Why Apple has an image problem

Long seen as the top innovator in smartphones, the company is suddenly battling the perception that it's a step behind

Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller introduces the iPhone 5 in October 2012.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Tonight in the hallowed halls of New York's Radio City Music Hall, Samsung will pull the curtains off a great new phone. Yes, the Galaxy S IV will do many things your current phone can't. The device will wow. It will sparkle. But the biggest news about the Galaxy S IV's launch, as Sam Grobart notes at Bloomberg Businessweek, is that the event is news at all.

Apple realizes this. The company sees Samsung's climb to the top tier of the mobile realm as a legitimate threat to the iPhone's business. On Wednesday night, for example, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller was, as The Wall Street Journal puts it, "on the defensive," saying some not-so-nice things about Android.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Previously, he was a tech reporter at TIME. His work has also appeared in Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic, among other places. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.