Appcessories: Filling in the Missing Bite

by Case Engelen
Titoma Design Ltd.

Ironically, while Apple wasn’t (physically) present at the 2012 Consumer Electronic Show (CES), there were more than enough companies peddling products specifically Made For iPads/iPhones (MFI).

Here at my company Titoma we’re seeing a surge in requests from companies asking us us to design, develop, and manufacture products that in some form or another interact with the ubiquitous i-Products.

While in years past many gadgets were developed as standalone products, these days smart firms implement their idea on the Apple or Android hardware that people already have in their pockets, thus enormously speeding up sales and delivery by simply selling it as an app via the Apple store.

You’d think that’d be bad news for a hardware product developer like us! But the disadvantage of just selling software is of course that a competitor can build a clone of your app even faster than you did. Having a hardware component to your product still constitutes a major barrier to entry, and buys you at least 6 months.

That’s why many people are now looking to make devices that use the Apple hardware as the core engine and add something to make a new, more valuable product—a bit like filling in the missing bite on the Apple logo. In this way you substantially reduce the cost of your device, while simultaneously boosting your marketing because many users are so in love with their Apple products that they will buy anything that extends their device’s functionality. Check out these cool appcessories recently seen at CES:

So we can’t say we’re surprised that many companies want to capitalize on this opportunity. Apple is incredibly successful at making complex products user friendly enough to be loved by the masses. Tablets have actually been around for quite a few years now; already in 1999 I managed the design team for the Qbe tablet which won Comdex Best of Show. But it did require Apple’s magic in user experience to really make the tablet a sales success.

Qualifying for Apple’s MFI Program
So what does it take to jump on the MFI bandwagon?

Read the whole article here http://www.titoma.com.tw/Filling%20in%20that%20Missing%20Bite.php

Article submitted Monday, February 06, 2012 & read 16 times.

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