Having the Newest, Fastest, Greatest: A Problem with Android and Consumer Satisfaction

"If Android tablet releases are as fast as Android phone releases, I'm going to shoot myself." - from This is my next podcast, 6/18/11.

So what is he talking about? He is talking about the constant onslaught of new Android based phones being produced and released by cell phone manufacturers. This list includes: Samsung, LG, HTC, Motorola, Acer, Dell, etc. Unlike Apple, who only sells two iPhones at a time (the previous generation at a discounted price and the current generation), these manufacturers are releasing new Android based phones at a blistering rate. So why does this matter and isn't this a good thing?

There is something that has always been inherent in the nerds and geeks of the world: A desire to have the newest, latest, and greatest. This desire has also existed in the wealthy. And upper class. OK, and probably middle class. Now....it exists within pretty much everyone.

Satisfaction is based on perception. If you think you got the best cell phone, even if it isn't, you will probably be satisfied and content. So when someone walks into a T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon store, they are going to listen to what the 21 year old kid working there and what has to say. And he, most likely, will try and sell them on the newest, latest, greatest, best phone. That way when the customer leaves, they leave feeling content. This is good.

But what happens when the user sees a billboard, an ad on Google, or a commercial on TV advertising a bigger, faster, brighter, slimmer, smarter phone? How do they feel if this happens 1 week, 1 month, or 5 months later? The problem is, that person has signed a 2 year agreement to use that phone. Of course, the customer can buy a different phone at any time but without the subsidized pricing, that phone will most likely cost around $500-$700. Not a chunk of coin most people are willing to part with when, if they wait, they can get a new phone in 2 years for somewhere between $100-$300.

So if pushing out new phones on such a fast track can be a bad thing for consumers and their satisfaction level, can it also be a good thing for consumers? Of course. The intense competition that currently exists in the mobile arena is forcing better innovation and better products. I'm all about having newer technologies, faster processors, thinner phones, higher resolution screens, etc. My question is simply this?: If you know you are going to release a phone in 4 months with y, y, y, y specs, then why release an inferior phone tomorrow with x, x, x, x, and x specs? HTC does this constantly. Pushing out phones for the sake of pushing out phones. HTC is turning great profits and so maybe this isn't a bad business model. I just happen to prefer Apple's business model. So what does Apple do differently?

For the past four years, starting in the summer of 2007, Apple has released a new iPhone. We are 2 days away from the one year anniversary of the iPhone 4 release and we have yet to hear a peep from Apple about a new iPhone. This year may or may not follow the same trend as previous years. Regardless, at this point it looks like Apple isn't dipping below the 11-12 month release cycle on the iPhone. I like this. This is comforting to me. When I purchased my iPhone 4 a year ago, I knew that I was buying the very best Apple phone available....for an entire year. You don't get that kind of security with Motorola. You buy the Droid X today and soon the Droid 2 is out. Or the Droid Pro. Or the Bionic. Now how do you feel about that phone you bought just a mere period previous?

Apple is consistent. And this is reassuring. It is also nice knowing that Apple puts ALL of their effort into ONE phone and tries to release a phone as close to perfection as possible. If Apple believes there is a feature that belongs in a phone, it will be in the iPhone you buy. So even if you buy your iPhone later, say 8 months after the initial release date, you are still getting a phone loaded with amazing features and incredible software. They don't have model A with certain features and model B lacking those features but having others. Such a situation is confusing and stressful for consumers.

As consumers, sometimes we think we loves lots of choices. Sometimes lots of choices are good. Sometimes they are not. An example, and I don't have the book in front of me so I'm paraphrasing rather than quoting, comes from Malcom Gladwell's best seller Blink. It it, he gives a real example of a Jam seller at a fair. When the jam seller had just two choices, Raspberry and Strawberry, the seller sold more jams than when they had 15 different jams and jellys. Why? It was easier for the consumer to make a decision quickly, feel confident in their decision, and move on.

So do you need to buy an iPhone in order to get a good phone? No. Just do your research. If you are going to buy an Android phone, talk to others who have one and ask them what they like and dislike about their phone. Make sure there isn't a new amazing Android phone coming out a week after you buy yours. If you are going to buy an iPhone, just understand Apple's product cycle. There are obviously a lot of factors that go into when you can buy a phone so here is a pretty good article that Benjamin Brooks just wrote on the subject. LINK.

This article may lead one to believe I hate Android and love iOS (Apple's Operating System that is used on the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch). This is not true. This article doesn't even touch upon the pros and cons of the operating system itself, it is simply an article about hardware, something that Google(Android) has little control over. This article is intended to focus simply on the fast moving mobile market and the way it affect's a consumer's buying experience and later, use perception. I will write an article later on how I feel about the current OS options available for mobile devices.

Notes:

1)This article doesn't touch upon a lot of different aspects. Those including cost factors, carrier limitations, OS preference, Android fragmentation, and other issues. These may be touched upon in future articles.

2)Everything written in this or any post on The Juicebox is strictly my opinion and is not the opinion of anyone else. I do not have access to any information that isn't publicly available to others.