“A battle has broken out between Apple and its rival smartphone makers over the standard industry template for miniature Sim cards for the next generation of slimmer handsets,” Daniel Thomas reports for The Financial Times.
“Apple is leading a bid against Motorola Mobility – which Google is in the process of buying – BlackBerry parent Research In Motion and Nokia for its technology to be recognised as the standard for the so-called ‘nano-Sim,’ an important technical step in the miniaturisation of smartphones,” Thomas reports. “Micro-Sims are already common in the latest generation of smart devices, such as Apple’s iPhone 4S and Nokia’s Lumia. The nano-Sim is thinner and about a third smaller than the micro-Sim, and would allow more space for other functions.”
Thomas reports, “Apple is backed by most of the European operators. The two groups have tabled proposals to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)… Apple is backed by most of the European operators. The two groups have tabled proposals to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).”
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The Financial Times “claims to have seen documents showing Apple registering six of its European subsidiaries as full members,” Allan Swann reports for CBR. “Under ETSI rules any subsidiary with revenues of more than €8bn can have up to 45 votes, blowing Apple’s voting power out by 270 votes – this would give it more voting power than Nokia.”
Swann reports, “At one point Apple pushed to get rid of SIM cards altogether – but this caused a huge backlash amongst telcos. As well as providing some revenue, they remain a symbol of control for the telcos over the device, as they become increasingly marginalised as simple infrastructure providers to OTT service providers such as Google and Apple.”
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MacDailyNews Take: The rules provide for qualifying subsidiaries to vote. Apple should maximize their voting power accordingly. The company that completely changed the game is the rightful leader.