Apple losing its way? The tiger finally roars

Will its rivals make an impact on the popularity of this hugely successful technology driven company? ,.o

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BY

RITAM MITRA

From its now- famous lrnmb le beginnings in the garage of co - fmU1der Steve Wozniak, Apple stands today as the most valuable brand in the world, leaving previ ous arch - rival Microsoft in the dust. Now, a year on from the death of inspirational co- founde r Steve Jobs, a new pair of rivals stand in Apple's wayand d1ey aren't s Ltr renderi.ng as meekly as Microsoft did.

Despite being beleaguered by international and national bodies, the Prime Minister of India sticks to the route of reform

were already availab le in Samstmg's Galaxy S3 unit, released three months earlier. Aesthetically p leasing as ic may be, the phone is n ot innovative.

ln another blmv to App le's usually seamless product laun ches - and this is perhaps tl1e biggest - they de livered a product with which many consumers were unhapp}' - and ic ,vilJ affect all iPhone users, not just those who purchase die latest model.

Apple's recent iPhone 5 launch was the first phone rel eased by the tech giant since Jobs' long bartle wi d1 pancreatic cancer came

Apple's decision to remove Google's Maps software from the latest iOS

6 software, and instead include its own Apple Maps software, has drawn criticism from all over the world for consumers who longed to have che option to down load Google's Maps software instead.

Samsung responded co the iPhone 5 by, within lt did not help eid,er that App le raised eyebrows worldwide when they successfuUy sued Samsung for $1 bn in August 2012 over accusations that the Korean company's 'Gala,-1'' units too closely resemb led their own products. Many viewed d1is as vexatious Litigation, given some of the evide n ce included t he fact diac Sarnstmg phones and tablets were 'rectangular w i th rounded edges' - a feamre Apple considered purely their own Samsung has appealed the verdict, alleging juror mi sconduct. le was crucial d,ac me launch should go smooth ly to play down die some,vhat n egative attitude that has SLtrtounded che company for the first tinie in recent memory. The launch howeve r, was anything but the seamless, inspiring event that it has known to have been in the past.

Apple's dec ision to remove Googl e's Maps softwa r e from die latest iOS 6 software, and instead include irs own Apple Maps software, has drawn criticism from all over the world. It p laced entire cities in ocean s, directed drivers to drive through shopping plazas, an d even placed its Sydney flagship store on tl, e wrong side of the road The software left a sour taste in the m outh to an end in October last year. It also came in the context of an increasingly ugly bat tl e with C\VO massive smartphone playersSamsung, who outso ld App le uni ts by enormous margins in the first half of thjs yea r, a nd Google, who create the Andro id platform which runs on almost all non -Appl e srnarcphones and tablets.

''If the battle a week, releasing an ad portraying chose who wait in Line for tlie iPhone as less- than - intelligent, and suggesting that die Apple product was more sui table for older generations.

Samsung, w ith its aggress ive yec simpListic marketing, is effectively tr ying co beat Apple at its own game, one iliac it has dominated for a decade.

For years, owning the latest Apple gadget has carried with it a sense of pride, and che latest gaffes will probably not hurt the com pany, given it enjoys a somewhat ridiculous market capi taLisation of $630bn. with Samsung and Google continues any longer, the smartphone landscape could soon change dramatically

Apple has u·aditionally used the launch of a new product as a way to disp lay a leap - forward in innovation. It is after all, innovation and uniqueness diac gives App le the most loyal custo m er base i11 the world. The iPhone 5 rnough, left much to be desired. Amongst its newest featllres, none were unexpected, an d furtl,er, many

But if the battle with Samsung and Google continues any longer, Lhe smartphone landscape coul d soon change dramatic ally. Apple's next even t will be scrutinised even more closely; an d failing co live up co tl,e hype twice in a row will definitely pm a dent in tl,e company's gl eaming armour.

''There i s no doubt that Apple has shaped the world in a way no other techno logy company could have hoped to iniagine. Otl1er compani es owe Apple a great deal for forcing them to lift up their gaoie. During Jobs' battle with cancer, diough, many wondered how the company wo uld keep up with the iconk legacy he left behind Apple, it's )'Our move thi s rear, the racings agency Standard & Poor's direatened to former cue India's rating, as the investment outlook in lndia didn't look good anymore S&P Director for Sovereign Ratings Tal{llhira Ogawa, said in a statement, "We believe that the government's recent annotrn cement on foreign direct investments is an encouraging development, but ar diis stage it is still Lll1Certain whemer t hese measures can be imple m ented or not." India's cmrent S&P invesmient raring is 'BBB-', which is considered the l owest b y i nvestors for future inve.~tment. To maintain credit rating and India's GDP (cunendy forecasted to be around 5 5%, me lowest in the past 9 years) , the government had no odier choice apar t from Minister Manmohan Singh. SRK is initiaUy portrayed as a simp le, bashful man. But when he realizes his partner Taani (Anusbka Sharma)

If you haven't had chance to watch BoUrvood film Rab Ne Ba11a Di Jodi, then 1 recommend you co watc h it at l east once The first reason i s chat it has an interesting storyLine and some good acting by Shahrukh Khan (SRK) and Anushka Sharma. The second reason is that d1e dual role played by SRK in tli is movie can b e compa red co the recent actions of lnclia's Prime

''The UPA couldn 't put the reforms issue any more, as it was hampering India's growth story more than ever before goi n g furdie r - i ntroducing FDI in retail and ignoring die opposition. It was is not so comfortable on the backburner just matter of time and gathering some guts wid1 him as sbe is a very cheerful and v ivacious girl, he .scares playing h is second ro le Mam11ohan Singh seems to be foUowing che same path J\fter he

It needs to be seen what real benefits die FDl in retail can bring to consumers, farmers, die business environment, infrastructme and overaU , to Indi a. The po licy would was recently lamented by TTMB magazine and me Jf;/asbi11gto11 Post as an 'Lll1derachieve r ' and 'a dithering ineffecmal bttreaucrat pres iding over a deeply corrupt government', the UPA government has suddenly sprung into action. People have so far viewed Manmohan Singh as a nonaggressive 'poodle of Sonia

Gandlu', not fully effective as prime minister. Bm suddenly now, Singh and the UPA government seem co be showi n g ne r ves and guts in lead ing lndia further through mul tip le financi al refo r ms, one being Foreign D irect lnvescment (FDI) in retail and aviation let foreign retai lers own up to 51 percent of supermarkets and 100 percent of single- brand scores. Cttrrently, only few states a re willing to aUow FDI in retail and welcome stores Like Wal -Matt (USA), Tesco (UK), Carrefour (France) etc. If tbese companies a re aUowed in, d1ey won't ha,1e a free run as ther e are s ome strings attached. T hese stores muse source 30

These stores must source 30 percent of their goods from smaller local industries, and must One might wonder why me UPA decided to imp lement FDl in retail ar this point of rime. Is it because the government is now concerned about country die n egative pub li c ity ir bas gained through mul tip le cormption scandals like the Coalgate, 2G telecom scandal etc? Is i t because many i nternational publications have joined me bandwagon i n tanushing whateve r image was left from this government? I beli eve that die government had no oth er option - they simp ly had co take these b o ld decisions. T h e UPA couldn't put me reforms issue on me backburner any more, as i t was hampering lnclia's growth story m ore than ever before. The currenr government had tried to imp lement FDI in retail lase year as well, b u t it backtracked afte r srroog opposi tion from Mamata Banerjee, d, e BJP and otl1er parties. Earlier invest a minimum of $100 million or Rs 450 crores in the like cold storage and most imporcanrly, individual states can decide whether to allow mese stores i n tbeir states '' o r not