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Forbes: The iPhone is no longer cool

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Jan 2013 10:18 User comments (32)

Forbes: The iPhone is no longer cool According to a new Forbes report, the worst thing possible has happened to the iPhone; it's no longer 'cool' with teens.
"There was quite some negative buzz about the iPhone 5 and the lack of a real incremental innovation, except for the screen size and weight, when compared to the 4S. So this has an effect on the originality component of coolness," says Insites-Consulting's Joeri Van den Bergh, via Forbes.

Samsung and other Android phone makers have been working hard to innovate, and there has been significant marketing on having customers move on to the "next big thing." Apple has been branded as the phone that even your grandmother uses, and for the most part, it is true.



"Teens are telling us Apple is done," says Tina Wells of youth marketing agency Buzz Marketing Group. "Apple has done a great job of embracing Gen X and older [Millennials], but I don't think they are connecting with Millennial kids. [They're] all about Surface tablets/laptops and Galaxy."

A Piper Jaffray survey recently showed that 67 percent of affluent teens want to purchase an iPhone with their next upgrade, with 22 percent looking to buy Samsung. This number is hugely skewed in Samsung's favor, year-over-year.

Of course, if Apple were to begin innovating again, they could likely take back some market share. Says Wells: "Everything moves in cycles and you can't rest on your past glory. You've got to evolve to maintain relevance. Apple just needs to focus on innovation and teens will come back."

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32 user comments

114.1.2013 23:41

Hahaha.

That made me smile AND laugh.

215.1.2013 00:27

That made me smile and laugh too.

315.1.2013 00:35

I never thought is was cool in the first place.A waste of money in my opinion.

415.1.2013 01:48

Only when it's jailbroken is it cool. No jailbreak...no cool.

515.1.2013 02:19

Originally posted by PraisesToAllah:
Hahaha.

That made me smile AND laugh.
me also :)

615.1.2013 06:29

Not sure if all that is correct, its all about the apps, the only issue i have had with the iphone is the cost, sure they control the market in how the apps are delivered and some times you might need to jail break it. At the moment my Android is fine, but for me its the apps

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 15 Jan 2013 @ 6:30

715.1.2013 08:43

This is actually very interesting. I wonder if Apple will change their commercials to have old people handling their phones now instead.

815.1.2013 10:23

I said Apple was not cool in 1994

915.1.2013 10:44

haha about time these people realise the potential of android and no it isnt just samsung pfft hate that they think samsung is totally diff to android

1015.1.2013 12:02

Originally posted by JST1946:
I never thought is was cool in the first place.A waste of money in my opinion.
That's why I figured it was cool...nothing that makes sense is ever cool. The pet rock was cool, $20,000 analog watches are cool, even the Fiat 500 is cool...and it both looks and drives like something from a dystopian hell.

This says more about Android than it does about iOS. Flash is gone and most of the phones come with broken UIs that you have to root to replace. Companies like Samsung insist on breaking critical features like bluetooth to the point that even rooting only partially fixes them. Android has become cool...and that isn't a good thing. Thankfully rooting still isn't cool...if it was, I would have to get another phone.

1115.1.2013 14:42

That's odd my Samsung Galaxy S3's bluetooth works flawlessly. I think people are just realizing why should they pay more for something when tons of other makers can offer the same or better for less, lighter, bigger, faster, expanded memory, etc. The iPhone is great if you are tech stupid like most people are that's why it's so popular. Android is simple too but has a bit more to offer people who can have a critical thought away from the sheep. Windows phones offer simplicity too so it's become Apples battler to lose and they offer the least for the most $$$. People will eventually not care for the sheep love, and will eventually move to a more better bang for their buck.

Honestly more people i know move from an iPhone to Android than the other way around. The only people to not do it say Android is too complicated (which means they've outed themselves as morons) or they just have too much investing in iTunes it would be a pain to move to android (which is what Apple wants)

1215.1.2013 14:44

Never was cool in my book and I've always said if you wanna buy Grandma something that for the most part will just work buy her a Crapple product. If you are looking for something you can mess with and do really cool stuff...look elswhere!

1315.1.2013 15:37

I don't give a damn who makes the phone. Personally, I prefer the iOS to Android. I don't know why, maybe because I got an iTouch 2nd gen and have liked it since, but there's just something about it I prefer. I could be made by Acer for all I care.

1415.1.2013 16:04

How can something be cool when over half of the American population has it as a smartphone. They have milked the same product for too long but they will answer to this call and murder you Samsung edited by ddp

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 15 Jan 2013 @ 4:51

1515.1.2013 17:06
Kicks1
Unverified new user

Originally posted by buddyleem:
How can something be cool when over half of the American population has it as a smartphone. They have milked the same product for too long but they will answer to this call and murder you Samsung edited by ddp
you can Tell your just an Apple Fan Boy..

1615.1.2013 17:10

The Trojan Horse iPhone or any Crapple thing, have never being cool to me at all.
Now... the iCrap Corp. just stop stealing innovations from other companies & they are stack on their own garbage greed.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 15 Jan 2013 @ 5:11

1715.1.2013 18:14

Apple = Boring

1815.1.2013 21:16

A little late Forbes. I came up with this conlusion when the iPhone 3G came out. But then again, teens from this generation aren't "cool" either.

1916.1.2013 02:27

Originally posted by KillerBug:
Originally posted by JST1946:
I never thought is was cool in the first place.A waste of money in my opinion.
That's why I figured it was cool...nothing that makes sense is ever cool. The pet rock was cool, $20,000 analog watches are cool, even the Fiat 500 is cool...and it both looks and drives like something from a dystopian hell.

This says more about Android than it does about iOS. Flash is gone and most of the phones come with broken UIs that you have to root to replace. Companies like Samsung insist on breaking critical features like bluetooth to the point that even rooting only partially fixes them. Android has become cool...and that isn't a good thing. Thankfully rooting still isn't cool...if it was, I would have to get another phone.
Flash is only gone because adobe doesn't support it anymore for android as the web changes over to web 2.0 and HTML 5.0 videos won't need flash as they will now use a HTML5 layer/stream, so in time flash will completely disappear across the web.

As for the bluetooth not sure what the deal is other than the Samsung phones using the newest bluetooth chipset when they design, the GS is bluetooth 3 with everything opened up for access, the GS 3 has a 4.3 Bluetooth chipset.

You need to use a PC with the Bluetooth software to see everything you can do with Bluetooth you'd be pretty surprised.


The only reason why people are moving over to android isn't because it's cool it's because you get a huge screen to play games etc on it and they are generally faster ie newer phones and people becoming fed up with the screen breaking on the iphone all the time.

2016.1.2013 18:49

If people are getting a phone to be cool then they have other issues they need to have worked out.

2116.1.2013 20:07

Originally posted by xtago:

Flash is only gone because adobe doesn't support it anymore for android as the web changes over to web 2.0 and HTML 5.0 videos won't need flash as they will now use a HTML5 layer/stream, so in time flash will completely disappear across the web.


Jobs said the same things back when he blocked Flash on the iPhone...but the internet still has a lot of Flash today, and many of the HTML5 sites are setup so you have to download a whole video before it starts to play. HTML5 is fractured, and until it is mature, there is no excuse to block it in the market and modify the stock browser to ignore it when sideloaded. I rooted my phone and have 4.1.1 ... I got Flash working, so why can't Google do it?

Originally posted by xtago:

As for the bluetooth not sure what the deal is other than the Samsung phones using the newest bluetooth chipset when they design, the GS is bluetooth 3 with everything opened up for access, the GS 3 has a 4.3 Bluetooth chipset.


The new android distros no longer offer a choice of what app to open when the bluetooth button is pressed, and even when you get around this by disabling the stock default app, phones like the GS3 won't relay bluetooth microphone audio to other apps, making things like Robin useless. Sure, S Voice works fine...except that S Voice doesn't work very well at all...half the time it asks me to select things on the screen, so much for hands free and eyes on the road! And yes, I know there are a ton of things you can do with bluetooth, even with the older standards...that's a big part of the reason that I get pissed off that even the most basic things that worked fine on my first Android don't work on the GS3.

Originally posted by xtago:

The only reason why people are moving over to android isn't because it's cool it's because you get a huge screen to play games etc on it and they are generally faster ie newer phones and people becoming fed up with the screen breaking on the iphone all the time.

That is a real possibility...the iPhones do have tiny screens, and Androids are really good at falling 8 feet onto concrete, bouncing, and working fine after. I am utterly amazed that my phone has survived the things I've done to it...there are a few scratches on the corners and edges, but the screen is still perfect and it works fine (well, it at least works better than it did when I bought it).

2217.1.2013 03:11

For me, the iPhone feels more of a multimedia device than it does a phone. My LG Optimus S, while an entry level Android phone, feels more like a smartphone than the iPhone.

About a few years ago, I had gotten an iPod Touch 4G for free as part of a promotion. One of the best things about it, is that it performed exceptionally well. Now, I' aware it isn't the iPhone, however the iTouch is basically an iPhone without the ability to place calls, has a slower processor, and IIRC the available RAM is a bit less.

Never really played games on the iTouch, with the exception of Zombie Gunship and Words/Hanging With Friends. I had mostly used it for music, downloading videos with MxTube, custom sprinboard themes, SBSettings, and secret files (passwords, useful docs, and yes, you guessed correctly, pr0n). Most stuff you can do with an iPhone/iTouch can be done with any Android device with the exception of high end games due to differing hardware specs. And in some cases, you pay less for more with Android.

But the one thing that iPhone/iTouch has over Android, IMO, is it's stock music player. I've since sold my iTouch 4G, but man do I miss the music app. I've gotten PlayerPro for my LG Optimus S Droid, and while it is superior in some ways to the stock music app in iOS, the two things it lacks are fullscreen album artwork on lock screen and no option for all songs under Artists. I know, personal preference here, and there might be another app with those features that I'm not aware of.

This comment is getting long lol. Let me just end on this note: Android and the iPhone (while held back by lack of innovation by Apple) are great devices and platforms. Sometimes, it's the audience/user base that's the problem.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Jan 2013 @ 3:15

2318.1.2013 11:14

Originally posted by bigdan45:
I don't give a damn who makes the phone. Personally, I prefer the iOS to Android. I don't know why, maybe because I got an iTouch 2nd gen and have liked it since, but there's just something about it I prefer. I could be made by Acer for all I care.
because you are narrow minded

2418.1.2013 11:47

Originally posted by bobiroc:
If people are getting a phone to be cool then they have other issues they need to have worked out.
Now, that's a pretty darn cool statement :)

2518.1.2013 23:13

Anyone holding on to the iPhone because they're invested too much in iTunes need to learn how to use Google search. There are plenty of free, automatic apps that can convert your entire iTunes library to MP3.

My wife has a Galaxy S3 and I have a Galaxy Note 2. Bluetooth works flawlessly on both of these.

2619.1.2013 00:13

Originally posted by bmok:
Originally posted by bigdan45:
I don't give a damn who makes the phone. Personally, I prefer the iOS to Android. I don't know why, maybe because I got an iTouch 2nd gen and have liked it since, but there's just something about it I prefer. I could be made by Acer for all I care.
because you are narrow minded
Having a favorite platform that is not based on the manufacturer/developer in any way shape or form is not narrow minded. Perhaps the paste you consume is hindering your judgement.

2719.1.2013 01:45

They never was cool to me. With their ridiculous prices, closed system, and mid level hardware. But Apple have a hell of a campaign team. I take my hat off to them on that.

2820.1.2013 18:20

Originally posted by GernBlan:
Anyone holding on to the iPhone because they're invested too much in iTunes need to learn how to use Google search. There are plenty of free, automatic apps that can convert your entire iTunes library to MP3.

My wife has a Galaxy S3 and I have a Galaxy Note 2. Bluetooth works flawlessly on both of these.
Try installing a 3rd party assistant such as Robin, click the "Answer/hangup" button on the bluetooth device, and select Robin from the list...oh wait...you can't; they blocked that. OK, so just manually open Robin, click the "R" button, and speak into your bluetooth with the handset a few feet away from you...she won't hear you.

2920.1.2013 20:55

I've been an iPhone user the past 4 years, but I switched to android at the start of this year. The jailbreak thing is played out. I want openness and a larger screen. HTC One X+ is my phone now.

There are some things I miss from iOS, but I am happy with my switch.

3020.1.2013 20:55

I've been an iPhone user the past 4 years, but I switched to android at the start of this year. The jailbreak thing is played out. I want openness and a larger screen. HTC One X+ is my phone now.

There are some things I miss from iOS, but I am happy with my switch.

3120.1.2013 20:55

I've been an iPhone user the past 4 years, but I switched to android at the start of this year. The jailbreak thing is played out. I want openness and a larger screen. HTC One X+ is my phone now.

There are some things I miss from iOS, but I am happy with my switch.

3221.1.2013 10:59

Originally posted by Memnock:
I've been an iPhone user the past 4 years, but I switched to android at the start of this year. The jailbreak thing is played out. I want openness and a larger screen. HTC One X+ is my phone now.

There are some things I miss from iOS, but I am happy with my switch.
So nice he said it thrice!

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