The iPhone has truly changed the world in millions of ways. On our smartphones, we can pay our bills, communicate with anyone across the globe, order anything we want, and, perhaps most importantly, pass the time.
According to Data company Inrix, the typical American commuter wastes 42 hours in traffic each year. There was a time where the average commuter would have to just power through the traffic jams by listening to morning radio, a CD, or just the background noise of other frustrated drivers. Now we can simply look at our phones.
Thanks to the millions of mobile websites, fun games, and social media apps, we can now use every second of downtime to stare into our fancy iPhones. But is the iPhone still king?
According to The Street, though Apple is still doing quite well in just about every other area of business, the iPhone might not be the center of its universe anymore.
As Apple grows its ecosystem of devices and services, industry analysts are debating whether the iPhone is still at the helm of the smartphone sector.
“I love the expansion of new products,” said Laura Martin, analyst for Needham. “[But] do they attract people to the ecosystem or does the person have to have an iPhone first?”
Since Apple has found tremendous success with its home assistant technology, wearables like the Apple Watch, and other high-tech connected devices, consumers are seemingly not as excited about iPhones as they once were.
Keep in mind, it’s not like the iPhone is falling by the wayside. In fact, nearly 395 iPhones are sold every single minute.
“Even if you’re drawn to the ecosystem through the Watch (or other products), you’ll quickly integrate back into the phone, because the phone makes everything work,” added Martin.
In addition to Apple’s product ecosystem jeopardizing its iPhone success, competitors are still doing everything they can to pass the tech conglomerate in the smartphone department.
According to CNN Tech, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei actually just passed Apple to become the world’s second largest smartphone seller. Huawei sold nearly 54 million smartphones last quarter, up more than 40% compared to the same period last year.
That increase was not only enough to pass Apple, but also narrow the gap with Samsung (current market leader), who sold 70 million smartphones last year — down about 10% from same period last year.
“The continued growth of Huawei is impressive, to say the least, as is its ability to move into markets where, until recently, the brand was largely unknown,” said Ryan Reith, IDC analyst.
No matter what happens in the weeks and months to follow, as soon as Apple unveils a new product, millions of people will once again drop everything, save up hundreds of dollars, and get in line for the new iPhone.
According to Inverse, the next iPhone models are almost here and three new phones are expected to be released. For this fall’s launch, rumors suggest that all three smartphones will use an iPhone X-style design with only a face scanner and no home button.
