苹果面临重蹈覆辙的风险

    虽然iPhone 5最初在美国的销售状况良好，但并不代表它未来会一直热销，尤其是在发展中市场。如今智能手机市场竞争日益激烈，而苹果却继续实行高昂的定价策略。【去年，苹果推出了一款新手机。可其劲敌三星（Samsung）呢？37款。】而且，苹果依然在沿用之前的老办法。以其运营iPhone项目的方式为例：苹果总是把自己当作别人的唯一选择。在今年的消费电子产品展上，涌现出许多可以配合iPhone使用的创新产品，例如，应用方面有电话会议服务提供商PGI推出的一款实用、清晰的视频会议程序iMeet，而在外围设备方面则有手机壳制造商Lifeproof生产的纤细光滑、具有防震防水功能的iPhone手机壳Fre。

    但有一批利用iPhone 5新型“闪电”接口的产品却并未出现。去年，苹果放弃30针适配器，转而采用名为“闪电”的8针适配器，让所有人始料未及。多年以来，从汽车制造商到手机壳设计师，所有人都有一款可以通过30针适配器连接iPhone的外围设备。而一夜之间，苹果却自行改变了游戏规则，使价值数百万美元的存货面临危风险，迫使许多公司竞相对产品进行重新设计。为了继续使用之前的外围设备，消费者被迫再次花钱购买苹果的适配器。这就像是为被劫持的人质支付赎金一样。

    当然，在科技界，修改格式的事并不少见，但苹果的做法却带来了大量麻烦。苹果并未尽快向合作伙伴公布这项技术，而是对闪电适配器的销售严加控制。想知道为何适用于iPhone 5的音响或电池盒少之又少吗？原因是iPhone 5发布六个月以来，苹果没有批准任何一款产品。规模最大的电池扩展包制造商之一Mophie的一位代表告诉《财富》（Fortune）杂志，iPhone测试过程费时费力，令人非常失望，不过好在该公司已经基本通过了他口中的苹果公司的“严酷考验”。但苹果的延误意味着Mophie错过了节日季，这才是Mophie公司最沮丧的事情。

    苹果的严酷考验不仅针对硬件，也包括应用方面。应用程序制造商AppleStreet Boys花了整整一年时间，才获得苹果方面的批准，得以发布其热门游戏Guess Dat Song。这款游戏是上世纪50年代著名游戏节目“Name That Tune”的数字版，将苹果iTunes商店的音乐作为其内容来源。苹果对于允许应用访问iTunes内容非常谨慎，AppStreet Boys最终通过重重关卡，历时数月才获得苹果的批准。

    当然，与Appstreet Boys同病相怜的不在少数。今年的消费电子产品展上，许多应用开发商都表达了他们对于苹果所谓“审核”制度的不满。人们指责苹果经常“随意修改审核标准”，对于iOS应用的准入标准到底如何也始终模糊不清。库比蒂诺沉默几个月之后，提出了各种奇怪的要求，既有小规模的系统调整，也有完全推倒，重新设计。iOS审核额外增加的时间与成本迫使许多应用开发商绕开苹果，转而首先为其竞争对手——谷歌的安卓操作系统——设计应用。一款允许用户通过手机控制个人电脑的应用Unified Remote最先登陆安卓系统，而iOS版至今仍未发布。

    Even though the iPhone 5 sold well initially in the US, that doesn't mean it will continue to sell well going forward, especially in developing markets. It continues to command a premium price in an increasingly crowded marketplace. (Last year, Apple introduce one new phone. Its arch-rival Samsung? Thirty-seven.) And yet, Apple continues to maintain its old methods. Take the way it runs its iPhone program: as if it is the only game in town.

    At CES this year, there were a number of innovative products available for use with an iPhone—ranging from apps like PGI's iMeet, a truly usable and clear video conferencing program, to peripherals like Lifeproof's Fre, a truly slim and sleek shockproof and waterproof iPhone case.

    But what was missing was an array of products that took advantage of the iPhone 5's new lightning connector. Last year, Apple shocked everyone by summarily discarding its 30-pin adapter and moving to an 8-pin version called lightning. For years everyone from car makers to case designers had made some sort of peripheral that interfaced with the iPhone using its 30-pin adapter. But overnight, Apple changed the game, endangering millions of dollars of inventory and leaving companies scrambling to create new versions of their products. Apple charged consumers a king's ransom for an adapter for use with their old peripheral devices.

    Changing formats is nothing new in the technology world, but it is what Apple did after which is truly troubling. Instead of releasing the technology to its partners immediately, it limited access to the lightning adapter. Wonder why there aren't many stereos or battery cases available for the iPhone 5? That's because Apple hasn't approved any – none, nearly 6 months after the release of the iPhone 5. A rep for Mophie, one of the largest makers of battery extenders, told Fortunethat the process for iPhone testing was exhausting and frustrating but that the company was almost through what he called the Apple "gauntlet." The Apple delay meant that Mophie missed out on the holiday season, a major frustration.

    The Apple gauntlet isn't just a feature of the hardware space; it is also a factor in the app space. It took app makers the AppStreet Boys a full year to get the ok from Apple to release their popular game, Guess Dat Song. The game, which is essentially the digital version of the famous 1950′s game show, "Name That Tune," used the music in Apple's iTunes store as its content source. Apple was extremely reticent to allow an app access to its iTunes catalogue and kept the AppStreet boys jumping through hoops for months, eventually giving them the green light.

    The Appstreet boys are certainly not alone. A number of app developers at CES expressed major frustration with Apple's so-called "testing" apparatus. Apple was accused of constantly "moving the goal post," and being cryptic as to what was and what was not acceptable for entry into its iOS app catalogue. Months of silence from Cupertino were followed by bizarre requests ranging from small tweaks to complete redesigns. The extra time and money associated with the iOS gauntlet had some app developers decide to bypass Apple all together and design their app for the rival Google operating system, Android, first. Unified Remote, an app that allows users to control their PCs using their phones, was first launched on Android and has yet to be launched on iOS.