Money Today Oh Dong-hee, Senior Reporter, Industry Division 1 | 2023.10.05 10:46
[오동희의 思見]
Editor’s note | It may be a private opinion about what is happening in the business world in general, but rather, like the title of someone’s essay collection ‘Let’s think about the world and see the world’, it is a private opinion with the intention of thinking deeply about the world’s problems and looking far ahead. ) I tried to include it.
iPhone 15 Pro introduction screen/photo = Apple Korea sales site capture There is a lot of talk about the new iPhone 15, which Apple will accept pre-orders in Korea on the 6th and release on the 13th. Apple lovers are once again praising Apple’s innovation, but some in the industry are saying that ‘Apple’s innovation is dead.’
Apple’s Korean sales site said, “The iPhone Pro 15 and Pro Max are equipped with powerful and innovative features, including sturdy titanium materials, ultra-high-definition cameras, the game-changing A17 Pro chip with ‘tremendous performance,’ and a USB-C connector that supports USB3 speeds. It is introduced as “I have it.”
Apple’s words of ‘amazing performance’ are meaningless, and the industry’s evaluation of the new product is cold. The adoption of the USB-C connector, which has already been introduced by all industries including Samsung Electronics, is said to be a powerful innovation, but there is also continued criticism of the heat generation of the A17 Pro chip, asking whether ‘tremendous performance’ is ‘tremendous heat generation’.
Since there is nothing that can be called innovation, some people say sarcastically that ‘the only innovation of the iPhone 15 is that the price is the same as the previous model.’ Apple’s innovation controversy is not just yesterday or today.
After Steve Jobs passed away 12 years ago today (October 5th), there was even a saying that ‘Apple’s innovation died with Jobs.’ Some say that Apple has lost its novelty since its breakup with legendary designer Jonathan Ive last year.
In fact, we cannot demand ‘innovation’ every time a new product is released. Although it is possible to convey ‘novelty’ by improving some functions or changing design or color, it is difficult to innovatively improve productivity or bring about significant changes in human life every time.
Apple is also an example of a company that changed the world through three or four innovative products since its founding. After launching the first personal computer, Apple 1, in 1976, through various imitations and creations, we had the good fortune to produce successful products such as the Macintosh, MacBook, iPod, and iPhone.
The foundation of that success lies in the spirit of deep philosophical exploration of humanity by Steve Jobs, who experienced rock bottom after being kicked out of the company he founded. It was Jobs, and now Apple, who innovated the ‘smartphone’ as a convenient tool for humans through in-depth exploration of human nature.
Some say that Apple today is living off of Jobs’ legacy. This is because there is no further evolution in the Apple ecosystem created by Jobs.
The path taken by Apple, a smartphone pioneer, is also the path that Samsung Electronics’ MX (Mobile Experience) division must follow.
On January 9, 2007, when Steve Jobs unveiled the first ‘iPhone’ at the Macworld Conference & Expo held at Moscone West in San Francisco, the nearby hotel was attended by Lee Jae-yong, then-executive director of Samsung Electronics (CCO: Chief Customer Officer), and Choi Ji-seong, then head of Information and Communications. There was a general manager, etc. As they watched Steve Jobs’ presentation on video, they became concerned about the future.
Chairman Lee Jae-yong (who was an executive director at the time) said to dozens of wireless business executives who had no sense of crisis about the iPhone until 2009 and were preoccupied with the success of feature phones (mobile phones without smartphone functions), “Raise your hand if you have used the iPhone.” After saying, “Take a look,” and seeing that there was no one, he sent a strong message of crisis, saying, “Buy an iPhone tomorrow and try using it.”
Afterwards, all of Samsung Electronics’ wireless division’s capabilities were focused on smartphone development, and as a result of quickly responding to changes, Samsung was able to rank first in global mobile phone sales for 11 consecutive years from 2012 to 2022. The smartphone market is now reaching maturity and is demanding innovation.
If no change is made, Apple may follow the path of decline followed by Nokia, the king of feature phones, and Samsung Electronics may follow suit. Apple’s recent lack of innovation also applies to Samsung.
At least the movement to provide changes and values different from Apple through the Galaxy Z Folder and Z Flip is appealing to consumers to some extent, but this also inevitably has its limits. The crisis is much closer than we think. If you don’t change quickly, you will be left out.
Oh Dong-hee, Senior Reporter, Industrial Division 1 (bureau chief treatment)
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