RIP Headphone Jack
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2016/09/08/what-apple-didnt-tell-us-iphone-7-launch/90002278/
When the first iPhone came out, users were drawn to the product as it promoted usability, versatility, and diversity. The touch screen feature, void of a keypad put other leading companies in the market eager to match the sales of Apple. Since this technological advancement, some may argue Apple has since been the lead producer in the smart phone industry. This is why when Apple makes changes in their software, hardware, or business strategy, other companies find themselves in a stand still, wondering if it is worth their interest to update their products for customer satisfaction or play it safe and keep their product.
Lately the newest rave has been the iPhone 7. As explained in US Today, the last thing we have been informed about the iPhone 7 has been the removal of the headphone jack. Though very courageous of Apple to trust their company’s power enough to make this change, other consumers are responding with appall. Will this disappointment among consumers be enough for Apple to revise their years of design? Wireless headphones, chargers, watches, have all been introduced this past century dependent on Bluetooth. However, are consumers ready to be forced to make the change? The prisoner’s dilemma Apple faced prior to making this decision, shows that Apple is able to take risks based on their prior documents of their sales and their company name. For example, many consumers complained of the software updates in Apple, many chose not to update until Apple forced them to at phone restart, yet this feature has not been enough to drop sales. Now with the removal of the 3mm headphone jack, Apple now offers users to choose between 3 other options, all of them apple products. Note the similarity to this when apple came out with their new charges (only compatible for Apple phones, while other smart phones share the universal charger).
Not only does Apple face the prisoner’s dilemma, but so do consumers, and other competing producers. Android now needs to choose if they want to stay with the headphone jack or add another feature. The features on Android phones, spherical pictures, google cardboard, etc, are not as vastly known as Apple features (news was out when Siri could change their voice). Not only is Apple thinking about implementing some of the features offered in Android, but they are also making it only adapted to Apple products.
The fight between Apple and Samsung now bring up the discussion of Game Theory.
Applying Game Theory to the patent war between Apple and Samsung
In which you can see the patent war between Apple and following producers has led to these great technological advances. Consumers will now be able to enjoy more on their smart devices with the continual push from one producer to the other. Yet, will this cause to a divide in the market in which will decrease sales for universal products such as headphones, cases, etc. What bridges will be built from each individual company to protect themselves from other companies.