, such as HTC.
Generally, Ziegler argued that the range of today's Android phones is too wide, which brings much more contras than pros for the consumer.
The question raised is pretty controversial by itself and can be discussed for hours if not days. Even the author begins with heaping praises to Apple's "one phone per year" strategy, but ends up with an advice to Android phone manufacturers to release from three to five devices yearly.
The last point is pretty rational, though I wanted to emphasize on one of the Ziegler's arguments, which reflects the modern approach to the question in the headline of this post. The argument was as follows:
You alienate your best customers. Over and over and over again. How do you think Sensation 4G customers felt when their phones were bested less than four months later?
Looks like I missed something. Because my answer to this seemingly rhetorical question would be “The vast majority just doesn't care.”
No, seriously, how big is this part of the audience that always wants to have the most powerful smartphone in terms of Gigahertz, inches, and mAH?
It's not that big, I assure you.
And those who belong to this geeky caste of enthusiasts and early adopters, often share one important feature. After they buy a phone, they are spiritually bound to it. They create communities that are able to (and they actually do) keep the software for their devices up-to-date long after the official support ends.
So who does really care about having the best and the latest devices, and at the same time doesn't belong to the geek community? My only guess would be that it's an American thing, and an American sort of consumers.
Living in Europe, I see that a lot of rather young people around me either don't use smartphones at all or, if they do, still haven't even changed the default wallpaper and ringtone.
So what's the probability that their feelings have been hurt by a better phone from the same manufacturer appeared four months after their device? Next to nothing, I'd say. I bet the most of Android users in Europe wouldn't know about it until they really need a new smartphone.
So just leave the hype machine to Apple, where it belongs.
