By Gabe Perna
In the world of technology and specifically electronic devices, one
thing is absolutely clear: there’s no time to stop and smell the roses.
Take for instance, the case of the Palm Pre. Launched on June
6th, of this year, the Pre was supposed to be Palm’s coming out party
in the world of smartphones. It even won “Best in Show” at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Unfortunately, a few weeks after its debut, Apple came out with the iPhone 3GS and the poor Pre was abruptly forgotten.
This is not an uncommon occurrence. A company will come out with
a revolutionary device. The next week, a competitor comes out with an
even more revolutionary device. And it goes on and on. In the end, the
race between these competitors is marked by winners and losers. We at Exec Digital have taken the liberty of declaring the (current) champs and chumps of the Technology Race.
Winners:
Apple iPhone: Make no mistake about it, people love the
iPhone. A recent survey from consulting firm CFI Group says people
prefer the Apple-based device more than any other smartphone on the
market. With a multiple carrier model now in place in Europe, the
iPhone’s international popularity is expected to grow even further.
Nintendo Wii: Despite a recent dropping off in sales,
Nintendo is still the king of video game consoles. Aided by the
immensely popular Wii and the handheld DS, Nintendo was named by
BusinessWeek as the World’s Best Company in 2009. The Wii has outsold
its rivals in the Sony Playstation 3 and the Microsoft X-Box 360.
Research in Motion: It seems Research in Motion comes out
with a new Blackberry every few months. The Curve is one of
Blackberry’s finest and most popular products as it’s sold well in the
US and UK. In fact, it actually outsold the iPhone during the first
quarter of 2009 in the US.
Garmin: Garmin is a winner for its continual dominance in
the GPS market. The company’s Nuvi brand is always a critic’s favorite
AND is the top selling GPS device in the US by far.
Amazon Kindle: The Kindle is the iPhone of e-readers.
Amazon has put a lot of effort in the Kindle and it shows. The device
is immensely popular and easily the number one e-reader in the US. A
recent debut in the UK means the Kindle is growing on an international
scale.
Twitter: If we could pick a winner for 2009, it’d be
Twitter. Nowhere is the rapid rise of Social Media more apparent than
the impressive ascension of Twitter. By recently raising $100 million
in funds, Twitter’s now estimated worth is $1 billion. Not too shabby
for a company that was worth $250 million at the start of the year.
Tweet on!
Losers:
Sony: Sony is entrenched in third place behind Nintendo
and Microsoft in the gaming console market. However, that’s not only
the place where Sony has fallen behind. In the ever growing e-reader
market, the Amazon Kindle has continuously outsold its main competitor
the Sony eReader.
Palm Pre: The Palm Pre is a great smartphone, just as
capable as the iPhone 3GS. Yet, with the rapidly declining Sprint as
its carrier in the US, the Pre didn’t reach the one million sold mark
in its first three months of existence. It just debuted in the UK and
it’s unknown how it’ll do there.
AOL: Ten years is an eternity in the world of technology.
For proof, see AOL. When it merged with Time Warner in 2000, it was
valued at $161 billion. Today? With Time Warner spinning it off, JP
Morgan and Pali estimates the once-proud giant is worth a mere $4
billion.
Zune HD: On the topic of Microsoft, the Zune HD is
another loser in the tech race. It’s a clear number two in the mp3
department behind the iPod Touch. However, with a promising holiday
season ahead, that could all change.
Vodafone and O2: The British operators were left in the
dust when Amazon launched the Kindle on the 19th of this month. Instead
of working with the British based companies, Amazon continued its work
with AT&T in the international expansion because the US company has
the reach for Amazon’s global initiative.
AT&T: AT&T has been both a winner and a loser
recently. The exclusivity deal with the Kindle and the iPhone are huge.
However, the people have spoken are not fans of the carrier. Users may
love the iPhone, but AT&T isn’t as revered. In the same CFI survey,
AT&T scored the lowest of the four major US carriers.
