Take a look at that phone. It’s got a lot going for it. Verizon will probably be pricing it low, and it would fit very well at the low to mid-range of Android handsets. No 4G, but a better processor than my Optimus S, front-facing camera, a dock with speakers. Color is odd but hey, if it’s in a case who would know? I had a purple phone for a year before my HTC Hero because I broke mine and the purple one was the only suitable refurb I could get on the cheap.
But this, this is going to be marketed to women. It’s not released yet on the Verizon site, but I can imagine it already. The copy will talk up the ‘charm’ that you can hang on your purse to see when messages come in. The color will be ‘plum’ or ‘dusky rose’ or some such. But most of all, it will be clear that this is the phone for women. Nevermind that women who’d actually use the features of an Android phone to their fullest extent would be better served getting something different. Can HTC and Verizon not imagine a woman whose choice in phone is not primarily based on color? While there are ladies (my wife among them) who like to have a phone that is a ‘girly’ color, she also wants it to do the things she needs.
Stop marketing stuff ‘to girls’ or ‘for guys’, and just make good stuff. If you need color options, take the Dell example and make the backplates swappable. You can include it as a pre-installed option during purchase at your website, or aftermarket at your partners like Best Buy or Radio Shack. But to have a completely different, less feature packed phone for women is doing them a disservice.
End rant.
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