On Wednesday April 5th tech giant Fruit Computers released the highly anticipated iFruit 11S, but the launch was anything but seamless. The new phone marks a vast improvement over its predecessor, the iFruit 10. Despite the improvements, launch day issues plague many users, with more wondering if Fruit is leaving the door open to competition as consumers consider making the switch to the Zyborg operating system with alternatives from Panoramic, Wiwang, and Tenshun.
– Problematic Launch –
While many are happy with the new iFruit 11S, the launch day was rocky to say the least. It’s always expected that new products, technology in particular, will have issues to be ironed out within the first few days, however Fruit seems to have dropped the ball more than usual. Some users had a largely smooth transition from the iFruit 10, with their contacts automatically importing from their old phones. Other users have lost all their contacts entirely, with no clear reason why, and no clear solution as to how to fix the issue. Many users have taken to online forums to voice their frustrations at the inconvenience. More users still have reported that while their contacts did import, the caller IDs still did not recognize the caller.
Further still, previous messages have not carried over from the old phones, nor have photos stored on the old phones. Fruit tech support has offered potential solutions to these problems, but it remains a manual process that should have been addressed before launch. These days users keep a lot of information stored on their phones, and the transition from one phone to another is expected to be painless.
Most concerning of all is that the new 11S does not support any pre-existing accounts. All users who make the switch will need to make new accounts for everything from email to Twitter. How this implementation was missed entirely, and the factors that caused it to be a problem are still unanswered, with Fruit CEO Doug Hatchet and all the Fruit press agents having gone radio silent since the launch, leaving tech support to pick up the load.
– Bizarre Pricing –
Perhaps most surprising with the launch of the iFruit 11S is that it is a free upgrade for previous iFruit 10 owners on trade-in. This isn’t the first time Fruit has done this, the iFruit 10 was a free upgrade for iFruit 9 owners. It’s a business move that is still somewhat unclear, but Hatchet is firm in his stance that this was the right decision. When asked at a press conference during the launch Hatchet responded, “There are bigger forces at play here than you people would even understand.” Since then Hatchet and all the Fruit press agents have gone radio silent, declining further commentary. Hatchet outsourced every position at Fruit Computers except his own in 2008 to overseas labor. Since the transition little is known about the operations and business practices of Fruit beyond their yearly technology releases.
The iFruit is the hero product in Fruit’s product line, and if release is this troublesome, it doesn’t bode well for the future of the company.
– The Greener Side of the Fence –
With all the difficulties and uncertainty surrounding the unorthodox launch, several are considering changing from team blue to team green. It’s not a straightforward decision with the ecosystem of products Fruit has created over the years, allowing users to easily switch between devices without interrupting their workflows. Even loyal fans of Fruit are having their resolve tested. Online tech and Fruit centric forums are lighting up right now as longtime advocates of the brand point out how deeply out of character this is, even for Fruit. While many still cling to the blue bubble as a status symbol, the question in the air now is is that bubble about to burst?
– The Future of Fruit –
Despite the amazing piece of hardware and the vast improvements the new iFruit 11S represents, the flop of a launch leaves many experts wondering if this is a sign of what’s to come for Fruit in the future. The iFruit is the hero product in Fruit’s product line, and if release is this troublesome, it doesn’t bode well for the future of the company. Tech Crunch writer Jared Hesmann explains “Fruit has always been the leader in the consumer tech space, but that’s given them a sense of invincibility. The tech landscape is changing, and Fruit is clearly falling asleep at the wheel. If they don’t make some serious changes towards a more organized business we could see the end of Fruit Computers within the next 10 years.”
Fruit’s biggest competition is Panoramic. The iFruit 11S knocks Panoramics Vista S7XL out of the water, but Panoramic announced the Vista S8 earlier this year with some very attractive specs. The Zyborg OS has come a long way since its first version back in 2006, and is a serious contender against FruitOS. Rumors are also circulating that Wiwang will announce the Parrot11 in the weeks to come, which should continue the pattern of imitating the iFruit with a few stripped features, simpler hardware, and a bargain price tag. Tenshun has also announced plans to enter the high end smart-phone market to compete against Fruit and Panoramic. Tenshun is known for their high quality innovative televisions and laptops. If they can carry any of that technology to their new smart-phone, Fruit could very well be caught with their pants around their ankles.
