The iPhone effect
The iPhone has shaken the industry in a way that only an outsider could do. Apple broke all the rules and moved swiftly into the handset business with the most successful device ever -or at least the most talked about; according to Google, the iPhone Was The Most-Searched Item In 2007.
But it's not only the technology and the user interface that are extremely innovative in the iPhone. The terms of the agreement, in which Apple is getting revenue from iPhone sales, as well as a portion of the monthly fees from AT&T's iPhone data plans is a first in the industry.
The iPhone has already landed in North America and Europe, and Asia is the next market on Steve Jobs' agenda. Apple has been reported to be in talks with China Mobile, the biggest operator on the market (source), and two Japanese companies: Softbank Corp (currently number 3 on the market) and NTT DoCoMo (source from a Wall Street Journal report).
Recent reports indicate that Apple's revenue scheme has little success with the Chinese top executives (source) and is also probably delaying negotiations with Japan. In both US and Europe, Apple's terms in which they gets ~10% of mobile subscriber fees, is the type of deal that doesn't sound to good for Asian operators.
With the 3G hype we have seen in Latin America this year, we can expect the much anticipated 3G iPhone to be one of the key products for operators in the region for 2008. The iPhone is already being used by early adopters from Mexico all the way to Argentina, a simple google search with keywords iPhone/Mexico/Argentina, etc. leads to a number of blogs with subscribers exchanging information on how to unlock the phone and using it with operators such as Telcel, Movistar and others in the region. Subscribers have been hounding Telcel stores in Mexico City asking when it will be available.
We can expect Apple to move into the Latin America after Asia although we don't expect negotiations to be easy with operators such as America Movil. It will be interesting to see if Asian operators agree to Apple's terms and what impact this will have for Latin American.
But it's not only the technology and the user interface that are extremely innovative in the iPhone. The terms of the agreement, in which Apple is getting revenue from iPhone sales, as well as a portion of the monthly fees from AT&T's iPhone data plans is a first in the industry.
The iPhone has already landed in North America and Europe, and Asia is the next market on Steve Jobs' agenda. Apple has been reported to be in talks with China Mobile, the biggest operator on the market (source), and two Japanese companies: Softbank Corp (currently number 3 on the market) and NTT DoCoMo (source from a Wall Street Journal report).
Recent reports indicate that Apple's revenue scheme has little success with the Chinese top executives (source) and is also probably delaying negotiations with Japan. In both US and Europe, Apple's terms in which they gets ~10% of mobile subscriber fees, is the type of deal that doesn't sound to good for Asian operators.
With the 3G hype we have seen in Latin America this year, we can expect the much anticipated 3G iPhone to be one of the key products for operators in the region for 2008. The iPhone is already being used by early adopters from Mexico all the way to Argentina, a simple google search with keywords iPhone/Mexico/Argentina, etc. leads to a number of blogs with subscribers exchanging information on how to unlock the phone and using it with operators such as Telcel, Movistar and others in the region. Subscribers have been hounding Telcel stores in Mexico City asking when it will be available.
We can expect Apple to move into the Latin America after Asia although we don't expect negotiations to be easy with operators such as America Movil. It will be interesting to see if Asian operators agree to Apple's terms and what impact this will have for Latin American.
Comments
Post a Comment