World War 3

Well, ok maybe not World War 3 but definitely the ’smartphone wars’ have been on since this summer began with no end in sight. What brought on this war? Well, -you could say that the iPhone coming on the scene in June 2007 was like when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor back in 1941. A total surprise attack! 

No doubt Apple dropped a big bomb on RIM, Palm, Danger (they make the T-mobile Sidekicks) and a host of other smartphone handset markers who had become a little too comfortable in their arena.

And although the new Apple iPhone 3G continues to have ‘bugs’ as per Steve Jobs himself, the device is still selling like hotcakes. 

I must admit one thing that Apple has done well is to turn the consumer’s attention to the smartphone. I think standard flip phones for the most part are going to get outdated very quickly. Yes, I know that BlackBerry just introduced the Pearl Flip but they are going after a market that has traditionally not been theirs - the individual consumer. That’s their call to introduce a flip phone, which has had a very successful run for the past 10 years.

Regardless of RIM’s plans of the new Bold and Pearl Flip, other non-traditional handset manufacturers such as Google have entered the mix too. This just complicates matters even more doesn’t it? With what we can only imagine as a mind-blowing OS, many anticipate the Android phone to be a force to reckon with (especially given that the handsets will be HTC devices). 

Still, other traditional players such as Nokia, who I have dogged on before (but only ’cause I love them so), have great handsets but no great way to get them to market.

And then we still haven’t touched on the content yet. Content is king! And how easily people can have content on their device (music, videos, games, etc) will have a major impact on who survives in these war times.

Ok, so now that I have overloaded your brain my question to you, the consumer, is this. In these war times, how far will brand loyalty take you in the face of cost-effective (carrier subsidized) devices?