“One of Italy’s most respected newspapers, La Repubblica (like the WSJ with red sauce), is claiming in no uncertain terms that the 3G iPhone is coming shortly to Telecom Italia without a revenue sharing deal and without long-term exclusivity,” Thomas Ricker reports for Engadget.
“If true, this change in strategy opens the doors for a true, global, 3G iPhone launch on UMTS networks around the world come summer time,” Ricker reports.
“We contacted Telecom Italia who refuse to comment on the matter,” Ricker reports.
Full article, with link to Italin to English translation of the La Repubblica article, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MIke in Helsinki” for the heads up.]
What happens to Visual Voicemail without an exclusive carrier?
Hope this means an unlocked iPhone for Oz too (as rumored).
aflb says “Apple simply sells the device, not the service. The better the service, the more iPhone sales each carrier will make, the more profit the carrier will make. It seems that a specific carrier assumes the risk of losing revenue if they cannot compete effectively with the other national carriers. The risk is theirs, not Apple’s. “
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No, you’re missing the point.. With the exclusive carrier deals that Apple has signed, they were able to negotiate substantial revenue sharing deals with the carriers. Of course every carrier would love to be the exclusive carrier of the iPhone, but Apple has basically said that in return for being the exclusive carrier, you will give us a portion on your monthly revenue.. Something which was unheard of before the iPhone. If no one has exclusive rights to carry the iPhone, you can bet that they won’t be handing Apple a portion of their monthly revenue, there is just no incentive for them to do so..
“Of course every carrier would love to be the exclusive carrier of the iPhone”…
Before the iPhone started to flop everybody wanted to be exclusive. Now real numbers are coming in and the RDF is wearing off, it’s Apple who has to convince people to even sell it.
Now real numbers are coming in and the RDF is wearing off, it’s Apple who has to convince people to even sell it.
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Actually, the real numbers are coming in and the stock is up oer 20% in the last week. 1.5 million units are expected for this quarter and 40% of the smartphone market in less than a year.. Hardly a flop.. Oh yeah, iPhone 2.0 expected in the next two months. Game over.
“1.5 million units are expected for this quarter and 40% of the smartphone market in less than a year.. Hardly a flop.. “
Nokia sells 1.5 million units in a day and half.
Microsoft will have sold 20 million licenses for the year ending June. Something is wrong with your 40% number, otherwise it would appear by your numbers that Apple has 40% of the smartphone market, Microsoft has another 130% and RIM hangs in there with about 100%.
But that’s OK, I’m sure you meant 40% of the smartphone market for phones named after a fruit with a built in iTunes media player, not 40% of the whole smartphone market.
More likely Apple is scraping up about 10%-15% of the smartphone market, and a fraction of a percent of the global phone market.
That’s hardly domination or “Game Over” in anyone’s book.
RDF:
Apple’s percent of the global mobile market is small, but Apple is exclusively marketing iPhone to consumers who want telephony, music, photos, and internet access on a single device. Apple’s market is the new adopters of the first world, the people with the will, means, and opportunity to buy an iPhone.
This excludes persons who are content with regular mobile phone service or a separate MP3 player, and this certainly excludes the impoverished populations in the third world. Apple can make a good profit selling iPhones without setting shop in Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, or Equatorial Guinea.
The third world makes a significant percentage of the total mobile market, but this is due primarily to lack of infrastructure for land line communication as well as limited internet connectivity. Third world consumers are also the poorest consumers in the mobile market and won’t be forking over the equivalent of small fortune for an iPhone when their bellies are empty. Lastly, population growth in the third world exceeds that in the first world, meaning that more and more mobile consumers without the means to purchase an iPhone continues to grow and Apple’s global sales will remain “a fraction”.
When you think of Apple’s iPhone strategy think Belgium not Botswana, and Spain not Sudan.
@ UR nutz
Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I just read it somewhere, unfortunately i can’t recall from which website.
I’d love for the price to be as low as possible – waiting for a 3G iPhone myself!
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MacSheikh:
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.”
Well, then, cite your sources. Otherwise you look like a nut case stating your own opinion. How else is the reader to know what is in your head?