Re: iPhone 3G on Orange UK in 3 months?

Tom — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:33:59 -0000

The whole real point of the 3g was to be mass market where the first one wasn't. The killer feature wasn't gps or any of that rubbish, it was the price. Apple wants as many people as possible to have one. It fears that if the iphone doesn't become as ubiquitous as the ipod then its music and ipod revenues are seriously threatened by converged devices and, a year or two after that, mass market networked music services.

So, if the point of the 3g was to be truly mass market, exclusive contracts with networks and retailers make no sense whatsoever. And if you're really after as many customers as possible you need to be in play for christmas. October / November would make sense - the first iphone was launched in the UK on November the 9th, and exclusivity agreements are generally either time bound (e.g. 12 months) or connect with a point in the product roadmap (e.g. "exclusive until version 3")

Re: iPhone 3G on Orange UK in 3 months?

Tom — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:49:23 -0000

Hi Mike,

No proof - just my opinion as someone with some cash tied up in this area. I agree with you on the lack of appeal of converged devices - I have a tom tom stashed in my glove box, an ipod in my jacket, an n95 in one pocket and a blackberry in the other. My own view is that apple feel compelled to make a big move into the phone space as a defence against phones moving into the ipod space. I'm sure there are other views and I'm sure they're all equally valid. At the end of the day it all comes down to the money, no? :)

We could argue the toss on LBS, music services... time will tell - but irrespective of the reason why apple want to take the iphone mass market, the fact remains that they do. And because of that, I think it's unlikely that we'll see the iphone locked into a single network and two / three retailers for another christmas in the UK.

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Re: iPhone 3G on Orange UK in 3 months?

Re: iPhone 3G on Orange UK in 3 months?