Apple 'losing inspiring reputation'

[Bald Bouncer]

Samsung's Galaxy S3 smartphone outsold Apple's iPhone in the final quarter of 2012

Technology giant Apple is perceived as less "inspiring" than it was three years ago, a brand survey suggests.

The findings will heighten concerns among shareholders who have seen about $230bn wiped off Apple's stock market value since September 2012.

Smartphone rival Samsung is now seen as equally "inspiring" in the US, says the survey by consultancy Added Value.

Analysts fear Apple may have lost its way since the death of its visionary founder, Steve Jobs, in October 2011.

While Apple's brand still scores more highly overall, Samsung's is more consistently appreciated across the world, particularly in East Asia, says Added Value, part of Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP group.

Apple's reputation for market-leading innovation took a knock after the iPhone 5 was seen as an iteration of an earlier design rather than a characteristic step-change.

According to research by Gartner, Samsung and Apple now account for 52% of the global smartphone market, but in the final quarter of 2012, Samsung sold 64.5 million smartphones to Apple's 43.5 million.

Similarly, Apple's iPad Mini was a response to rival, smaller tablet computers already on the market, adding to the impression Apple was following, not leading.

Patent battles

In September 2012, Apple's share price topped $700 - a record for the company - giving the tech company a market capitalisation of more than $655bn.

But since then, the price has tumbled, wiping about $230bn off the company's value.

Since 2011, Apple and Samsung have been slugging it out across the world's courts in a series of distracting patent battles.

Apple first sued Samsung in the US for alleged intellectual property infringements. Other court cases have taken place in France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, South Korea and Japan, with no company yet emerging as the clear winner.

Apple may be sitting on a $137bn cash mountain, but unless it can recapture its role as an "inspiring" technology leader and settle its legal battles, the perception may grow that its best days are behind it, analysts believe.

'Bold and exciting'

In its Cultural Traction 2013 report, Added Value analysed the "cultural vibrancy" of 160 brands across 15 sectors, involving more than 62,000 respondents in 10 countries.

The top 10 brands perceived to be the most "visionary, inspiring, bold and exciting" were Google, Apple, Samsung, Ikea, Microsoft, Sony, BMW, Audi, Coca-Cola and eBay.

BBC News Technology

[baggy13]

Yes the apple has been popped unless they dig in and come out with some really groundbreaking ideas this year

[burner1]

I think the 'Iphone' name branding is getting old hat. We all like new tech, but we're also suckers for a roll off the tongue trendy design name to go with it, until that also gets old.

[Mule]

Technology giant Apple is perceived as less "inspiring" than it was three years ago, a brand survey suggests.

What the fuck does that mean? Sounds like one of those bullshit surveys that asks you what type of personality you think a dishwasher detergent would have if you went out for coffee with it. Cunts.

[Rhinoz]

What the fuck does that mean? Sounds like one of those bullshit surveys that asks you what type of personality you think a dishwasher detergent would have if you went out for coffee with it. Cunts.

I don't disagree with you but out of interest do you own an Apple product ?

I'm just doing a survey on who's got one

[Mule]

I don't disagree with you but out of interest do you own an Apple product ?

I'm just doing a survey on who's got one

Nope, I was going to, but I decided to get my inspiration from an art gallery instead.

[MsDG]

What the fuck does that mean? Sounds like one of those bullshit surveys that asks you what type of personality you think a dishwasher detergent would have if you went out for coffee with it. Cunts.

Seriously? You are unable to cope with a basic question that is asking if a technology company is less inspired than it was?

[Mule]

Seriously? You are unable to cope with a basic question that is asking if a technology company is less inspired than it was?

Inspiring.

[pratman]

well i was reading an article earlier in the week from HTC, they claim that apple are becoming boring..........i know its obvious they would say that being a rival. But what he was saying was apple did a great job in setting the benchmark for smartphones and owning the market for as long as they have, but since they have done that they havent really managed to keep that gulf of difference between what they had and what they have now. they really do need to make another ground breaking handset to give them the edge over samsung because although i own apple products they are just going to become a badge rather than someone who is setting the standards, but thats just my opinion.

[{{909}}]

as i have said in other threads, the fact they are becoming less inspiring is probably because there are little ways left to progress with the concept of the smart phone. Samsung have added some interesting stuff to the latest galaxy, but to be honest it doesn't really seem very useful in the real world.
Do apple need to keep making big improvements to the concept to stay at the top? Maybe its just inevitable that the market will even out as Android becomes more and more polished and handsets become better and better.
If you look at DSLR cameras, pretty much any camera you buy does the same job and this has been the case for years, as far as innovation is concerned the market is almost stagnant with a few manufacturers adding things like wifi and gps, which most people wont give 2 hoots about but it doesn't stop people buying and upgrading cameras.
Apple had it good for many years, maybe they have to just admit that time is over. They are still going to be the fashonista's choice with the design and brand name, regardless of what innovations they dont add to their phone.

[baggy13]

Was just reading about the smart watches that are roumered to be in development that will help apple a little but they all seem to have one in production so it may not be as groundbreaking as people seem to want

[Roach-Rampino]

I love Apple products but for me they, as a company, lose credibility with the rapid succession of new models being released. They are a business, granted, so they need to maximise profits but the less loyal customers will potentially become disgruntled at investing a large amount of their hard earned cash in the most recent model only to see it updated 6 months later.

[Over Carl]

At least they haven't pulled a Nokia - I remember their phones being just what you wanted. Then they tried going a bit more high tech and everything went shite.

The original iPhone was a massive revolution in terms of mobile phone operating systems/interfaces. Just incremental updates really since then. Shame we've not seen the same degree of innovation since.

[DejaVu]

The iPhone has been old hat since the iPhone 3.

Apple are just rinsing as much out of it as possible now and hoping to grasp onto every little fan boy.
If they can't produce something people are astounded by soon, they WILL drop from the top... and about time too IMO.

Just reminds me of films that bring out sequel after sequel thinking the public are going to like them better than the original, when nothing much changes and the plot is practically the same.

Samsung are doing it slightly different and are at least releasing variations of the 'same' phone... Ace/Mini/Note. Still, not much to write in the way of 'inspiring' though.

[CominAtcha]

Not sure why peeps whinge about Apple bringing out an updated model every 6 months to a year. Don't all tech/phone/whatever companies do that? Aren't we on the Samsung Galaxy S 4 now etc?

[EvilBoB]

I have and iPad 3 and iPhone 5. I like them. They do what they are supposed to and are easy to use.

Losing "inspiring" rep? whatever. This is witch hunting journalism at it's worst (best?). Looking for a story that doesn't exist. People will always find a gripe with whatever products they have and people only report when there are issues. If everyone that was happy with whatever product reported good stuff the bad press would be lost amongst the happy users stories.

I couldn't care less how many megapixels my phone has. For years phone cameras have been fine for fast snaps. Want better? BUY A CAMERA! Dual core/quad core processors? whatever... I couldn't care less as long as I can do what I want on my handset. I don't want to play Gran Turismo 6 on my phone. I want to be able to browse the web, use the occasional app and heavens forbid make the odd telephone call...

Is it any surprise the S3 outsold the iPhone when it is sold much cheaper than the iPhone? no. A lot of people will go for the cheapest option that allows them to do what they want. That's why Apple computers do not outsell standard PCs... Cost. Simple as.

[{{909}}]

Not sure why peeps whinge about Apple bringing out an updated model every 6 months to a year. Don't all tech/phone/whatever companies do that? Aren't we on the Samsung Galaxy S 4 now etc?

probably because a large % of apples market are fucking morons that HAVE to have the latest model regardless of if it does anything noticeable better than the last. Same goes for lots of other high end electronics, cant blame Apple for capitalizing on an easy market.

[CominAtcha]

probably because a large % of apples market are fucking morons that HAVE to have the latest model regardless of if it does anything noticeable better than the last. Same goes for lots of other high end electronics, cant blame Apple for capitalizing on an easy market.

So you would say that's just limited to Apple customers then?

[Mystical_2K]

So you would say that's just limited to Apple customers then?

not necessarily (i think its just easier to point the finger at them because they are an easily identifiable group) most people seem obsessed with having the latest and greatest gadgets but generally speaking they dont need them, its ingrained in our minds that newer is better (even if the better features are something we would never use) and general attitudes are towards getting the latest and greatest thing of the time, as {{909}} said you cant blame a company for marketing new products if theirs a large group of people willing to adopt the new technology

[Rhinoz]

Was just reading about the smart watches that are roumered to be in development that will help apple a little but they all seem to have one in production so it may not be as groundbreaking as people seem to want

I came across an Android one a year ago when I was searching for one, I hate having to tell the Mrs to hang on while we have sex so I can check my messages, I can now bang away for hours without missing any part of my rhythm and check my messages at the same time, she's happy, I'm happy everyone's a winner.

It needs charging every day as uses Bluetooth so I hope Apple's is kinetic as that would certainly be a bonus when strapped to me arse.