Should HTC, Motorola and Sony switch to Apple’s “quality not quantity” approach?

Yesterday I posted an article giving my opinion on Apple’s current iPhone tactics. I believe that although it’s great that the iPhone is so good, and attracts such a huge market, yet it still neglects certain demographics. For instance, those who desire physical QWERTY keyboards and the power hungry users. That being said, I don’t think Cupertino should ever go overboard and release 10+ new handsets each year. 3 would be plenty.

Other manufacturers like HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson create a seemingly countless number of new devices. Just look at Motorola, only in the past few months the company has announced the Droid RAZR, Droid 4 and the Droid RAZR MAXX, all similar devices and that’s only one range of models. It’s crazy. Then I could turn my attention to HTC’s lineup and notice three different versions of the Sensation alone plus Desire S, Desire HD, Wildfire S etc. The worst thing about both companies is that although the handsets have different specs, they look almost identical. All the Droids look the same, all the HTC handsets have the same basic design. In fact, HTC’s designers have been incredibly lazy. Having so many devices with the same looking front face in different sizes and colors is poor. Maybe I’m being a tad harsh, they’re not exactly the same, but there’s so many and they look similar enough that consumers often don’t know which to buy.

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That’s not the only issue with buying a HTC or Motorola handset. Purchase one on a two year contract, and within 2 months it’s already outdated and has been superseded by a new device by the same manufacturer. At least with Apple you know you’ll get a good 12 months before you feel the same. That is unless you purchased an iPhone 4 or 3G. They were both followed by “S” upgrades, offering speed and feature improvements but keeping the design exactly the same.

As I eluded to yesterday, Apple’s lack of variety doesn’t please me either. Cupertino versus other OEMs are on polar opposites. One rarely releases new devices, and then only releases one. The other offers an insane number of options with incredible regularity. There’s got to be a happy medium, a balance.

According to a recent rumor the three aforementioned manufacturers plus RIM are thinking of adopting Apple’s approach, possibly with the thought that more concentration, passion and focus on fewer products will produce better products that consumers will love enough to stay loyal. Apple’s users are some of the most brand-loyal on the planet, and for good reason. There is some financial payback in this too. Apple sells around 5% of all mobile phones (not just smartphones) and yet controls 60% of the profits. As AppleInsider notes:

“By focusing on fewer models, smartphone makers hope to be able to increase their sales, but also save money on development and marketing costs. The adjustments could also allow the companies to reach economies of scale in production, and be more efficient in obtaining components and shipping products.”

If manufacturers start putting more energy and attention in to a single flagship device each year, the market will then be a place where consumers have a choice between 3-4 unique, but quality smartphones, instead of the confusing array of devices that currently fills our phone store shelves. It shows care and attention, and gives the buyer much more confidence in the brand.

What do you think? Do you like that there are countless devices out, or would you prefer to see OEMs produce less devices, but with better build and material qualities? Tweet me: @TiP_Cam