Can the iPhone 8 help Apple avoid an ‘innovation crisis’

IT’S been a while since Apple released a revolutionary tech product. So what’s the company got up its sleeve to avoid an innovation crisis?

Does Apple have another revolutionary product on its horizon?

APPLE is famous for its innovation but its detractors say the company has lost its touch — but it could just have an ace in the hole in the iPhone 8.

Tim Cook has consistently had to endure accusations that the world’s richest tech company has lost its revolutionary sheen.

Last week Silicon Valley serial-entrepreneur Steve Blank continued his tirade against Mr Cook saying his promotion to the top spot was “Steve Jobs’ worst decision”.

Mr Blank has frequently compared Mr Cook to Steve Ballmer who took over Microsoft from Bill Gates. While Ballmer made highly profitable short term moves, a lack of vision in certain areas meant Microsoft failed to capitalise on important technology trends such as mobile operating systems, search and cloud computing, costing the company in the long term.

It may be true that Apple hasn’t released a really innovative product in a while but many hold high hopes for the 10th anniversary of the iPhone next year.

Last month Tai Jeng-wu, an executive at Sharp’s parent company Foxconn Technology Group, made comments that Apple could face an “innovation crisis” if its predicted adoption of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays for the iPhone 8 don’t prove to be a hit with consumers.

Foxconn is the company that manufactures iPhones for Apple.

Apple has been granted a patent for a foldable iPhone Picture: US Patent Office

An image from a patent filed by Apple in June 2016.

“We don’t know whether Apple’s OLED iPhones will be a hit, but if Apple doesn’t walk down this path and transform itself, there will be no innovation. It is a crisis but it is also an opportunity,” Tai Jeng-wu said.

Dedicated Apple leaks website MacRumours has previously declared the iPhone 8 will include a “radical redesign”.

It was a prediction that was bolstered by the fact that Apple filed a patent in June for a curved phone entirely enveloped in glass — a design that can be achieved with OLED display.

It’s also rumoured that the new iPhone will have wireless charging and the home button could be replaced by a feature that allows users to scan their fingerprint anywhere on the screen.

But whether the new device is different enough to replenish the company’s creative image remains to be seen.

Originally published as Can the iPhone 8 help Apple avoid an ‘innovation crisis’