I wrote two months back that Apple seems to be putting much more effort into the 10th anniversary 2017 iPhone (likely named iPhone 8, foregoing the S branding) than the upcoming iPhone 7 that's set to hit this year. I made that assumption based on early leaks from Apple insiders. While those sources are highly reliable, they are still of the "niche" variety. Well, now even the very mainstream Wall Street Journal (who also has a good track record with Apple leaks) has confirmed that the iPhone 7 will likely disappoint the general public.
The WSJ report further confirms what many smartphone insiders have been buzzing about for months -- that the iPhone 7 will look virtually identical to the iPhone 6, and the biggest changes are already on Android phones right now.
(But, if leaks are to go by, the iPhone 8 should be pretty damn impressive)
That the iPhone 7 will look mostly the same should hurt its sales, since even the 6S suffered in sales due to its resemblance to previous models. Here's WSJ elaborating futher:
Previous big design changes to the phone helped create buzz around the new models and spur sales by enticing existing iPhone customers to upgrade. Apple’s latest phones—the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus—haven't generated as much excitement, in part because they closely resemble the previous year’s models.
The iPhone 6S's less-than-stellar reception contributed to Apple posting its first revenue decline in 13 years.
So now if you're Samsung, and you've been battling Apple in a smartphone war (that has spilled onto the courtroom) for half a decade, and you know the iPhone 7 will likely generate a "huh? this is it?" reaction, then you have to go all-out this fall and take your biggest shot, right?
The South Korean electronic manufacturer had overtaken Apple for top smartphone market share a while ago (it shipped 82 million smartphones in quarter 1 of 2016 to Apple's 51), but the Cupertino company is still far and away the biggest smartphone company in the world because its profit margins are astronomical.
Samsung's phones have improved in every aspect significantly these past two years -- the Galaxy S7 has received rave reviews (though personally, I still can't stand Samsung's illogical decision to put the back button on the right side of the phone) -- to the point that it rivals the iPhone in looks and build quality (but then again, so do Huawei phones). If its upcoming phone this fall, presumably the Note 7 (Samsung is reportedly skipping the 6 because smartphone makers refuse to count correctly) can continue the company's run of rave reviews and eye-opening innovations (the Note 7 is rumored to have an iris scanner), it just might make up more ground in its competition with Apple. It'll be virtually impossible for Samsung to overcome Apple in total profits, but it can push the market share gap further in its favor. And when you're battling titans, every little step is progress.
