Wednesday, May 23, 2012

iPhone 5 Release?

I love rampant consumerism, in particular the self-perpetuating build-up before the release of a new iPhone. If history trends are correct, the new iPhone will be called the iPhone 5 and will be released with hysterical fanfare some time in October.

Model          Release date
iPhone         29 June 2007
iPhone 3G   11 July 2008
iPhone 3GS 19 June 2009
iPhone 4      24 June 2010
iPhone 4S    14 October 2011
iPhone 5      ?

According to the building buzz on the internet, the biggest upgrade feature will be a larger screen that will make the new iPhone 5 comparable with current HTC and Samsung hero phones. The possible introduction of a larger screen has apparently come with the blessing from the grave of former CEO, Steve Jobs that was previously opposed to a screen too large to reach the outer edges with your thumb.

Other rumoured new iPhone features include a 12-megapixel camera, A6 quad core processor and liquid metal chassis... 

History also tells us that often Apple rumours that are published as fact before the release are often wrong...but that doesn't stop Apple fan-boys and girls providing Apple with free consumer generated publicity by building anticipation to ferocious levels while trying to second-guess what will be on offer. 

Whatever the specs of the iPhone, when it is finally released the hysteria generated will ramp-up demand for smartphones and leapfrog the change in consumer web browsing behavior. As the iPhone 5 becomes the must-have consumer item, the older model phones will be recycled into the hands of consumers that will be upgrading from non browser enabled phones and are unable to afford new. 

iPhone owners more often than not, obsessively look after their object-of-desire and can't even bring themselves to throw away the original packaging. The second-hand phone market will soon be flooded with some very good quality phones.

For accommodation providers, this means that the widely touted prediction that by 2014, more people will be using mobile devices to browse the internet, than desktop devices - is more likely to become reality. 

In most surveys, travel is the number one motivation for mobile search. The best thing an accommodation provider can do at the moment is to buy a mobile device and start looking at their business through the eyes of a consumer.


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