Another year has passed, and the competition is expanding rapidly. There are 5 key operators that exist – Apple, Google, Amazon, RIM and Microsoft.
My predictions for each for 2013 are as follows –
Apple – more of the same. The iPhone 5 becomes the 5S just with better internals and a software feature exclusive to that model. Possible colour options too. iOS 7 will add dynamically changing icons and improve the operating system is minor ways. The iPad Mini will get thicker and heavier but have a retina or near retina screen. The new iPad will be better somehow, probably with better internals like a spec bump on the camera, processor and maybe memory up to 128gb. The remainder of the Apple products will start to feature more iOS like software integration.
Google – expect to see mind blowing specification devices – phones and tablets. Huge screened phones will be abundant. Android will in 2013 close the gap between its Eco system and Apple. But will it be as easy to use? Or will android turn in to a computer operating system and be too clever. Market share will increase again. It wouldn’t surprise me if Samsung release a handset to excel in performance and art form over Apple.
Microsoft – more and more handset will appear and it’s market share will start to grow rapidly at the expense of Apple and Google. This company has the ability to become a major player again. It has plenty of money in the bank at the moment, and has a decent suite of office / work applications that everyone is familiar with.
RIM – Blackberry 10 get launched end of January 2013. I’m certain it will be a big fanfare event. However, by the end of the year, they will have been bought by either Microsoft or Samsung. Maybe Amazon even.
Amazon – and now on to the dangerous competitor, armed and ready to obliterate its competition. New tablets and ereaders plus it’s first smartphone. In 2013 it will strengthen its position and offering. But I say watch out everyone. 2014 is the year Amazon explodes with great new products along with a ready made ecosystem. Plus they already have the cloud sorted and understand about logistics.
Interesting times ahead. What do you think?
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 
Hard to argue with most of that. Not 100% convinced Amazon will come through. Retina iPad Mini is a no brainer as is the iPhone 5S. Don’t think we’ll see colour iPhones
LikeLike
Apple are going to be vulnerable to Samsung, hence the colour might be the USP for the 5S. Won’t be long before we find out for real 🙂
LikeLike
Pretty brave, making predictions!
Amazon is the one that I think is the biggest “threat” to Apple and Google both. But what continues to bother me about Amazon is their absolute refusal to release numbers for anything, so we don’t know much of anything they’re really selling.
RIM is going to bite the dust. Maybe not in 2013, but it’ll be not long after. They blew their chance and I don’t see a recovery happening.
Hard to put a finger on MS. Their stuff is good but their ecosystem just isn’t there like it is with Apple, Amazon and Google. And there are just way too many developers that aren’t even considering Windows Phone apps and this is really going to hurt MS. I see Windows Phone going the way of Zune to be honest.
I think it’s just a matter of time before Apple starts to slip unless they really shake up a market like they did with the iPad and iPhone. It could be TV, but who knows?
LikeLike
I agree with your comment on Amazon not releasing actual figures. That is quite scary since they could be experiencing massive sales, and the competition could be caught short over the next 12-18 months, since they suddenly will be left in a position of facing a massive threat out of nowhere.
LikeLike