Donald Trump urging Apple to build jumbo-sized iPhones

Donal Trump iPhablet post

Donald Trump, in his own words, owns “a lot of Apple stock” and misses Steve Jobs terribly, but that’s not stopping him from demanding that Apple releases an iPhone with a bigger screen. The 66-year-old billionaire, magnate, president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts is publicly urging Tim Cook & Co. to think beyond the iPhone 5’s four-inch screen because “I like the larger screen” and because Apple will “lose a lot of business” unless it gets an iPhablet right…

Here’s a quote from a post over at Trump’s official Facebook page:

I have a lot of @Apple stock – and I miss Steve Jobs.

Tim Cook must immediately increase the size of the screen on the iPhone. It should be slightly larger than the Samsung screen – and they better get it right fast because they will lose a lot of business.

I like the larger screen.

Trump is not alone.

Asian suppliers are reportedly advising Apple to blow up the iPhone’s display if the company wants to capture the next phase of smartphone growth. And some analysts think Apple is “leaving money on the table” by not pursuing a bigger iPhone.

Despite the mounting pressure, Apple’s boss is downplaying chances of a larger iPhone.

Specifically, Tim Cook underscored in a recent conference call with analysts that his company would never compromise the experience by creating a Gorilla-sized iPhone with a subpar display, just for the heck of it.

We always strive to create the very best display. Some customers value large screen size. Others value other factors such as resolution, color quality, white balance, reflectivity, power consumption, compatibility of apps, portability.

Our competitors have made some significant tradeoffs in many of these areas to ship a larger display. We would not ship a larger display iPhone while these tradeoffs exist.

I’m not buying the Apple iPhablet idea either, even if as much as half of you voted for  a Gorilla-sized iPhone from Apple.

Microsoft is also dismissing the trend.

This morning, Redmond took a funny jab at the oversized Galaxy devices in a new Windows Phone ad depicting an all-out wedding brawl over whether iPhones or Galaxy devices are better.

iPhone 6 mockup (Martin Hajek 001)

Of course, Samsung has been particularly active throwing dozens of different form-factor devices against the wall to see what sticks.

“Apple’s approach is fewer models, each of them exquisitely designed,” a Bloomberg Businessweek profile of Samsung reads. “Samsung’s is try everything, and fast.”

In addition to the five-inch Galaxy S4, which launches later this week in the United States, the South Korean conglomerate recently unveiled 5.8 and 6.2-inch handsets.

Leaks from China suggest Apple may be working on a five-inch iPhone, with DigiTimes , China Times and iLounge all backing this long-standing rumor.

That being said, I’m not buying Trump’s call for an iPhablet, especially given it’s coming from the same guy who tried to patent the famous ‘You’re Fired’ quote from NBC’s The Apprentice show.