iPhone 4 is a Smartphone developed by Apple Inc. and marketed as FaceTime for its video calling features. A smartphone can be defined as a device that can be utilized for call making as well as other additional features such as internet browsing, sending and receiving mails, creating and formating a document among other applications. iPhone integrates the features of a mobile phone and a computer in a small hand held device. Cell phones was initially used for making calls while PDA was exclusively meant for individual organization of contacts, list to do and computer synchronization.
iPad 4 is a fourth generation iPad product of Apple Inc boosting of an Apple A6X chip and a Lightning connector; it employs a retina display feature adopted from its predecessor that has branded it the iPad with the Retina display. Released on November 2012, it is available in black and white varieties. The iPad 4 has a 9.7’’ display and a resolution of 2,048 by 1536.
Apple designed the iPad tablet with an Apple A6X SoC dual core CPU operating at 1.4GHz. The iPad tablet has WiFi Bluetooth, 4GLTE, and HSPA+ wireless connectivity features. It also has a battery rating of 42.5Wh.
iPhone 4 is differentiated with cell phones by the operating system they run such as the Iphones IOS. Smartphones are smart in the sense that they allow the user to create word documents, download applications and softwares, view and edit pictures and disp[lay navigation directions through the GPS functionalities. It uses 4G technologies to access the internet while others have high speed connnection speeds. All smartphones incorporates the QWERTY keyboard the same way it is presentedx in computers.
As at 2012, Samsung and Apple have engaged in fiece competition with Apple launching I phone 4S and later Iphone 5 by the end of the year and Samsung launching Galaxy S3. The two have sold a total of more than 35 million devices with Samsung dominating the sales volume with over 30 million Galaxy SIII devices. For this discussion and using an economic point of view, we explore Samsung Nexus 10 as a substitute for iPhone. Google’s collaboration with Samsung led to the development of the second and the latest tablet in the Nexus series. With a 10.1-inch 2560 x 1600 display (the highest resolution ever achieved by 2012 ) and a 299 PPI, it is definitely sharper than the 4th generation iPad.
Unlike iPad 4 which uses iOS 6.0 operating system, Nexus 10 is operated by Android 4.2 “Jelly Bean “. Google’s multi screen support integrated in Nexus allows multiple accounts for sharing games, apps, settings and widgets. Other features include a 1.9-megapixel front camera, ARM Mali T604 2GB RAM processor and supports MIDI, WAVE, Vorbis, AMP-WB and AMR-NB in addition to the iPads formats. Thus iPhone 4 and Nexus 10 are two substitutes that only differ from the prices. Apart from the price, there are no major differences between the two tablets. Both offer the best user experience and the final verdict pertaining their choice is only left to the buyer.
Currently, Apple’s iPhone has a positive network externality. The more people who own iPhones, the more the benefits derived from other users. The network grows and more and more people are able to reach one another using iPhone devices. Apple’s iPhone is a strong established brand commands the pricing premiums in the market up to some limit.Its brand equity and loyalty is what puts its economic network in top. There is a strong relationship between these values and value creation. The company will continue releasing more products and attain greater network externality. The creation of more devices with advanced features means that users using the same operating systems among other applications will benefit from file sharing as the size of thenetwork grows.
The reason why Apple tops in terms of brand equity, identity and personality is attributed to the fact that it has continously improved its brand by delivering high quality products and brand awarenes and association. The company released iPhone 5 in 2012 highlighting its advance features that are easy to use. Of more amazement is the larger display, faster chip and untrafast wireless technology on a thin and light device ever witnessed. Currently iPhone has announced the introduction of low-cost plastic model version to substitute iPhone 5 as it anticipate to discontinue production of iPhone 4 and 4S. The new announcements are part of a strategy to hold its consumers from migrating to other brands in an attempt to wait for the low-cost versions. The change of manufacturing technology also does the trick to increase network externalities.
Apple has a range of advantages over Samsung one being the country of origin. U.S is known for high quality technology and electronic products. Apple has imposed intellectual rights on its brands to make it illegal for competitors such as Samsung to emulate their products and applications. It also has a strict policy where developers do not share their technologies with rivals to deter competition. The country of origin promotes the brand of the product and therefore, Apple should capitalize on this advantage by raising its brand identity, market position and research to increasee sales volumes. Other Smartphone manufacturers can emulate Apples strategy and utilize the given recommendations to grap a better market share.
Works Cited
Becker, Gary S. Economic Theory. Transaction Publishers, 2009.
Edward C. Baig, Bob LeVitus. iPhone 4 For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
Shelly, Gary B. Discovering Computers 2009:. Cengage Learning,, 2009.
