Technology - One of Apple’s identified core competencies
is product innovation [1]. From a technology perspective,
Apple has used this core competency to develop a highly
functional and usable mobile device. While a detailed
analysis of iPhone technology is beyond the scope of this
paper, there are a few major technology related factors that
have contributed to the success of the iPhone. To begin
with, the simple array of buttons on the iPhone appeals to
consumers who have been bombarded with menus, icons,
etc. [34]. As mentioned earlier, US consumer preferences
dictate that they may not use mobile Internet devices they
deem to be complicated. Apple has addressed this
preference through their innovative and intuitive interface.
Secondly, the relative quality of mobile browsing
experience is very high with iPhone, mainly due to Apple’s
implementation of the Safari browser and its ability to
render standard web pages without the creation of
specialized mobile versions [35]. This is especially
important to US consumers looking to replicate their fixedline Internet experience on a mobile phone, as well as from
an international perspective, where content already created
in other countries will be readily available on iPhone with
little or no modification. Finally, although Apple designs
and manufactures iPhone hardware, they have realized that
from a technology perspective, the future of mobile phones
will be differentiated by software, not by hardware [12]. By
realizing this and promoting the App Store, Apple can
concentrate on hardware innovations and foster third parties
in developing innovative software applications. Given the
launch of the iPhone 3G and the App Store occurred at
roughly the same time, it is difficult to determine if the
success of iPhone 3G is due to the hardware, or perhaps due
to the array of applications that have presented themselves
to customers. Regardless, the combination of these two
events has fueled the success of the iPhone.