“iPhone maker Apple isn’t at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 along with the rest of the mobile phone industry, but the company’s growing success is definitely top of mind for key executives in the mobile market,” Marguerite Reardon reports for CNET.
“The iPhone and Apple’s successful App Store got more than a passing mention on Tuesday during a panel moderated by The Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walt Mossberg,” Reardon reports.
“The panel which included three of the most powerful CEOs in the mobile industry–Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility, the second largest mobile operator in the U.S.; Olli-Pekka Kallasvu, CEO of Nokia, the world’s largest handset maker, and Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, the worldwide software leader–centered on the need for more openness to spur successful innovation in the mobile market,” Reardon reports.
MacDailyNews Take: There is one who is more powerful than those. So powerful, he doesn’t even need to be there in order to totally drive the agenda.
Reardon continues, “De la Vega, whose company is the exclusive operator offering the iPhone in the U.S., even said that more openness could benefit Apple. ‘The iPhone is a great success, but it would be even better if the applications were interoperable,’ he said.”
“Kallasvu agreed. And he used Apple and its ‘closed’ ecosystem as an example of what could limit innovation in the mobile market in the future. He said Apple’s vertically integrated model, where its hardware and software are tightly controlled by the company, further fragmented the market. And he added that what is truly needed is more openness in developing applications,” Reardon reports. “Ballmer argued that device openness was important to give customers more choices. ‘I agree that no single company can create all the hardware and software,’ he said. ‘Openness is central because it’s the foundation of choice.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Ballmer should choke on his tongue: Microsoft is the King of Closed. This, by the way, is the same, tired, failed iPod+iTunes argument redux. “Openness” is code for “Our lazy asses got steamrolled, now let us into the victory party, anyway!” No, you are roadkill. Now lie there and be still. You whiners will not get free business based on Apple’s blood, sweat, and tears. Complacent, derivative, lazy, mismanaged companies deserve to fail, not reap the spoils of a vibrant ecosystem created by the hard work of extraordinary people at Apple. Perhaps admittance to Apple’s party has a price, but, knowing the company fairly well, probably not.
Reardon continues, “Even though each of these executives argued for openness and took jabs at Apple for its lack of openness, Mossberg pointed to the company’s growing success in the market. The iPhone, which was launched a year and a half ago, has seen tremendous growth in terms of shipments. And so has its newly launched application store. Apple said last month that there are a total of 15,000 applications available through the App Store. And the number of downloads has hit more than 500 million in just over six months.”
“All the talk of Apple and its success annoyed at least one European audience member who asked Mossberg and the other panelists why they were so worried about what Apple was doing when Apple’s total worldwide market share is still miniscule,” Reardon reports. “De la Vega answered with a response that seems to sum up how the industry views Apple: ‘Because the other 99.5 percent of the industry is trying to copy the iPhone.'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “NeverFade” for the heads up.]
