“Much has been said about Apple’s first phone — most of it tainted with feverish hyperbole,” Tero Kuittinen writes for RealMoney.com.
“But a week after the grand announcement, it is striking how limited the device seems at a second glance,” Kuittinen writes. “The iPhone’s willful disregard of the global handset market will come back to haunt Apple.”
MacDailyNews Take: What part of Steve Jobs’ following statements from his Macworld Expo iPhone introduction does Kuittinen not understand?
iPhone is a Quad-band GSM + EDGE phone. We have decided to go with the most popular international standard which is GSM. We’re on that bandwagon; headed on that roadmap and plan to make 3G phones and all sorts of other amazing things in the future… We’re going to be shipping in in June in the U.S. We’re going to Europe, hopefully, by the fourth calendar quarter of this year and Asia in 2008. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs
So, where’s Kuittinen’s proof of Apple’s “willful disregard of the global handset market?” Answer: he has none.
Kuittinen continues, “While the price revolution of 2006 redefined the smart-phone market in Europe and Asia, several major markets have simultaneously made a decisive transition to 3G. Practically every new smart-phone features third-generation technology, and operators have all but stopped subsidizing high-end phones that do not support 3G. Instead, subsidies in Europe and Asia are geared toward phones with keypads (so people will send as many text messages as possible) and two cameras (so that they’ll engage in video calls).”
MacDailyNews Take: Again, why does Kuittinen continue on with the false premise that Apple will not be releasing a 3G iPhone in markets that support 3G well? And, how did Kuittinen miss the iPhone’s keyboard and SMS features?
Kuittinen continues, “Jobs seems to have gone out of his way to demonstrate his contempt toward mobile operators and their acute concern for 3G revenue generation. And he did this with a $700 platinum turkey of a phone. Without heavy subsidies to push the price below $400, its chances of success in Europe and Asia are slim indeed.”
MacDailyNews Take: Yet again, no proof that the iPhone won’t support 3G in Europe and Asia or that the iPhone carriers won’t subsidize. The iPhone does not cost $700, either.
Kuittinen continues, “There’s a certain type of Northern Californian tech expert who has never seen a successful high-end consumer technology product that failed to hit it big in America, and he can’t grasp that the rest of the world is a very different market. This affliction seems to plague Apple executives… What is the common theme regarding the key specification decisions made for the Apple phone? California. There is no decent W-CDMA network coverage in California, so 3G support may seem superfluous from a regional point of view. Plus, the lack of a keypad may not be a problem for people who have never used a smart phone and may not be heavy text-messagers.”
MacDailyNews Take: You have to be a certain type of moron to think Apple will launch the exact same iPhone showed in January 2007 in Europe in fourth quarter 2007 and Asia in 2008 while not being able to grasp that there’s no proof that Apple would do such a thing, especially after Apple’s CEO said as much during the product’s high-profile introduction.
Full article here.
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i just bought a treo 680 (unlocked) for $400
these things are selling like crazy
isnt it also a 2.5 device ?
what is all this negative press about….same idiots that said Ipod would fail (remember the cies that IPOD stood for “idiots price our devices”)
also fyi…when IPhone comes out i’m ebay-ing the treo and converting
More FUD, this is getting pretty tiresome……
and sad really
A lot of iPhone commentators talk as if they saw just one picture of the device and have not watched the keynote or read the tech specs on Apple’s website.
Kuittinen writes as if a conversation with Steve Ballmer is the only knowledge of the iPhone he has.
in france it is almost certain that the iphone will be 3G from the moment it is released. i’m certain apple are on the right roadmap. i can’t wait to have mine and will quite the service i have now for the one that is offering it should it not be the one i’m on now.
What a freakin’ tool!
Hey, Mr. Kuittinen
Go back to Helsinki, you Nokia-loving saltfish eater.
Pack warm socks.
“The iPhone does not cost $700, either.”
No, it actually costs more. By the time you figure in the price of the required contract, you will end up sending enough to buy a nice laptop that can do way more.
The price is too high, the features too limited and the tie to Cingular/AT&T unacceptable.
This dude can keep trying to figure out all the features of his Motorola Q, and fumble around in the letters on his blackberry trying to dial phone numbers.. Apple is filling a NEW market not trying to be the same as everyone else so why would this tool think that Apple should make a phone just like everyone else?
http://apps.thestreet.com/cms/tsc/feedback.do
MDN-“Again, why does Kuittinen continue on with the false premise that Apple will not be releasing a 3G iPhone in markets that support 3G well?”
LOL. Why wouldn’t he continue on?
What phone is this guy talking about? Can’t be the iPhone so much is wrong in this piece of written crap. This is truly the thing that drives me totally mad and willing to scream. And then idiots such as this moron complain if they receive hate-mails from Mac users.
I think the most unbearable thing about the iPhone not coming out until June of this year.. is that we have to endure an endless stream of bozos speculating about how successful the iPhone will be.
To these analysts: please raise your hand if you have ever designed and delivered a consumer electronics device that has- internationally (not just northern california!) – dominated it’s market segment.
Where the guys attacking Steve Jack about the FUD machine getting ready to attack the iPhone?
I can buy 3 blackberry or 2 Treo 700s operating on 3-450k 3g network for the price of 1 iPhone operating at 76k on the 2.5g EDGE network.
76k is going to be a problem for a browser offering full web pages (anyone remember 90 seconds to pull up a web page on dialup) iPhone will burn up a lot of minutes
Also no voice rcognition? right now I can send email and dail numbers without even touching my blackberry so buttons vs touchscreen is not even an issue
Just a thought
This guy OBVIOUSLY doesn’t know the difference between cdma 3G and 3G GSM. not to mention the simple difference between cdma dn GSM.. sad sad sad
The phone cant have everything, but it doesnt need it (it already does mo’ betta’ than every other phone on the market. anyway dont you want apple to make the iPhone 2.0 next year with even more features??.
I want to know how I get a job as a tech reporter or stock anayst. I desperately want I job where I can go to work and pontificate on stuff I know nothing about and without any facts to back up my opinions.
Why is it that most of the people posting to MDN are better informed about the technolgy markets (not just Apple) than these supposed “experts” that are actually paid for their opinions and analysis?
I pray that they make a cdma version when its availible in canada. Bell Mobility is the best carrier up here and they use CDMA. I really hope Rogers don’t get to offer this device.
The guy came off the phone to that prick Ballmer, that’s all.
What complet and utter idiots there are in this world.
For more on this FUD campaign, have a laugh at this one too:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/050A729F-9A90-41FB-8788-CEB0DF3455E9.html
“I think the most unbearable thing about the iPhone not coming out until June of this year.. is that we have to endure an endless stream of bozos speculating about how successful the iPhone will be.”
June is far too long a wait (yeah yeah, don’t give me that FCC crap, I know). It’s very unnerving that we have to put up with this for 5 months. It’s like they never even announced it, like we’re still in December speculating about the mysterious iPhone.
I hope Apple announces and ships a Multi-touch iPod before then. LG releasing the Prada phone KE850 globally next month sure as fuck doesn’t help.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/18/lgs-ke850-prada-official-iphone-says-wha/
I can’t tell you how much that phone infuriates me.
Most of these analysts are just jock sniffers. They sit on the sidelines second guessing those who actually accomplish things of worth, but they’ll never have a single creative thought in their entire dull lives.
“O Lord, help me not to despise or oppose what I do not understand.”
– William Penn
critic says:
“I want to know how I get a job as a tech reporter or stock anayst. I desperately want I job where I can go to work and pontificate on stuff I know nothing about and without any facts to back up my opinions.”
Well stated. Does seem like a dream, doesn’t it?
Here- let TheStreet.com know directly-
http://apps.thestreet.com/cms/tsc/feedback.do
@ Troy
Sorry to say, but Rogers has said they are the carriers for iPhone. hit google, I can’t remember where I saw this. Maybe it was yahoo.ca
But I agree. Rogers in Canada suck balls.
MW=social…as in MS missed the real social.
Here’s another person who just writes FUD. Never even bothering to look at any facts but would rather just make up stupid things without knowing what’s going on.
Those spreading FUD can be very irritating, but although they hope that they’re demolishing Apple’s chances of success, they actually help Apple in two significant ways.
The obvious way is because by continuing to talk about it, even in a negative sense, it raises the profile of it, which is what expensive advertising would otherwise have to do.
The other plus is that they slightly lower user’s expectations of the product. If the only information you got was from Steve Jobs, you’d think that an iPhone could turn water into wine. Because of the FUD, potential customers are half believing that the screen will scratch, it can’t be used for text entry and it has an intrusive DRM. When people actually get to try them for themselves and discover that none of those problems actually happen, then they will be more favourably impressed than they otherwise would.
To Critic: I totally agree.
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To MDN: “You have to be a certain type of moron” Er, no, I think pretty much any type of moron will do and we do seem to get most of those types. LOL
N.