We have two news about the iPhone 5 – the good news and the bad news. Let’s start with the good news first.
We have earlier reported that Apple may launch the iPad Mini by this year’s end. This smaller version of iPad will come with a screen size of 7 to 8 inches and it won’t feature Retina display.
The iPad Mini can be announced with the release of iPhone 5, in September or October of this year. For Apple fans, this would be double joy. And for those who don’t have an iPad but would like to get their hands on iPad at a cheap price, they can now afford this new iPad Mini.
It definitely makes sense for Apple to announce two products altogether. There are many rumors about iPad Mini already and if they are true, then we can see this new device this year.
iPad Mini can be competitions worst nightmare. According to Gartner Inc., Apple holds 61 percent of the tablet market. This new device means those who are looking to buy iPad at an affordable price, their dreams can come true. Plus, it will increase Apple’s tablet market share.
Get ready to witness the launch of two new big launches by the Cupertino company.
Now, talking about the bad news.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) has always been silent about its mobile payment service. As we know that in iOS 6, there is no support for such mobile payment functionality. So why is Apple not doing anything about NFC ?
Google has its own mobile payment service known as Google Wallet and Microsoft also announced that it would be adding a digital wallet service with NFC capabilities to Windows Phone 8.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has intentionally left out mobile payment functionality from iOS 6. The company announced Passbook, which keeps track of coupons and tickets, but not credit cards.
“Apple is always a comfortable number two,” says Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, giving examples of late entry in MP3 player, smartphone and tablet markets. “They let their competitors do their market research for them.”
Looking at Apple’s competition – many of Google’s Android smartphones are equipped with NFC technology. This can leave the fruit company as vulnerable.
According to market-research firm Gartner Inc., mobile payment transactions are expected to exceed $600 billion worldwide by 2016. But the problem is many consumers are not aware of this NFC technology and how it enables users to pay by using their mobile device.
According to the WSJ, Apple’s Mr. Schiller was worried that consumers might blame the company for a bad experience with a merchant, if they facilitated credit card payments directly. Apple has always been silent about this new technology and even in its new mobile operating system – iOS 6, we do not see any support for NFC or mobile payment. Thus, it is most likely that iPhone 5 may not come with NFC or mobile payments.
