“According to a media report, Apple Computer is planning to institute a multimedia cellular telephone, which ‘could put a dent in’ Motorola’s profits, said the analyst in a report Monday,” Kate DuBose Tomassi reports for Forbes.
“‘As the U.S. handset leader, Motorola may be vulnerable to any new handset trend but we believe it is ready to ship in size its own innovative products soon,’ said [Standard & Poor’s Equity Research analyst Kenneth Leon],” Tomassi reports “Motorola’s answer to the Apple product will be the ‘new, more robust SLVR’ with the capability for more than 500 songs, Leon said.”
Full article here.
More than 500 songs in a Motorola phone? Sure, a Windows Media-based Motorola phone, maybe. We might be wrong, but we don’t see an iTunes-based Motorola phone exceeding 100 songs to compete with an Apple ‘iPhone,’ if there is one, that is (and we hope that there will be an Apple-branded phone someday).
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Related articles:
Anayst: 75-percent chance of Apple ‘iPhone’ in next 12 months – March 16, 2006
Citigroup tech analyst: Apple ‘iPhone’ is going to be a category killer – March 03, 2006
Motorola to make Windows Media phones, keep separate iTunes phone line – February 13, 2006
Review: Motorola SLVR Apple iTunes mobile phone ‘an incredibly slick gadget with some shortcomings’ – February 13, 2006
Motorola and Cingular launch new SLVR L7 iTunes phone – January 31, 2006
Analyst sees new Apple iBooks by April, ‘media hub’ product, 1GB iPod nano, iPhone within a year – January 31, 2006
Analysts tackle Apple’s ‘Mobile Me’ patent, iPhone rumors, MVNO possibilities – January 19, 2006
The San Francisco Chronicle: Apple may link cell phone, iPod – January 17, 2006
Apple Computer getting into the mobile phone market? – January 12, 2006
Apple applies for ‘Mobile Me’ trademark – January 11, 2006
Morgan Stanley predicts Apple shares surge, Apple ‘iPhone’ in 2006 – December 16, 2005
Analyst predicts Apple-branded ‘iPhone’ with iTunes and terabyte iPod within five years – November 11, 2005
How Apple’s Steve Jobs snookered the entire cell phone industry – October 03, 2005
Motorola CEO Zander: Apple to build a smart phone, it’s only a matter of time – September 29, 2005
Apple may eventually introduce its own ‘iPhone’ cell phone-iPod combo and create Apple MVNO – September 12, 2005
If Apple isn’t working on their own iPhone, they’re making a stupid mistake – September 12, 2005
Does Apple need a mobile phone of its own design? – September 09, 2005
Piper Jaffray: Apple should develop ‘iPhone’ by themselves – September 06, 2005
Forbes: Apple Computer planning to become a phone company? – July 08, 2005
Wendland: Bill Gates is right, iPod will be replaced by smartphones – by Apple – May 13, 2005
Apple Registers iPhone Trademark in Australia – December 02, 2002
I’ll take an iPhone, please! Hopefully, Apple releases that (among other things) for its 30th Anniversary coming up soon.
http://getkickedoffaplanewearingthis.blogspot.com/
i-m i-really i-fedup i-with i-hearing i-about i-the i-bloody i-phone
What media report? Follow the link and ya get the same text MDN lifted…
Did I hear someone say Vapourware?
Apple releasing a phone would almost be enough to get me to change cellular carriers…I’ll have to see it firsthand, though.
If the iPhone isn’t carried by Cingular Stores, Apple might as well forget it.
I don’t beleive Apple would attempt to get into the phone market, it’s incredibly competitve and the only profit is coming from the carrier plans.
I can get two of the latest RAZR phones for absolutely no cost, if I sign a 2 year carrier deal.
It would be like Apple giving away iPods to sell music for the RIAA.
All the phones are now competiting on selling music, Apple doesn’t have a chance in hell. Because the carriers want a piece of the action and most of the current 99¢ goes to the Labels.
No, I’m afraid the numbers just don’t work and Apple would be at a terrific disadvantage in a already highly competitive market.
Not a lot of people are going to buy a iPhone just because Apple sells it.
Just like a lot of people are not going to buy that çrappy iPod HiFi “audiophile” wannabe piece of junk.
If the iPhone is only carried by Cingular, Apple might as well forget it.
Cingular repeatedly wins the JD Powers award for “Worst” customer service and that’s hard to do with a crappy service provider like Sprint in the market.
If Apple wanted to get into the phone market, they would have done so from the very begining, not partnered with Motorola.
The Moto deal was the same like iPod car integration and the HP deal, grab everything you can to establish as much territory as possible and then trim off the fat.
Now new cars are getting satellite radio, not iPod integration anymore (Jeeps for one), Moto kicked Apple out because the carriers want a cut of songs bought, HP kicked Apple out because they were not getting a cut of iPod sales. IBM kicked out Apple because of Steve.
So good old Steve is burning his bridges very fast, I wonder how long the deal with Intel will last?
I wonder what’s going to happen with Disney too.
Cingular repeatedly wins the JD Powers award for “Worst” customer service…
I’ll agree 100% with that, in fact I came within a inch of suing them for harrasment.
You are such a retard, MacDude.
Why couldn’t Apple move these phones the same way Motorola moves theirs? Pick a single carrier (Cingular, based on current offerings, is most likely) and make the phone available.
If it’s as elegant a phone as the iPod and OSX, people will switch to Cingular just so they can use the phone. And *especially* if Cingular subsidizes it (probably as a condition of the contract w/ Apple.)
Then jobs gets to do 20 minutes showing off the phone and finish with “..and it’s free.”
Of course, the device doesn’t exist, and there are no credible sources saying it ever will. So we’re all shouting into our own asses here.
Any more word on this media event? Anything official yet?
Awhile back, I swore to God that if I heard one more asinine story about a mythical “iPhone”, I was going to throw up. Now I’ll be spending the evening trying to clean the puke out of keyboard. Thanks a lot MDN!
Apple ipod phone would be a “Motorola Killer”….right, MDN.
When you look at the combination of OS, UI and physical design of any phone currently out there, on the whole they either suck royally or just plain suck, right?
Be it:
* unintuitive keypad/input/navigation system,
* ugly, baffliing and unhelpful Windows-esque UI,
* infuriatingly difficult data send/receive set up,
* dictionary filled with non-words instead of real words (SonyEriccson, are you listening?),
* lacking in even the most rudimentary grammar and pre-emptive text intelligence (yes SE, I’d really be more likely to be referring to my ‘nun’ rather than my ‘mum’),
* a lumpy, bumpy case covered in lots of pointless plastic bits and gaudy colours,
* phones which on the one hand are very light, and on the other, very fragile because the build quality is crap and materials are sub-standard,
* or carrier side limitiation which simply don’t make sense (5 or 10 second ring so you miss half your calls fumbling for your phone and are forced to call back).
I’m sure that’s not an exhaustive list of what’s wrong with the current crop of mobiles out there. What other shortcomings can you come up with which an Apple phone would almost certainly fix?
MacDude is correct in his asssessment of the iPod phone idea…er, myth.
And I think this iPod phone would take away sales from its own iPods. Why would you need an iPod if its in the phone?
Macfanboy #12: “And I think this iPod phone would take away sales from its own iPods. Why would you need an iPod if its in the phone?”
That’s stupid – that’s like saying Apple can’t release a new iPod with new features because it’ll eat into the market for an older model.
MacDude, Apple was late into the MP3 player market which they now dominate so your argument is completely wrong there.
The relationship with Moto has soured because they, not Apple, f*cked up by delivering a phone which was universally underwhelming. The iTunes software was praised, but the phone received at best a luke-warm response.
The relationship with IBM soured because they promised the world and failed to deliver on multiple fronts. And Apple kicked IBM to the kerb, not the other way around.
Every man and his dog is making a mobile phone these days, and they pretty much all suck in one or multiple ways, with very few – if any – notable exceptions. The main problem being they offer a million and one features, the majority of which are half-baked and poorly integrate with the user experience.
This is Apple’s bread and butter – pick the features that a user needs and really wants, seamlessly integrate them in a package with the best industrial design, make it fun and productive, using technology which has matured to the point of handling the load.
So what if Apple is late to the game with a phone – it doesn’t matter if they get it right. The iPod is testament to that.
If Apple does actually release an iPhone, I will be very annoyed.
I just signed a contract to get a RAZR =P
Out goes my Treo then…
You realise that, if Apple designs a great new bed, then Apple will have us in and around their products all day and all night…!
I just read Stuarts post and a thought “ping” crossed my mind. I reckon Apple do need the phone technology because the genuine, ultimate, ALL-IN-ONE product will one day be here.
So the parts of that gizmo they need will be the phone, HDTV output, GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth. Put all that together on an OSX operating system all working beautifully together and with a touchscreen and you have one very cool product that will shake the world. No other manufacturer could come close to making that work, but Apple definitely could.
iSlate. I want one. Within 3 years please Mr Jobs.
Stuart: “That’s stupid – that’s like saying Apple can’t release a new iPod with new features because it’ll eat into the market for an older model.”
This is exactly one of the main reasons that Apple won´t bring out an iPod phone – it will cannabalize its iPod sales – big time.
Which product does Apple make the most money off of? That is the questions the Apple boys thing about.
Every person that owns an iPod, owns a Phone. If an iPod phone comes out will the person carry both the iPod phone and iPod around? I doubt it. Soon people will realize they only need the ipod phone and there is no reason to buy an Ipod anymore. Apple then kills its iPod off….dents sales seriously anyway.
What is the big gain for Apple to bring out a phone? To hurt its iPod sales? Doesn´t make sense.
I doubt this report. In its entirety.
Doesn’t make sense from a tactical position. The overarching technology in this sector just is not adequate enough yet to justify efficiently combining a phone and an iPod into one device.
This is bullsh*t.
Oh yaah, and f-ck you, MacDude.
macdude is an idiot… plain and simple.
keeps your sh!t in your hole.
Macdude said “I came within a inch of suing them for harrasment.”
I find that SO hard to believe…. “Batting eyelashes”
Just because the phone you get on a plan is “free”, doesn’t mean that the manufacturers give them away to the telcos. And not all plans come with “free” phones anyway. For a premium product, you still pay a premium price even on a plan.
If Apple did release a phone, it doesn’t mean every person on the planet is going to dump their existing phone and iPod right that second. The market simply doesn’t work that way, as much as they wish it would, and consumers don’t generally think that way either.
There would obviously be some trade off – capacity and certain capabilities of an iPod, versus the smaller form-factor of a phone with more limited storage capacity and some shared and some different features. I’d probably still own both.
The iTunes capability of a phone for me would probably be one of those features which wouldn’t get a lot of use, but then it’s first and foremost a phone/organiser/communicator, an extension of your Mac. I already own an iPod – a 10G original model still with excellent battery life btw – which is good for some things, but impactical for others like at the gym or doing intense cardio. Just like I don’t use the camera feature of my SE except for very limited purposes.
All those other annoying issues I mentioned previously that are shared by everything out there now, if addressed by Apple, would be more than enough to convince me to get one.
Perhaps they’d release something that isn’t a like a phone or an iPod but something different again.
To me, it makes perfect sense.