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Is the iPhone becoming the new BlackBerry?

Mobile devices have drastically changed over the years and the space continues to evolve at an expeditious pace. BlackBerry was once considered at the top of its game and has since lost some of its appeal. With Apple's major drop in stock value and ongoing PR battle, is the manufacturing giant following in the same footsteps?

For many, Apple is still at the height of its game and is considered a top manufacturer in the mobile space. Then again, BlackBerry was once considered that, too.

?Nowhere is classic Schumpeterian creative destruction more at work than in the mobile space,? said Ritesh Bhavnani, chairman of Snipp Interactive, Washington. ?First we had Nokia, then Motorola, then Palm, then BlackBerry, then Apple, then Android ? and the mobile space continues to evolve at a faster pace.

?While it?s virtually impossible to predict who will win in the future, it is virtually certain that there will be many more disruptions ahead,? he said. ?That being said, I don't think Apple is becoming the new Blackberry ? yet.

?The iPhone 5 was an underwhelming release on the whole and it left a lot of consumers disappointed at the dearth of new features and a lot of media folks trumpeting the death of innovation at the company.?

Where it stands
The ghost of Steve Jobs looms large in the minds of everyone, and nowhere more so than at Apple, where the pressure is on to ensure the next iPhone is better than the last.

Currently, Apple produces new iPhones with a little less than a year in between each production.

What predominantly set iPhone 4 apart from 4S was Siri. Now, what sets iPhone 5 from 4S is the screen size.

What sets Apple apart from its competition, however, is an ecosystem.

?The Apple ecosystem is effectively sticky ? once you have your iPhone and your iPad and maybe your Macbook all connected and syncing, it becomes really hard to move to a device that?s not part of the Apple clique, because then your other devices don't function as smoothly either,? Mr. Bhavnani said.

?Also, iCloud, the connective tissue between all its devices, is still in its relatively early days.

?There is a lot more that can and will be done with iCloud, and that will only serve to create additional stickiness.?
 
Standing out
Many believe that Apple is nearing a period of virtual obsolescence, which BlackBerry has unfortunately achieved.

Still, a majority disagree.

While Apple has no doubt had a rough few months ? its year-to-date stock price is down 20 percent and a 2012 survey found waning iPhone loyalty for the first time since the original iPhone?s launch ? the two companies are not really comparable, per Vanessa Horwell, chief visibility officer of ThinkInk, Miami Beach, FL.

?Apple is known for a diversity of products: desktops, laptops, mp3 players, smartphones and accessories, as well as for essentially inventing digital entertainment/music via iTunes and later the App Store,? Ms. Horwell said.

?BlackBerry, by comparison, staked its future on a specified niche and purpose: the business professional?s mobile workhorse device.

?If history teaches us anything, cash crop economies aren?t stable. Failure to adapt to new realities is their greatest weakness. Without crop rotation, harvests die. The same logic applies to product innovation.?

Per Ms. Horwell, Android-powered phones ? and the others increasingly gaining traction ? would not be the rising stars that they are without Apple?s post-BlackBerry pioneering efforts.

?Lifelike resolution, lightning speed and a second-to-none touch screen ? even a new type of online entertainment commerce ? are all Apple firsts,? Ms. Horwell said. ?Those victories can?t be re-won by any challenger.

?Recently Apple has been challenged by a perception of diminished innovation,? she said. ?Personally, I believe they?ve been paying interest on that debt ever since Steve Jobs? death, kind of kicking the can down the road ? the good but not great iPhone 5 might speak to that shortfall.

?Some of the first back-to-business stories following Jobs? passing were about whether or not the company could continue to break new ground, which I also commented on.?

Where it?s heading
Whether it is Apple, Samsung, Windows or anyone else, smartphone manufacturers are beginning to bump up to the limits of what mobile devices can do.

Nowadays, users use their smartphone devices to start their car, pay their bills and interact with brands in an interactive way.

?If there is a battle for Apple to remain on top, preserving its touch, it will likely be in the next iteration of smart technology: wearable devices,? Ms. Horwell said. ?Google Glass has generated quite the conversation and to a lesser extent, so has Apple?s smart watch.

?As I?ve said, Apple?s product arsenal is its greatest advantage and will remain the case in the foreseeable future,? she said. ?It?s important to appreciate Apple?s incredibly successful branding legacy.

?Apple and Jobs fused form with function to such a degree that computers and eventually mobile phones, moved from the domain of the nerd to the province of cool. Much of that un-cluttered simplicity and attention to detail imbue the company and the products it sells today. Apple might very well be entering its most challenging chapter but that doesn?t mean it?s closing up shop ? just like its original nadir didn?t signal its end then either.?

According to Will Kruisbrink, account director at Walker Sands, BlackBerry the mobile device lost because it was obsolete technology. 

BlackBerry the company lost because it did not realize fast enough its technology was obsolete. 

?If Apple misses the boat on a major shift in how consumers use technology, then the iPhone will be the new BlackBerry,? Mr. Kruisbrink said. ?Right now, Apple still has the two of the most popular mobile devices in the world, the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S. 

?Apple lost its public leader at a time when it had only incremental changes to its technology planned,? he said. ?That could be bending public opinion in the direction that the company has lost its cutting edge and has nothing new in the pipeline. 

?We'll see with its next announcement.?

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York