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Just because it doesn't make sense for Apple to release multiple form factors for the MBP does not mean that the same is true for the iPhone. Customers have shown that they like the larger screens offered by Android devices. Apple should offer something comparable or risk continuing to lose that business.

Differentiation has great value. Being seen as a premium brand is what allows Apple to maintain profit margins that are often orders of magnitude higher than their competitors. One could say that Tesla is losing sales by not having a four wheel drive truck, or that BMW is losing sales by not offering a sub-10K economy car. Apple probably would make more money, short term, if they expand their product line, but it will still be the beginning of the end.

The problem is that Apple isn't being viewed as the "premium" brand in this case - Samsung is.

I think we might be working with different definitions of "premium" here. I see way more people driving Fords than Ferraris these days. :-)

The point is that many people I know currently see the Samsung as the Ferrari, not the iPhone. And while many Android devices are utter crap, the Galaxy is not. So I kind of understand where they are coming from.

So those people can get a Galaxy from Samsung. Like the post says, though, Apple has never traditionally gone with the “all things to all men” way of looking at this. The idea that suddenly Apple needs to come out with a varying size of device to please the Note (or Galaxy) appreciators is the type of idea that leads to http://is.gd/WhFZIa.

"So those people can get a Galaxy from Samsung." I'm glad you're not running Apple. The point is that there seems to be a sizable market for larger phones. Assuming that is true, then Apple is missing out on potential revenue.

Indeed! As am I. Apple has hundreds of phones which, by this reasoning, it must immediately begin to release competitors to, so as to avoid losing revenue to any other phone that differentiates itself in some way from the current iPhone. The iPhone Plus is only the beginning!

True, Apple may lose some sales to devices such as the Note. But Apple has lost sales to the netbook makers, as well. And that has not been hurting them in the slightest.

I'm not talking about losing sales to the Note - I'm talking about the Galaxy S. I'm seeing WAY more people buying those than iPhones lately. And I have to admit that, when you put an iPhone 5 next to a Galaxy S, it looks a bit like a toy.

I take it you are going after the iPhone Intermediate and not the iPhone Plus. ;-)

Nobody would sell only a 13" laptop, why should smart phones and tablets be different? ,

I think the difference is that the MacBook is a laptop, and the iPhone is a phone. You don't keep a MacBook in your pocket. You don't hold a MacBook with one hand. The iPhone is first and foremost a phone.

That's exactly why I bought a Note II and not an iPhone. I don't want a device that's a phone first. I take maybe 3 or 4 phone calls a day. I spend far more time texting, browsing the web, and using apps. The Note II is simply a better device for that. So if you want a phone first and a portable computing device second, the iPhone is the clear winner.

Keep in mind that once you get to where a large screen is more important than, say, the ability of your phone to fit in your pocket, you might just as well get one of the smaller tablets (such as the iPad mini). That is, of course, unless your phone’s function as a phone is so unimportant to you that you don’t mind having to carry it by hand everywhere you go so as to have it available in case somebody tries to call. (On the other hand, perhaps a 27" Note XXIV or something similar would be better set up to handle being a “portable computing device” first, if a larger screen is indeed so much more important to a phone than the ability of a phone to function as, you know, a phone.)

make a folding instead

Don't forget one with physical keys too. Apple is leaving money on the table by not having a phone with physical keys.