The Short and Sad Lifespan of Your iPhone

In the future, as we begin to acclimatise ourselves with the pace of technological change - everything - from the 'internet of things', 'smart cities' and especially the notion of things being 'built to last' may come to feel outdated.

There were many tears before bedtime with the sad news that Apple products had a terminally short life span.

Apple bods let it slip that they design products with the expectations that users will replace their iPhones every three years, and their Mac's at least every four.

Then they announced that revenue from sales of Apple products had declined for the first time in 13 years.

Some have made a link between these two pieces of news, arguing that 'endless product launches and hardware upgrades' leaving us with cupboards full of obsolete iPhones' (and 30 pairs of white earphones) have become annoying.

Apple annoying? Say it isn't so. But you can see Apple's bind. In order to maintain their brand image as a revolutionary leader, Apple must be believed to innovate faster than their competitors. In the same week, that a Guardian tech journalist criticised Apple for having too many product launches, Chinese tech billionaire Jia Yueting, founder of LeEco China's answer to Netflix, criticised Apple's products for not being innovative enough.

Indeed, it is slowing sales in China - now Apple's largest market - and fears that the authoritarian Chinese regime could pull the rug out from under Apple led billionaire investor Carl Icahn to sell his entire stake in Apple.

Meanwhile, American tech fans, hungry for newness, are abuzz with rumours as to what features the forthcoming iPhone 7 might offer. There's talk of a wireless charge feature, of it being 3mm thick and constructed of glass and liquid metal making it completely waterproof.

I want one now. Seriously we need to get used to the tech products that we rely on becoming out dated at a startling speed.

As Ray Kurzweiler, Google's Head of Engineering- (the man making it possible for us to talk to our computers and car - yes really) said it best: "Exponential growth is deceptive. It starts out almost imperceptibly and then explodes with unexpected fury...The future will be far more surprising than most people realise because few observers have truly internalised the implications of the fact that the rate of change is itself accelerating."

So what does this mean?

In the future, as we begin to acclimatise ourselves with the pace of technological change - everything - from the 'internet of things', 'smart cities' and especially the notion of things being 'built to last' may come to feel outdated.

In the past, we have on the whole tended to value and trust those products that we believe are 'built to last'. Not anymore.

Trust may also go out of the window.

The results from Y&R's proprietary brand management tool and database of consumer perceptions Brand Asset Valuator (BAV), finds Apple's association with trustworthiness has dropped significantly.

In 2014, Apple was in the top 5% of most 'trustworthy' brands surveyed with a score of 95.6%, jumping up by a quarter since the 2011 survey. It was only shortly after in January 2015 that Apple reported its highest-ever revenue and earnings. This year, while Apple still ranks as one of the most trustworthy brands with a score of 78.9%, its drop in the ranks between 2014 and 2016 and the corresponding quarterly profits give us reason not to overlook the link being made.

Will we stop trusting Apple? Maybe yes.

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