Apple’s new iPhone comes without the standard head-phone jack. Is this a good move long-term? Or will it break the company’s reputation for delivering the best customer experience?
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Starting a standard war
When rumour started getting out that Apple was ditching the standard head-phone jack, people became alarmed and outright angry. On top of the steep price of the phone, the company would now force customers to buy a wireless head-set or one with a cable that connects to an iPhone only.
It felt like an unnecessary and antagonistic move, one that would be hard to explain and sell without being seen as greedy.
So why are they doing it?
According to the Guardian Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, says that
“[…] the reason to move on is courage. The courage to move on and do something new that betters all of us.”
The new Lightning port (as it is called) is digital as opposed to the current analogue audio-only port. The courage presumably lies in trailblazing a new path in the way we can access audio on the move.
But the courage is also one of starting up a new standards war in an industry where locking customers in to one system is increasingly going to be the way to keep sources of revenue from switching to your competitor (Samsung, LG).
Long-term gain versus short-term loss
A new and better standard for portable audio access will potentially be a winner long-term. Apple has often got rid of old tech and made better products as a consequence.
But now the problem is more complex:
- Everyone has a standard audio head-set.
- Everyone uses these across devices.
- Forcing people to switch will create a lot of digital waste and meaningless hassle
The gold-standard Apple customer experience is based on providing the best quality products and innovation that digital technology can provide. But it has also been based on an unwritten contract between user and company that says:
We are willing to pay extra for better quality, for better design, as long as we have the feeling the company is doing what it can to make life easier and more enjoyable for us.
This contract seems to be up for renegotiation, at least on the part of Apple. And that may have more than just short-term consequences. It might constitute a definitive break that ushers in the end of Apple’s Golden Era.
The upgrade-cycle conundrum
The problem is connected to Apple’s own rapid upgrade cycle. Customers have been expecting new radical improvements every year. Now that they’re getting one that’s controversial, they might not want it and refuse to follow.
The company has in a sense locked themselves inside an unsolvable problem. They need to show innovation, but they need to bring customers along.
The force that’s pushing at the back is shareholder unrest. Without continued growth Apple will start to lose market-valuation.
Is there such a thing as sustainable growth inside the world of tech? Where both shareholders and customers are kept happy?
Probably not. But it would perhaps have been smarter on the part of Apple to pick a fight with “the man” first, instead of starting to alienate all their devoted fans and cannibalising the company’s livelihood long term.
A great customer experience is something that can be ruined much faster than it can be built up.