Is The iPhone Starting To Become Boring?

It happens eventually to any product. After a few years surge of phenomenal popularity, the hype eventually dies down, while consumers start to explore other alternatives to that product, or something new, better, or just different. The same applies to smartphones, even Apple's iPhone, perhaps the most culturally significant and influential (technologically speaking) smartphone of all time.

When smartphones exploded in the market about a decade ago, consumers were treated to something fresh, and definitely a far better version of the cell phones they were used to (here’s looking at you, Nokia). And as smartphones continued to improve over the years, mobile users met every new feature and enhancement with excitement.

But recently, when consumers are enticed with a new, version of an existing smartphone with a new set of improvements, people mostly just shrug and move along, that is if they are rolling their eyeballs yet. For a market that is already maturing, the smartphone market should not find this too surprising. But still, it is somewhat disconcerting to see dominant players, like Samsung and HTC, struggle to get consumers to purchase their latest smartphone offerings. 

Apple, of course, is not immune to this. Next week, the company is scheduled to unveil a new iPhone, likely the iPhone 6S, and many are expecting the tech giant to offer pretty much the same device as the current iPhone 6, except maybe for a few enhancements here and there, most probably in terms of features and software, but not much with regards to physical design (this is actually true of all iPhones -- the iPhone 6 generally still looks the same as the first ever iPhone).

The question now is: will this new iPhone make consumers excited again? To a degree, yes, but it is hard to say if it will do as well as its predecessor. Apple will sure to highlight the iPhone 6S’ Force Touch technology (also present in the Apple Watch), which makes use of a display screen that is sensitive to pressure. Apple could also be introducing new colors for its latest iPhone offering. Force Touch technology is cool and all, but come on, is that all?

Of course, even if consumers nowadays are starting to experience smartphone fatigue, it still does not mean that Apple will not be able to sell millions of units of its iPhones. But it does make people think a bit longer before deciding to spend money to buy a new iPhone. However, that moment’s hesitation right there could spell a difference between growing sales or declining sales. 

For Apple, iPhones remains its best selling device. As a matter of fact, over two thirds of the company’s earnings come from sales of its smartphones. The only problem is the global smartphone market is in the midst of a slump right now. Power players in the smartphone industry, such as Samsung, LG, and HTC, are already feeling the effects of this slump. 

Is Apple next? It is difficult to say. A lot of consumers seem to be pretty content with using their old iPhones (iPhone 4’s and iPhone 5’s) instead of getting the latest model. Unless Apple can introduce a new iPhone that blows people’s minds, more and more consumers will likely stick to their old ones.