“What is the basis of the of the iPhone’s success? Is it the brilliant device that some will lead you to believe, or is it a product of brilliant marketing on behalf of Apple?”

After 3 years of the iPhone’s dominance of the “smartphone” market, you are going to ask this question? Really? No, REALLY?? WAKE UP!
I don’t want to insult anyone, but this question is about 2.5 years too late. The speculation about whether or not the iPhone is a product of marketing genius or if it’s really that good was answered well within the first year of it’s appearance. If you haven’t caught on, then no one can help you. After three years and you are going to still insinuate that it’s popularity is due to marketing…. That is laughable.
And it’s not a question of being a “fanboy” or not either. The iPhone is as good as it says it is, and no one has been able to come up with anything better or easier to use. Android comes close, but that is just an OS and NOT a phone. EVO is close, but still no cigar.
And you can argue against the meritts of the iPhone all you want, but sooner or later you will have to face the fact that the iPhone is “king”. So long as Apple makes refreshes like today’s, then they will always be on top.

Marketing? Three years into a product DOMINATING an industry that experts said it couldn’t crack? The iPhone just works… and any shortcomings it might have (temporarily I might add) to the Droids, Palm Pre’s, and HTC devices are more than made up for by their ability to exchange information, movies, photos, etc with your home computer.

Phone companies have yet to realize that it’s iTunes as much as anything that has fueled the iPhone’s surge. Just as people discounted the iPod… even thought users raved at the idea of syncing their “home libraries” to their mobile device.

So why phone companies are now trying to play catch up to Apple, and end up looking like followers. It’s the boys in Cupertino who innovate time and time again with a legion of products that not only work… they work together…

Both of you have some good points, but Brian’s question is legitimate and still relative. I meant to post this comment days ago, but have been swamped with a new job.

I addressed this issue, and the answer to this question in a 2 part series here on JAMM last month.

The reason for the iPhone’s success is very simple – the iTunes ecosystem. You can see the first article here:
http://justanothermobilemonday.com/Wordpress/2010/05/14/opinion-why-ipad-competitors-will-fail/

While the article speacifically speaks to the iPad, its simple to see that any iDevice works the way it does because of the iTunes ecosystem and what it provides to every iDevice.

Yes, the device for many “just works,” it does have a long way to go in the Enterprise, Though many are willing to live with its Exchange shortcomings (and there ARE shortcomings). However, the iPhone is in no small part a CONSUMER DEVICE first and foremost. It does what most consumers what to do, and yes…it does those things EXTREMELY well.

However, if not for iTunes, and the way it brings everything together, it wouldn’t be as successful as it is. The only reason why NO ONE else has been able to compete against ANY iDevice is because NO ONE else has an application that does what iTunes does (though MS tries with WMP and its Zune software). Regardles, no one has been able to match iTunes and what it does; and that more than ANY OTHER REASON is why the iPhone is as successful as it is.

Just sayin’…

Having a good product is only 1 part of success. When Palm was king, I don’t remember people sleeping outside to get the next Treo. There were not a thousand accessories and apps. Apple has done a great job of marketing their product as ‘IT’. They make a huge production of updates, and have a whole cult of people waiting for every little update.

Yes, the product is good, but without the marketing…their would not be the iEmpire. You need that machine or you are just another company….

I think saying that marketing played no part in the iPhone’s success is ignoring a huge part of Apple’s strategy. I am not calling the iPhone a dud, or saying that t is not a good phone. Marketing alone will not make a crap phone better. But it will make a good phone tip and become enormously succesful. That is exactly what happened here. Apple’s strategy has always relied heavily on their marketing machine, which is one of the best in the business. They make good devices, but they are by no means perfect. They use marketing to cover and hide their imperfections. Kind of like covering a zit with makeup. It would be a mistake to ignore the importance of marketing on the success of all of Apple’s products, including the iPhone.

The iPhone is good, in a way. I purchased the two first versions out of curiosity. I wanted to know what was so “special”. I got curious because of the marketing around it, since regarding specs, there is a bunch of mobile devices out there that are extremely superior. I used them. And did not find anything special. There is nothing special there.So I WAS lead to think that it was great… I am not a person that will spend money again in something like an iPhone, since I do not like them. With Maemo and WM I can do all the things I want and need to do… I would even bet that most of the users of the iPhone used Motorola before the iPhone showed up… I do not know… It’s just my opinion…