With iPhone X Shipping, the Competition Can Just Throw in the Towel

Last week, I collected some of the best articles about the iPhone X. Since then, I’ve found several more. Together, these tidbits continue to tell a great story about this amazing iPhone.

iPhone X. Image credit: Apple

Beyond just being extraordinary and selling well, the iPhone X serves several other purposes. First, it increases Apple’s Average Selling Price (ASP). Second, it’s aspirational. It brings intrigued customers into the stores to inspect. They might leave with an iPhone 8, and that’s okay. Or they might be inspired to order an X. Third, the iPhone X is a shot across the bow of the competition. Michael Gartenberg at iMore sums up the iPhone X phenomenon.

The X reminds a market that sometimes slips into thinking Apple can’t innovate anymore that it just might want to think again.

And for now, it certainly seems that the iPhone X will be a runaway hit. Jonny Evans has collected all the sales data he can find. “These 12+ Numbers Suggest the Scale of iPhone X Demand.

As an aside, if you’ve been wondering how many iPhones Apple sells each year and what the growth path has been, here’s a chart from Business Insider. The accompanying text has a short discussion about why the return to growth is important. The iPhone X and its successors certainly look to achieve that.

Finally, what might Apple be planning next to make our minds explode? No one knows, but how about an iPhone X Plus? (OMG). It’s just a concept by Martin Hajek, but it does present a tasty possibility. “Drool-worthy concept gives iPhone X a Plus-sized upgrade.”

Next Page: The News Debris For The Week of November 6th. Scary robots from Apple?

Page 2 – News Debris For The Week of November 6th

Scary Robots from Apple?

One of the memes when it comes to AI, something that science fiction writers have foretold, is that machine intelligence might become very hard for humans to fathom. It’s already starting to happen.

DeepMind’s new self-taught Go-playing program is making moves that other players describe as ‘alien’ and ‘from an alternate dimension.’

Here’s the story at The Atlantic. “The AI That Has Nothing to Learn From Humans”

Old school from SciFi.

Meanwhile, without additional comment, I refer you to: “A robot that once said it would ‘destroy humans’ just became the first robot citizen.”

Is Apple wise to steer clear of robot/android technology like Sophia? Or should Apple get into the game with so much competence and care that it can drive the scariest competitors out of the market? Or will all robots, from any company, fall into a uniform, uncomfortable pattern, mimicking each other? Jumping into the competition would be a major investment and decision by Apple, much more stressing than the Titan car project.

New school. Sophia. Image credit: Hanson Robotics.

The merging of AIs and robots/androids presents such a massive social convulsion, it could consume the entire resources of a company, even one of Apple’s enormous size. For example, what if competitors used advanced AI techniques to endear the robot companion to children? Knowing what we know now, that’s likely possible. How would Apple respond? Meanwhile, ponder: “Should Children Form Emotional Bonds With Robots?”

Finally, do we need robot companions to protect us from other malevolent AI entities? Now there’s a market opportunity for entrepreneurs. Do you doubt that’s necessary? Are un-augmented humans a match for even a modestly comptent AI? (Think fake news taken to an even higher level.) Check this out. “Counterfeiters are using AI and machine learning to make better fakes.”

Gulp.

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Particle Debris is a generally a mix of John Martellaro’s observations and opinions about a standout event or article of the week (preamble on page one) followed on page two by a discussion of articles that didn’t make the TMO headlines, the technical news debris. The column is published most every Friday except for holiday weekends.

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