Instance of Innovation Essay Example for Free

typesetters case of Innovation EssayThe throngs of Apple fans who crowded into the Moscone convention centre in San Francisco to hear Steve Jobs give his yearly MacWorld keynote address went into the room with high expectations. Judging by their response their expectations were more than met. The unveiling of the iPhone, Apples long-awaited debut into the mobile handset market, was greeted by rapturous applause, gasps of disbelief, and occasional whoops of joy from the Apple faithful.Six long time later on Apple transformed the market for digital music players with the introduction of the iPod, the company had attempted a double over performance in the market for mobile handsets with the iPhone a slim, sleek handset that relies on an innovative touch- essay user interface. This thing is amazing, says Van Baker, an analyst at Gartner, who had a chance to try the iPhone himself during an analyst briefing by Apple. Its the biggest home run for them Ive seen yet. Apple is fa r from the first company to try to crack the so- called smartphone market.Microsoft, Apples arch-rival, has been talking well-nigh such devices for years, but its mobile windows effort has slumped in part because mobile carriers were wary of Microsoft and kept out. honorable 6m smart phones were sold in the US last year, compargond with more than 1bn mobile handsets sold worldwide. Two trillion of them operated on Windows software, with the rest of the market split between Research In Motion, makers of the Blackberry Palm, maker of the Treo handset and a handful of others. Shares of RIM fell 7. 9 per cent yesterday while Palm stock-taking fell 5. 7 per cent.Charles Golvin, analyst at Forrester, cautions that, even with Apples impressive device, the market for phones that integrate voice calls, e-mail, sack up browsing and music pull up stakes remain a small part of the overall handset market. matai Kazakoff, senior associate at Compete, an industry analyst group, says his rese arch shows that its unlikely that any phone, no discipline how good, is going to get people to pay a high price and up to Dollars 200 in early termination fees on their current contract. Wireless shoppers are hooked on free phones as carriers have subsidized better and better devices over the years. Apple is betting that the iPhones unique user interface the result of years of research will reinvent the entire smartphone category, that as the macintosh redefined computers and just as the iPod redefined what customers came to expect from their digital music players.Apple is going to reinvent the phone, was Mr Jobs bold pronouncement at MacWorld. The early signs are encouraging. Ralph Simon, MEF Americas Chairman Emeritus of the Mobile Entertainment Forum, says that the iPhone represents a quantum leap in diversity for the entertainment industry. You cant overlook the strides already made by competitors like Nokia and Motorola, but the seamless jointure of the iPods kudos to th e mobile phone is a key step evolution of the mobile to becoming an well-rounded entertainment device, says Mr Simon. With the least expensive iPhone models priced at Dollars 499, price remains a concern. How many people will be out there willing to pay that kind of premium? Mr Golvin asks.However, he says there are some encouraging signs in Motorolas recent experience with the Razr, its ultra-thin premium mobile phone. The Razr is now several years old they were able to keep their premium prices for quite a while, Mr Golvin says. Mr Jobs was keen to signal Apples intention to travel a leading player in consumer electronics yesterday. At the close of his MacWorld speech, he announced the company had intractable to drop the word computer from its name now that its brand has spread well beyond the Macintosh to include other devices. Even the most jaded observers would be hard pressed to deny that, with the iPhone, the newly christened Apple is off to a great start.