You know those ads from Verizon Wireless? They've been hitting ATT and Apple's iPhone pretty hard and it just got harder.
But you know what? I absolutely love it! It's like the PC-Mac ads Apple put out but without the humor.
I think this will get Apple, Steve Jobs in particular, pretty pissed off. And you don't want Jobs pissed off. I think the gloves are off as far as Apple and Google are concerned.
Why is this good? Let's be frank. The iPhone has not had real competition for years now. Plural. I'm not sure that Droid is the iPhone killer. Certainly, no one is saying that it is. That boat sailed a long time ago. Now, it's about coming as close to the iPhone as possible and giving Apple a good scare.
And with the strong marketing, Droid might just be the device. So how will Apple respond if at all?
- Accelerated product roadmap. Tablets, next generation of iPhones, new iPod Touches.
- The iPHone running on t-Mobile. And if Sprint and Clearwire does their job, even a Wimax version of the iPhone?
- Look for Apple to hit Google where it hurts. Search, ads, and maps. Before Google bought mobile ad company, Admob, it was rumored that Apple demonstrated some interest. Google wants to sell ads. It hasn't been successful at other ventures so far. Even if Android takes a sizable share of the mobile market, it's about ads for Google. Look for Microsoft to employ a similar strategy and hit Google where its bottom-line is. Microsoft and Apple just wants to make sure Google doesn't continue to have billions of cash added each quarter that can come back to hurt them.
- People buy Apple products for the whole ackage. Not hardware alone. Not software alone. Apple can continue to leverage this like no one else can.
- Beefed up MobileMe. Free to all iPhone and iPod Touch users. Or reduce the cost of subscriptions. Even provide a small business version of the Me service. Hit back at Google and Microsoft at the same time.
As you can see, there are plenty of options for Apple to strike back. It's about timing and no one is better at this game than Jobs and Co. I imagine that Apple will have a lot to say about its mobile and cloud plans in 2010. As a fan, you gotta love what Google's doing.
Meanwhile enjoy this new Droid ad and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Note: Microsoft is bring Bing over to the iPhone. Gotta love that too.
