Bad news, America: If you stood in line for hours to get an iPhone in the hope of it making you look cool in the eyes of others, you might as well skip the iPhone 5 line and go straight for an Android device -- or at least that’s the gospel according to HTC America president Martin Fichter, anyway.
9to5Mac is reporting that the iPhone has apparently lost its cool factor on college campuses, at least according to HTC America president Martin Fichter, whose daughter attends Reed College (which happens to be Steve Jobs’ alma mater). According to a recent interview with GeekWire, parents are to blame for making the iPhone less “cool” in their eyes.
“I brought my daughter back to college -- she’s down in Portland at Reed -- and I talked to a few of the kids on her floor,” Fichter explains. “And none of them has an iPhone because they told me: ‘My dad has an iPhone.’ There’s an interesting thing that’s going on in the market. The iPhone becomes a little less cool than it was. They were carrying HTCs. They were carrying Samsungs. They were even carrying some Chinese manufacture’s devices.
“If you look at a college campus, MacBook Airs are cool,” the HTC America boss continues. “iPhones are not that cool anymore. We here are using iPhones, but our kids don’t find them that cool anymore.”
Putting aside the fact that many HTC, Samsung or other Android devices are simply more affordable for college students to obtain in the first place compared to the iPhone, we’ll let you be the judge of how “cool” the iPhone is on the eve of Apple introducing its fifth-generation handset.
“Apple is innovating. Samsung is innovating. We are innovating. Everybody is innovating. And everybody is doing different things for the end consumers,” Fichter concludes.
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davidtuerk
September 19, 2011 at 12:57pm
I agree, I am starting to see fewer and fewer iphones every day at school.
jinhocha1
September 14, 2011 at 10:34am
No one is using iPhone? What a lie as a CEO of HTC... Ok..I believe you if you let me have it free. But, wait!! I would not take it even if it is free. lol
AKChris93
September 13, 2011 at 3:55pm
Pfft..lol I guess he's been outta the loop, cause every where I'VE been all I see our iPhones..lol.
brandonwalkermedia
September 13, 2011 at 3:42pm
Funny thing is i NEVER see someone say "You have a HTC cool" i do however see EVERYDAY someone say "WOW you have an iPhone thats so cool, i want one so bad!!"
leesmith2
September 13, 2011 at 11:53am
The president of HTC America is making decisions based on market research with a sample of ONE?!? (or however many people his daughter talked to) LOL
Rahm Kota
September 13, 2011 at 10:43am
This guy is simply brilliant. Just the type of person to run a company. Poor sod hasn't a clue does he...
chsoundman
September 13, 2011 at 10:19am
My wife and I just purchased iPhones from Verizon and I was shocked to see that the cheapest iPhone was still LESS or the SAME PRICE than anything else they had to offer (with the exception of the BOGO Blackberry and "pay-as-you-go" phones).
vterm
September 13, 2011 at 8:35am
It is my belief,
that HTC, is not innovating...
As other Phone manufacturers they just copy iOS.
(Please remember what smart phones looked like in the pre-iPhone era).
Nowadays, every Smart phone looks more or less like an iPhone.
So, if an iPhone is not cool anymore, neither are the devices HTC manufactures!
munas
September 13, 2011 at 6:55am
I use Android and I am happy, however I plan to switch to iPhone (hopefully 5th generation). This switch I planned not because the Android one is a bad device, but because I use Macbook Pro as well as Mac Pro and having iPhone would give me a chance to enjoy a full glory of Apple's ecosystem having every device I own compatible and in sync. The only concern I have is battery life of an iPhone. I have an iPod touch 3rd gen. 64GB and I would not say I am happy with its battery life.
As regards HTC Americas President declaration that "iPhone is not cool anymore" looks like a desperate convulsions… Otherwise, probably it is something either US specific or I am too old to understand this, however I believe that not a phone or a device used makes one cool. If one is a looser no device would help.
genovelle
September 13, 2011 at 6:41am
I think this guy saw this survey and wanted to get out in front of it. The demand for the un-announced iPhone 5 is even higher than the iPhone 4 was. He must have been seeking out the students that he saw with other types of phones in their hands.
I tried to link to it but this sites spam filter didn't like it.
Skowron
September 13, 2011 at 10:32am
I agree, great answer. It never was about the cool factor. "Who are these folks anyway?"
Chris
