“Now that analysts and industry executives are getting their first good look at the iPhone, many here are concerned that Asian manufacturers may have underestimated the Apple threat,” Martin Fackler reports for The New York Times.
“Analysts and executives in South Korea say that the iPhone, with its full-scale Internet browser and distinctive touch screen with colorful icons, is more than just another souped-up cellphone. They fear this Silicon Valley challenger could leap past Asian makers into the age of digital convergence by combining personal computing and mobile technologies as no device has before,” Fackler reports.
“‘Apple’s impact will be bigger than Asian handset makers think,’ said Kim Yoon-ho, an analyst in Seoul at Prudential Securities. ‘The iPhone is different from previous mobile phones. It is the prototype of the future of mobile phones,'” Fackler reports. “The fear now is that Apple may repeat in wireless communications what it accomplished in portable music with the iPod: changing the industry. And just as when the iPod came out six years ago, big Asian manufacturers like Samsung Electronics and Sony could find themselves wondering what hit them, say analysts and industry executives.”
Full article here.
I said from the day the iPhone was announced that Samsung posed the greatest threat. You’ll see soon. Nobody can move as quickly as they do when it comes to mobile phones.
The Koreans are coming.
You got it. The Koreans are coming.
Trouble is we all know what a cell phone should be capable of now. We didn’t know that before iPhone.
R2-D2
The problem that they face is 3 fold
1) OS X running the phone
2) iTunes Integration
3) Patents all over this device.
I am not saying it’s impossible, however, it’s pretty unlikely.
@ChrissyOne
You are broad and blonde to booth, what do you know about Asian “prayers” – Freudian or not , most Asians and Aseans are Animist and will not really be praying, so too the Buddhist. Either you are going to Dvorakian or trolling with a statement like that. Lip-gloss time grrl
MDN – late , like are you late?
I agree that it won’t be as complete a system, particularly with OS X and iTunes. In fact there probably won’t be an ecosystem at all with most competing products.
However, Samsung can get close, likely even surpassing the iPhone on other fronts for a cheaper price tag. In this country, that’s more than good enough.
But most important of all is that Samsung will be able to create products for every carrier. The iPhone isn’t the iPod where I can purchase it no strings attached. As long as Apple has to drag AT&T behind them like dead weight, they’ll be at a disadvantage no matter how great the phones are. Many don’t want to leave their carrier for a phone and will gladly settle with what comes close if it’s their only option as a person who’s happy with their Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint service and plan.
Idiots cite no 3G, no MMS, no whatever feature they can think of as the iPhone’s greatest disadvantage. No, the iPhone’s biggest con is the partner that it relies on. There’s a void for people who want an iPhone but are hesitant to become an AT&T customer (like me) and it will soon be exploited.
R2“There’s a void for people who want an iPhone but are hesitant to become an AT&T customer (like me) and it will soon be exploited.”
No.
There’s nothing to “exploit” if someone is not willing to leave a non AT&T service provider, they are a non-issue. If someone wants an iPhone there will be no competition, they need to get one from AT&T nothing made by a competitor will be close.
Not today, not tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, or in a few months.
This is something so dramatically far ahead of anything else out there, it will be many years before we see anything else come close.
I think also we shouldn’t underestimate Apple. Just as the others ‘catch up’ (so to speak), Apple will revolutionise another aspect of the phone market…
I’d say more but to be honest even my guesses at what Apple might do will give the others ideas…
I’ll keep quiet and let Apple take us all by surprise!
I wonder if Apple will pair up with the Orange carrier from UK ?
I would like O2, but good price plans and iPhone without branding makes Vodafone and T-Mobile more acceptable.
As long as the iPhone is not here, my K750i will do it as it works with iSync smoothly.
“….their fear feeds our assault”