.... I'll disagree with all the assertions that a future iPhone would necessarily be a follow-on from the iPod.
I'll have a guess that Apple might surprise everyone and NOT include music-playing functionality in the device. It'll be a basic phone with an ultra-cool iPod-inspired aesthetic.... but no iTunes. Why not go for the divergence angle, and sell people multiple devices with a common design theme?
I mean, designer brands don't usually feel the need to bundle multiple products into one.... "yeah, I'd like the converged Gucci ShirtWatch please, and the Paul Smith TrouserShades"
... plus it gets around all the possible problems with mobile operators worrying about cannibalisation of their music revenue streams....
Dean Bubley's Disruptive Wireless: Thought-leading wireless industry analysis
5 comments:
yes - interesting piece of lateral thinking... ignore the thing that potentially gives some relevance to your entry into a crowded market. B&O already do "cool" phones I think... Apple will do a phone, it will obviously have something to do with music and will work with iTunes... the move will either support the shift of the handset industry towards more of a consumer electronics model (thus decreasing the role of the service providers) or it will signal the beginning of the end for Apple's success in the portable media space.
btw - above comment (anonymous) comes from bill.dollars@gmail.com
An interesting thought but I don't see it. The handset makers are hand in glove with the networks, to the extent that even the Chinese have been unable to topple Nokia and Motorola. Apple has no chance in the handset market, with iTunes or without.
Sure Chris, that is true in the UK and quite a few other countries, but not all. The industry is heading for a shift given that it makes not much sense for the network operators to continue full subsidies (just drives churn)... Even in the UK, the industry is just begging for a round of collusion via public announcements in order to start the process of trimming down subsidies. Would be a good idea to start looking at handset manufacturers in terms of those that understand consumer electronics sales and those that do not. My point above was that if Apple creates a handset that users are willing to pay for (they bought iPods after all), we could see a shift towards this CE model that is driven by consumer attitude rather than operators specifically reducing subsidies. (BD)
Whether with iTunes music or not, anyway I would expect the main differentiator of the mystical "Apple iphone" to be in usability of the "normal" phone functions.
E.g. removal of applications which are hardly used but clutter the menus. E.g. something else than on-screen menus and hard numerical keyboard.
E.g. a relatively closed feature phone rather than fully open smart phone.
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