What Essential could do is break the image that folks either have no choice or that Apple’s installed base isn’t vulnerable to attack. It could, for a time, become the next phone people effectively line up to get and thousands of folks have, like folks did with the Tesla Model 3, signed up to be the first to get it (including me). Assuming this new phone meets expectations, which often isn’t a good bet with a generation one phone, this could result in a shift of perceived status from the iPhone to the Essential phone. This would make Apple suddenly look vulnerable.
It is that vulnerability that could form the foundation of breaking Apple. Given how aggressively Apple has been working behind the scenes to cripple the Essential phone they clearly see the potential risk.
Wrapping Up:
Apple dominates the high end of the market but they have been aggressively focused on costs of late suggesting people are paying a premium for an increasingly inferior product. The most capable person to take advantage of this is Andy Rubin the father of Android and he has his Essential Phone coming. This phone could showcase a huge chink in Apple’s armor and that chink could become the downfall for the firm’s Smartphone margin leadership.
