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The Phone Business Is Forever Changed
Written By Mike on Jun. 9, 2008.
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The new iPhone 3G that Steve Jobs announced today is the coffin the existing mobile phone industry will be buried in. I'm calling it.
There's no doubt in consumer's minds that the iPhone is the king of the hill of the cellphone industry. If someone is looking to buy a new phone then they're probably coveting the iPhone in the back of their mind. This is still a probably notion as the iPhone hasn't reached the ubiquitous status like the iPod, but it's getting there. If you're in the market for an MP3 player then the iPod is definitely on your mind. Soon, it will be exactly the same for the iPhone.
Apple has entered the most crowded marketplace in the world and was ready from the start to start making billions. They didn't half-ass their first entry into the cellphone world, they went full speed ahead and Jobs announced that the technology in the original iPhone was at least 5 years ahead. Cellphone executives laughed. Palm CEO Ed Colligan has this to say in his now-famous quote:
"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone," he said. "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in."
Well Apple did just that, they walked in. And now, with the new iPhone coming out in a month, they're putting everyone on notice that it's Apple's game to lose. Nobody else can win it, Apple can only lose it.
How? Well with the new $199 price point they just put the iPhone's price right up against any other phone you could get with a 2-year contract (in the U.S.) and it's an unbelievably attractive offer. Get the phone you actually want for a price that you're planning to spend. Before, no matter how badly consumers wanted the iPhone, the price point was not what they were willing to spend. Now, you can get what you covet for a good price.
The new iPhone is going to kill. Everybody else.
Ozone42
Written Jun. 9, 2008 / Report /
Yep. No question. All of the detractor's of enterprise adoption have been answered and then some. Battery much improved, data speed much improved, minor annoyance with the headphone jack fixed.
They listened to what everyone said, and addressed every criticism I can think of.
Scrivs
Written Jun. 10, 2008 / Report /
Once I get passed the major fanboyism shown in your Note Mike I can say I agree with most of the message. To many consumers the iPhone is what they want to get, but the price was pushing them away. Now that they can get one for $199 it is hard to say no. These will flood the market now, however there is one thing that is scary about a phone flooding the market and that is that there are some people that don't want the same phone as everyone else. Just the way they are.
It happened with the Razr and it will happen with the iPhone to some people. Also people will definitely flock to the new Blackberry because of the external keyboard so RIM is definitely going to keep up sales, just not as fast as the iPhone probably.
The market gets changed here with the App Store. That is the brilliance of this whole model being presented by Apple and like I said before, Sony and Nintendo need to wisen up and keep an eye on things here because Apple is going to jump into their territory without having to do a single thing.
Here is a phone that has:
- A great browser
- Great internet connection
- Large storage space
- Full video support
- Enterprise support
- Crazy applications for the future
- Games you never imagined on your phone
- GPS
While everyone was focusing on the new features of the phone, we all missed the two biggest features being the App Store (which we knew about, but actually seeing the apps was huge) and a drop in price. For most systems (this is a system now folks) a price drop is the only feature you need to add. Ask the gaming industry.
publicenergy
Written Jun. 10, 2008 / Report /
On the other hand, Apple has only 5% of the EU phone market and a lot of business is going to take a lot of convincing that the phone isn't just a pretty trinket rather than a work tool. Business bosses want their staff to be able to do their work, not have a portable game and music device that happens to be able to send and receive email.
Blackberry and Windows Mobile both have Exchange integration which feels professional and business like. Not 'Mobile Me' which sounds like a toy, even if it works as you'd hope. I'm unconvinced that anyone running their own Exchange server is going to choose Apple for mobile access. The only people who will benefit are the people who have one of these as a personal phone and need to access their work email in addition to their own personal stuff - and that will cost $90/year won't it? (bargain! :p)
That 5% is going to take a very long time to grow, in the mean time, the competitors will continue to learn and update their products.
From my personal point of view, the phone seems a bit big and has a poor camera which is worse than the first digital camera I bought several years ago. I think it's going to be a few more versions of this phone before anyone who hasn't got rose-tinted Apple glasses really thinks it's the killer product it believes it is.
Scrivs
Written Jun. 10, 2008 / Report /
Some good thoughts on the enterprise there publicenergy. It seems that Apple will face the same uphill battle as they do with trying to get their desktops in the enterprise.
fuscom
Written Jun. 10, 2008 / Report /
I agree w/Publicenergy. Right now the iPhone seems to still be at that awkward stage where it's trying too hard to be noticed, liked and taken seriously by adults. The problem I see with the "enterprise iPhone" is that surely those phones would be limited in the apps employees would be allowed to purchase or download (like games), and I would doubt that enterprise phones would be allowed full access to MobileMe. So it still isn't the ultimate solution for users to have a limited feature corporate sponsored iPhone, or for the enterprise to have a full-featured iPhone for its users.
On the positive side for Apple, most of the new college recruits coming in to the enterprise today were born in 1986. This, of course, means their formulative years (the mid 90's) were spent on the web and in the period of resurgence of Apple. So it's not completely bleak for Apple. However, as again pointed out by publicenergy, the other players aren't going to sit back on their ass. I'd say the business phone industry will get interesting in the coming years, but I'm not ready to award Apple the knockout in this fight just yet.