Re: James Anderson
Just one or two smartphones? I prefer the many-different-models approach. There is no one (or two) phones that will suit everyone - different people have different wants and needs in a phone. An iphone is an iphone is an iphone. Don't like the lack of a keyboard? A heavy user who needs to replace the battery in the middle of the day? Need corporate features, and a phone that actually cares about data security? Sorry, Apple doesn't have a phone for you.
On the other hand, if you need business features, you can get an E66, if you want a keyboard, you can get an E71 or E90. Want just multimedia? You have a selection of N-Series phones to choose from. Don't like the look of one? Get a different one. In the end, nokia will end up selling more phones ... oh .. they already do! :)
Apple seem to have done pretty well with just 4 models? What's their market share now? They're selling an image. It's like saying Prada is doing pretty well with bags. They are, but it doesn't mean Prada bags are superior to <another brand> bags. With the iPhone, people buy them for the name and image, or get fully taken in by the hype and great apple marketing, while the remaining others actually buy it for what it is.
"Makes more sense than the current scattergun strategy" -- it sure seems to be working very well for them! A phone for everyone - not "everyone, you will like this phone!"
I used an iphone for a while but really didn't like typing on a touchscreen. It's a great web surfing (as long as you don't need to type too much) and multimedia device, but a very, very ordinary phone.