Project Ara -- Futuristic Modular Android Phone

(5/23/2016) Do you feel it's pretty wasteful to upgrade electronic gadgets sometimes just for "better battery life," "better camera, higher pixels" while most of its functions are fine? Google's Project Ara will try to change it. It's a concept of modular design and allow consumers to 'upgrade' its mobile phone according their individual preferences. If you want a better camera, you buy an high-end camera module; if you want a better audio output, you buy a stereo speakers module (CNET's report). Project Ara is almost the opposite of iPhone's inflexible all-in-one, no-hassle concept.

I believe Project Ara can be a revolutionary game-changer in the mobile phone (maybe all electronic gadget) market. But I really hope Google's Android can have higher integrity in user platform and enhanced security. Without software's integrity, hardware module is just a fad. The video looks very cool, but do you remember the fad of Google Glass?

Watch out, Apple! (However, I still think design integrity in Apple is executed much better than free-spirited Google)

The upfront cost for consumers to customized a modular Android phone can be more expensive (it's like the bill of a-la-carte sushi restaurant, always surprising). But in the long run, it may lead to a more eco-friendly, less wasteful market for electronic products and save $$$ for consumers. There will be less total revenue (and profit) for smartphone manufacturers like Samsung, LG, HTC, ... etc. in the long run if Project Ara is executed right, and they (Samsung, LG, HTC) may eventually be downgraded to "module provider" if lucky. 

Modular upgrade according to consumer's need

Smartphone's Design Fatigue

(03/22/2016) In less than 10 years after Apple's first iPhone launched in 2007, Apple's new iPhone SE goes from bigger to smaller. It is a 4-inch smartphone, like iPhone 4s, accompanies with some updated features that iPhone 6s has. Exciting? Probably not for even loyal Apple fans. There are several other signs showing that the steam of smartphone is losing strength. For example, iPhone 6s sales dropped lower than iPhone 6; the sale of Samsung's Galaxy 6 was also bad in 2015, which makes Samsung to boost its Galaxy 7 with either free Gear S2 Smartwatch Or free Gear VR Headset.

I have not updated my smartphone for more than two years. Other than terrible battery life, I feel no need to upgrade. Smartphone makers may really bump into the first growth bottleneck of smartphone.

Who Still Buys and Owns Music?

(11/3/2014) Apple's iTune and Amazon's online music see biggest fall in sales of digital music download, while digital streaming services is going up . Well, most readers probably are not surprised? Who are still buying and own music in the digital streaming era? Limited to my flash memory size, I may not have all musics in one device. So, why do I have to remember to load my digital music download into devices to the places that I want to listen to (in the car, on the public transportation, work out, biking...)? For the convenience, consumer prefer to listen to music anywhere they want, so monthly subscription (or free membership) is foreseeably becoming the main stream in the future.

But I am surprised to see the differences of digital sales download in different countries (Japan vs. Sweden) and among different genres (country music fans still buy more music than the fan of other genres).

Not only in digital music, Amazon (and Apple) may have another problem: people don't buy books (especially the textbooks) anymore. They now just want to rent. Just today, country singer Taylor Swift announced that her new album will not be available on Spotify for streaming. Spotify posted a blog talking about this breakup.

Spotify begged in this blog "PS – Taylor, we were both young when we first saw you, but now there’s more than 40 million of us who want you to stay, stay, stay. It’s a love story, baby, just say, Yes." Spotify made two playlists as below.

Apple's One SIM to rule them all

(10/21/2014) One thing inconvenient to cell phone users in the US now is that the cellular phone often works for only one or two wireless service provider. Your Verizon iPhone won't work on AT&T network. This limitation seriously damage the 'portability' of devices when users want to switch to another service provider for various reasons (fee, coverage, service quality...). Now Apple silently wants to remove this limitation and take back the control back to users (and Apple, of course).

Two month ago, if you buy an iPad and want to be always connected, you have to decide which wireless provider (AT&T, Verizon or Sprint...) you have. Now in Apple iPad Air 2 available in the US and UK, you don't have make this decision anymore since it has Apple SIM card embedded.

Apple says "you can choose the plan that works best for you — with no long-term commitments. And when you travel, you may also be able to choose a data plan from a local carrier for the duration of your trip"

Definitely the wireless service provider won't be happy about Apple's move since they will gradually lose grips on their users. It's a victory of Apple and Apple's users.

iPhone 6 Exrpress

(9/16/2014) It's a chartered express cargo plane (Boeing 747) for iPhone 6. "God bless it," I hear 195000 iPhone 6 new users pray.

"Believe me, this is not the only airplane hauling them apples," he added. "I'm guessing about 20 - 30 heavy's a day coming out of China with just iphones for this launch."

A heavy, he added, is a "BIG airplane."

Learning Curve from iOS to Android (A Personal Story)

(4/18/2014) In the last several months, I have switched from Apple's iOS to Google's Android both on smartphone and tablet. It started with Apple's stubbornness in it's slow-upgrading strategy in iPhone to catch up its competitors. I am sick of the small screen, slow 3G network and slow processor on my iPhone 4. When Bestbuy had a $0 Black Friday sales on Samsung Galaxy S4, I got me one. Switching from iPad to Android tablet is another story. Within 2 months, my iPad 2 screen cracked 3 times without big drops. I had it fixed twice through local a repair shop and paid $120 (2nd break with discount to repair). After the 3rd break, I decide that won't pay the third time. You may think it's because I am cheap and didn't send it back to Apple to repair. However, it is unjustifiable to fixed a 2 year-old iPad 2 screen and costs me $250+tax, when new iPad Air is probably twice of that repair cost. Maybe it's iPad's revenge on my betrayal of Apple. Fine, I am done with iPhone or iPad at this moment. (However, my old iPhone 4 still works and I use it to play music and FaceTime with my parents most of the time.)

How painful was that switch? I would say, it takes time to get used to it because all command, interfaces, and applications are different. I experience 2 months of time of low usage on my Galaxy S4, and most of 'missing usage' are the game time on my iPhone 4 and txt messaging. Before, iPhone or iPad did provide me a good time in gaming and reading. I have used iPad to read ebooks and PDF files intensively and that was the part I 'felt lost' in the beginning when my iPad died.

After 5 months, I realize that there are some changes in my smartphone and tablet usage.

I started to use Galaxy S4 like a small computer because of its power, which my iPhone 4 could not offer. You may say it's because I still use old iPhone, not the newest iPhone 5s. But I hate Apple's stingy screen size even on iPhone 5s. But small screen size is not the only turn-off. Why is that the case? Apple's iOS does have more and better quality applications than Android at this moment after looking for substitutes right following my switch. But the interfaces between my Macbook Pro laptop with iPhone 4 can only go through iTune or iPhoto, and this is really the deal breaker between me and iOS. Definitely Apple has its strategic concern in this part, because it wants all users use more iTune and buy more apps or musics from Apple. But if you have many musics, photos and videos like me, your iTune and iPhoto library probably have grown so big such that they slowdown your laptop significantly.

Another thing you may notice that many mobile applications now are 'free' and they are pretty powerful. Some of the free apps you will 'pay' by 'being tracked by the app developer or the ads,' some free apps are even 'Ad-free.' Not only that, some apps on tablet or smartphone can do jobs as well as some laptops software( or apps), which you often need to buy. For example, the video cutter apps on Android are free (with ads) to download; but the desktop version video cutters will cost around $30 and it's free version often has expiration dates. So if I want to edit some home videos, now I just connect Galaxy S4 with my laptop, switch video files for editing or cutting, then switch back. Those bulky home videos "are not supposed to be" in the iTune/iPhoto library to be 'transferred' to iPhone or iPad because they are on my home media server. Apple's "sticky strategy" to make users can only stay with iTune does the opposite: it expelled me to Android.

However, as a teach-savvy person, this type of control not only irritate me also feel 'being controlled'. When I need to transfer files for some iOS app from/to my laptop, going through iTune or iPhoto means I have to add files and delete files on iTune or iPhoto library all the time, which take triple times of effort to do a simple file transfer. Don't forget, if you don't delete files on iTune or iPhoto correctly, those files are still in your library like 'ghosts' and it will take many painful steps to clean your iTune or iPhoto libraries. If I don't do add-and-delete, my Macbook Pro laptop's hard drive will be full. You may challenge again that: "why don't you upgrade your hard drive or laptop?" My answer will be "My laptop is fine and why do I have to spend $$$ to upgrade to some works that I just want transfer between my smartphone/tablet and my laptop? The key point is: I REALLY don't want to keep those file on iTune or iPhoto library because I don't use them on iTune or iPhoto.

The technology has proved that smartphone can work like a small computer and the file transfer or utilizing other functions on smartphone (or tablet) does not need to be 'so painful' for the users. As many users have more and more music/video/movie files that they want to easily transfer between their computer and mobile devices, I see a big mistake that Apple's strategy is making. 

For tech-savvy people like me, I bet many of them will jump from iOS to Android. For those who don't want to or cannot do complex techy works, yes, Apple's iOS is a cozy platform to play with as long as they can afford to pay pricy Apple products.

You may wonder whether I stop using tablet since I don't want to pay for repair or buy a new iPad. Well, I found a cheap 10" Android tablet, which only costs half of Apple's screen repair cost. The specification of this Android tablet cannot compare with iPad Air (or even my iPad 2), but I also realized that this cheap tablet is good enough for all things I expect from it.

Apple Is Losing Its Pricing Grips

(4/3/2014) Apple is knows for its pricing power. You rarely see Apple's products hugely discounted in the retailers. Most retailers have to follow Apple's pricing strategy and cannot give huge discount to consumers. The reason is to protect its long-term interest since slashing prices will decrease Apple products' prestigious images and eventually decrease Apple's profitability. To the retailers, breaching the rule means losing license to sell Apple's product.

However, a news analysis from Dealnews.com shows that Apple's grip on its pricing may get loose now. When retailers start slashing prices, there will be less consumers buying directly from Apple, which is an important revenue source for Apple. Their recommendation to the consumers is: don't buy directly from Apple. Shop around to get the best deal!

Drug Cartel in Smartphone Business

(12/10/2013) The drug cartels in South America still get their hand dirty, but maybe smarter now. They buy stolen phones from the US and resell them like news one to people in their market. The technology to block resell stolen smartphones is available. Absolute Software's technology has shown that it can trace the phone to the location. However, Apple, Google, Verizon & AT&T ... won't do anything. Why? First, many people cell phones are in the contract, so it means they will have to replace new phones otherwise they still have to pay the service. Second, very few people who rely on smartphones can now live without it. Three, cell phone users tend to stick to the same maker (due to learning curve of switching) and the same wireless service provider (contract and service level preference).

The companies (Apple, Google, Verizon & AT&T ... ) can sell you new phones to replace your stolen ones, why do they ever make effort to sacrifice their profit? Good and evil only differ in a very fine line here.

Is Apple's Day Really Over?

(4/21/2013) Apple's stock price has dropped more than 40% from it's highest point last year. Is Apple's day really over? One analyst gives you seven reasons why he think Apple high time will not return anytime soon.

Cruelty of Product Innovation

(3/18/2013) Though Samsung Galaxy S4 is not a total WOW, but still some market researchers think Apple needs to go big with the iPhone 5S, or go home. Apple's iOS has not wowed the marked for a while and its days of leading ahead of Android is numbered (or some say over). That's the cruelty of product innovation.

Apple's iWatch or Google Glass?

(2/13/2013) Even though it is still a rumor, Bloomberg says Apple is really serious about iWatch to compete with Google Glass. Which one will you pick to be a trend rider? Which one do you think will work better for innovation early adopters? I will pick Google Glass. Look at the video recording function of both gadgets. Google Glass will give you a more reasonable and stable video recording. Plus, if you want to embed voice command on this gadget (like Apple Siri or Google Now), a pair of glasses is much closer to your ear to extend James Bond's earplug. Wearing an iWatch? You will have to keep your hand straight and still to record a video and you will need to raise your hand every time you talk. What is your pick?

Apple iWatch imaginary product

Google Glass

Look at what Google just released about its Glass.

Apple To Open Supply Chain Management Center Instead Of R&D Center In Shanghai

(2/1/2013) This is a not a big news, but it is surprising. Apple -- the most valuable company in the world -- may establish a supply chain management center (not an R&D center) in Shanghai. Do I need to say more about the importance of supply chain?

Foxconn's Style of Management

(12/17/2012) French reporters get an exclusive report about Foxconn's employee management (Apple's biggest contract manufacturer).



(12/18/2012) An interesting article on Wall Street Journal found that the workers of Foxconn are unhappy: "the newly implemented labor law in China is making it hard for employees to earn a living because they are working fewer hours at the higher overtime rates." What a cultural difference, right?

Supplier Relationship -- Partners Or Enemies?

(9/27/2012) When the supplier relationship turns sour, the order cut from the dominant downstream customers' can be a trouble to the supplier. Recently, the smartphone lawsuit between  Samsung and Apple starts to dent the long term relationship between them (time of separation? well, that is impossible). Apple starts to cut nearly 50% of its LCD panel supply from Samsung. Apply turns its supply to LG and other Taiwanese suppliers. Luckily, compared to the $1B penalty of smartphone lawsuit loss, this is only a smaller dent to Samsung's revenue. Samsung is the world largest LCD panel manufacturer in 2011 and a leader in newest display technology. Even though Apple cuts its LCD panel supply from Samsung, Apple still heavily relies on Samsung to provide them flash memory chips (Samsung is also the world largest flash memory manufacturer), and processors. Apple and Samsung, partners or enemies? It will be both.

Well, from a long term perspective, Apple has to seriously consider the potential threat from its powerful competitor -- Samsung, and finds an alternative source for its critical components. Apple has a big ambition to launch Apple TV (rumored for a long time) and they cannot trust Samsung anymore. Under some under-the-table support (rumors), Foxconn (Apple's largest, and the world largest, contract manufacturer) has tried to invest the struggling Japanese LCD panel manufacturer -- Sharp. Different from Samsung that has its own brand consumer products, Foxconn is a "loyal" manufacturer for many PC and electronic product brands since Foxconn does not compete with their customers directly in the consumer market. Sharp has advanced display technology but is poorly managed in recent years. Foxconn's investment will help Apple to secure its future key component supply. At this moment (9/27/2012), this investment deal is stalled due to higher-then-expected loss in Sharp and disagreement of control power of Foxconn in Sharp's board (from several Taiwanese news reports without official's comments from Foxconn and Sharp). Let us wait and see how it will develop.

(10/22/2012) This is another interesting news. Amazon's cloud service is hit by real cloud (storms) in Virginia and many websites (Netflix, Pinterest, Instagram ...) are takend down. Do you see Netflix over there? You probably Amazon's video streaming is directly competing with Netflix, right? Let us see how long this business partnership will last.

(10/23/2012) The is a war between Amazon and top Brand suppliers. Top brand suppliers do not like to see their products priced lower than the lowest suggested retail price. Price competition among brand's distributors will undercut the brand's value and profit. However, on Amazon.com, there are many third-party sellers who are selling top brand products below he lowest suggested retail price. These 3P sellers can find the supply of top brand products from unknown sources and Amazon has a good reason not to interfere how these 3P sellers get their stock (that is one of reasons that many buyers go to Amazon to buy cheap brand products). The only weapon that the top brands can do is to cut the supply directly to Amazon (while they don't know to cut the supply for those 3P sellers on Amazon). So who will be the winner? Amazon? 3P sellers? or the top brands?

(3/19/2013) Amazon's sellers are furious for increasing fee for them to sell on Amazon. Will there be exodus of sellers on Amazon? Well it depends on how many other online marketplaces these sellers can switch and maintain enough successful sales if they choose to leave Amazon. This news shows a lot of details of Amazon's pricing schemes.

(3/22/2013) According to a Korean Publication, Apple will shift is LCD supply to two Taiwanese LCD panel manufacturers. These two tech big guys are drifting further away from each other.