NYT: Asian Handset Makers Finally Fear the iPhone, Maybe


The NYT tries to spin the same old iPhone competition story with a seemingly fresh angle: Rather than going on about handset makers writ large adapting to the iPhone, the story at first seems to zero in on Asian companies, like LG and Samsung. But after what amounts to a long introduction, it elides actually discussing its possible impact (or lack thereof) on the Asian market to focus on the American one. Just, you know, from Asian companies' perspectives.


Of course, you can't write an iPhone rivalry piece without a laundry list of phones from different makers that "copy" the iPhone's features: touchscreens (zany!), halfway decent music player integration and storage space, and "real" (or maybe not) Web browsers.

And if rewriting the same "OMG adapt to the iPhone or perish" scare story we've been reading since January wasn't enough, the piece starts wrapping up with a standard "Hey, look at Asia for a peek at the future" anecdote to end with the obligatory "the iPhone might get people to pay more for phones, which is good for everyone" blurb.


I feel like watching the NYTimes.com front page load over EDGE would've been a more productive use of my eyeballs.

Rival Manufacturers Chasing the iPhone [NYT]

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With the current love-fest for Apple, any company should fear Apple entering their market. Heck, Maytag needs to pay Apple to keep them from making washing machines. As Apple has proven time and again, the hardware can be crap (e.g. Edge), and with a pretty Apple interface on the sucker, they can sell a half million units without trying. Fact is, people are more interested in the interface than they are the features. I am not certain if that is good or bad, but it certainly appears to be true, regardless.