Ben
21st April 2008, 04:18 PM
http://www.trustedreviews.com/apple/news/2008/04/21/Broadsheet-Confirms-Open-3G-iPhone/p1
We may be little more than five weeks away from an official 3G iPhone announcement, but as the rumour mill heats up a pattern is emerging which suggests we may be getting more than just hardware changes.
According to respected Italian broadsheet La Repubblica (not usually the sort of paper to indulge in aimless tech speculation) it has it on strong authority the shared revenue model for new Apple handset will be going the way of the Dodo.
In a long and in-depth article, La Repubblica says Steve Jobs has been convinced not only of the worth of 3G (a controversial omission first time around) but also that the company should move away from its equally notorious revenue sharing model to a subsidised open network approach. On the back of this Telecom Italy is said to have already tied up a non-exclusive deal with Apple - something the telco has refused to confirm or deny.
Interestingly, this news breaks at the same as talk Orange is about to cut the price of the iPhone in France to bring it in line with the cuts first made in Germany by T-Mobile earlier this month then mirrored by O2 last week in the UK (above). On the back of this could we see these moves not only as the clearing out of old stock, but of the networks bracing themselves for an open 3G iPhone market?
Hmmmmn....
Maybe this is just another case of Apple rumour and speculation where people just tell us what we want to hear, but there's no doubt that an open 3G iPhone is what the entire world wants.
It'd be seen as a U-Turn, but it really needn't be.
The way I see it, Apple wanted to craft a very particular experience with the first generation iPhone in order to ensure it wasn't seen as 'just another mobile'. To create the right user experience, they literally controlled everything - the tariffs (including data), the visual voicemail, everything. A bit like when the iPod was tied to the Mac platform only.
Now, with the clones coming thick and fast, Apple is probably ready to call the initial launch of the iPhone a success and gear up for higher sales with less interference. Having seen how the iPhone increases data usage and potential mobile advertising revenues, networks entering non-exclusive deals with Apple will be more likely to bend to offer better data tariffs and, if they can be convinced the device will be big enough, implement visual voicemail. It'll all still feel like a bargain compared to hacking off big lumps of their profit margin and handing it over to Apple as O2 et al have had to do.
We may be little more than five weeks away from an official 3G iPhone announcement, but as the rumour mill heats up a pattern is emerging which suggests we may be getting more than just hardware changes.
According to respected Italian broadsheet La Repubblica (not usually the sort of paper to indulge in aimless tech speculation) it has it on strong authority the shared revenue model for new Apple handset will be going the way of the Dodo.
In a long and in-depth article, La Repubblica says Steve Jobs has been convinced not only of the worth of 3G (a controversial omission first time around) but also that the company should move away from its equally notorious revenue sharing model to a subsidised open network approach. On the back of this Telecom Italy is said to have already tied up a non-exclusive deal with Apple - something the telco has refused to confirm or deny.
Interestingly, this news breaks at the same as talk Orange is about to cut the price of the iPhone in France to bring it in line with the cuts first made in Germany by T-Mobile earlier this month then mirrored by O2 last week in the UK (above). On the back of this could we see these moves not only as the clearing out of old stock, but of the networks bracing themselves for an open 3G iPhone market?
Hmmmmn....
Maybe this is just another case of Apple rumour and speculation where people just tell us what we want to hear, but there's no doubt that an open 3G iPhone is what the entire world wants.
It'd be seen as a U-Turn, but it really needn't be.
The way I see it, Apple wanted to craft a very particular experience with the first generation iPhone in order to ensure it wasn't seen as 'just another mobile'. To create the right user experience, they literally controlled everything - the tariffs (including data), the visual voicemail, everything. A bit like when the iPod was tied to the Mac platform only.
Now, with the clones coming thick and fast, Apple is probably ready to call the initial launch of the iPhone a success and gear up for higher sales with less interference. Having seen how the iPhone increases data usage and potential mobile advertising revenues, networks entering non-exclusive deals with Apple will be more likely to bend to offer better data tariffs and, if they can be convinced the device will be big enough, implement visual voicemail. It'll all still feel like a bargain compared to hacking off big lumps of their profit margin and handing it over to Apple as O2 et al have had to do.