Where might apple be going? whats the business model - opinions

[michelle21]

Harry Potter may be on his last adventure but the journey for the iphone is just beginning. Like leneweeks in the south park tv show, much journey lies ahead.

I keep hearing all this griping about the iphone , it doesn't allow 3rd party applications, it doesn't have 3g, it has an internal battery. And these are all legitimate complaits, but a lot of similiar comments were made about 1 and 2nd gen Ipods. We must remember that Apple unlike some other company regularly updates its product line both through hardware and software updates.

Try to get the latest wm6 upgrade for you windows mobile device and see what I mean. In most cases you won't be able too. So I'd like to take a bit of time an speculate on what apple's busness strategy might be, Lets start with 3g.

I think its a given that the iphone needs 3g, I think its also likely that after weighing a bunch of factors Apple decided they had at least a few months lead time to incoperate that feature.

Lets face it the Iphone caught many of us developers by surpise, the depth and resolution of the device is amazing, the keyboard is not as bad as we thought, and email is a pleasure to use. We were thinking in terms of smartphone design we were familiar with, and the type of apps emerging for the Iphone would never make it on a windows mobile device. There a medical imaging company that is using the iphone to show dgm images of the heart for instance. True over edge these apps are really slow and need wi-fi to really work

BUT

Becaise we were caught off guard most of the apps that really need 3g haven't been written yet, they are maybe six months away, and its my belief that Apple will have a 3g phone by then. How long is it between IPOD releases, especially 1 to sencond and 2nd to 3rd generation. I think the cycle has slowed a bit as the product has matured.


PHONE REPLACEMENT

Again here I think we think of traditional phone replacement, which can be a hassle and usually involves a call to customer service and a service fee.
But consider the Iphone is not subsidized, which is the main reason cell companies add the additional fees for existing customers (one exception, was the few days before the iphone launch, when I picked up a hct 6800 really cheap, for an additional 9.00 on my plan and waived activation fees, tell me no cell carrier was worried about the Iphone .

But again the Iphone is not subsidized and there is a revenue sharing plan in place between att and Apple. Apple doesn't gain unless there is a quick , hassle free upgrade process. And I BELIEVE that apple will model this after the ipod.

Probably something like, you buy your new iphone, remove the sim card from your existing Iphone, place it in the new Iphone, sync with itunes, all your email , contacts, mail is copied to the new IPHONE. Itunes contacts att via webservice and deactivates the old handset and activates the new one. ATT gets part of the revenue from the sale so there probably will not be a eisn swap fee.

This would be just the kind of innovation I would expect from Apple.

 

[diamond.g]

3G is only useful if you are in a coverage area. AT&T's 3G coverage sucks (to put it mildly). I really hope this is because they are skipping it and moving on to 4G, but I doubt that is the case.

WM6 has some specific hardware requirements, that may or may not have been met by prior WM devices.

While every 1G Nano should have all the features of the 2G Nano. Apple would much rather you upgrade to a new unit. Yes Apple has "built in" some leeway for upgrades to the iPhone, but the same could be said of any phone.

I personally would like the iPhone to become the Newton on steroids. I loved the Newton and was heart broken to have to switch over to the Palm platform.

 

[gceo]

Apple is ready for 3G, but 3G isn't ready for Apple. Too big, runs too hot, and is a battery hog. I don't mind edge if it means an extra day of battery life.

 

[michelle21]

3G WM6 has some specific hardware requirements, that may or may not have been met by prior WM devices.

.

Really, well thats the line they give, and that's been proven wrong more than once, if it can run wm5 it should run wm6. But the venders would rather sell you another unit.

With Apple the only way you'll see 3g is with a later model, but as I pointed out because the revenue sharing is different, I suspect upgrading will be easier.

Unless one of Steve's Jobs ... just one more things.. it going to show him zooming on an unmarked chip and revealing the hidden qualcom name.

That will not happen, the Iphone has already been disassembled and picked apart, no qaucomm chip means no 3g this model ...

but software updates, could easily include persistant storage, ichat , mms mail. A lot of stuff.

Ironically not to long ago cleaning the basement I found my old newton 2100, the thing is almost prestine , and to my surprise the battery actually holds a charge.

 

[kdarling]

I don't see much difference between a WM5 user with 3G who can't upgrade to WM6, and an iPhone v1 user with updates who can't upgrade to 3G. (Except that a WM user has dozens of models to choose from, of all shapes and sizes.)

 

[kdarling]

iPhone is positioned as a high-end, designer gizmo. So one question is, how much of a market is there for an unsubsidized device?

The reason iPhone v1 didn't have 3G is simply because the phone was more profitable to make without it. If enough people keep buying iPhone v1 in the USA, then Apple has little incentive to update the hardware.

Then there's the Google phone, or reference design. Someone said this about it, and I think the words apply to iPhone as well...

"A cell phone is no longer a "nice to have" device. It is the most important lifeline and communications tool we have. Google makes a big mistake if it doesn't give it the respect and deference it deserves."

The same goes for Apple, but in spades... because people expect Apple to make good on its promise of delivering a "breakthrough device". It's only partly there as yet. So much more so than the iPod, Apple has to commit to taking care of v1 owners.

Just thoughts off the top of my head.