iPhone

Verizon Hopes to Rain on iPhone Parade with its Own Storm

Bernie — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:13:24 -0400

Verizon is priming the pump with announcements about the upcoming BlackBerry Storm, their latest attempt to counter the iPhone craze. They have good reason to do so. Some recent research suggests that close to half of AT&T’s new iPhone subscribers in recent months came to them from Verizon Wireless. The Storm is RIM’s first touchscreen BlackBerry smartphone. No firm release date has been announced, but Verizon says the Storm will be out for the holiday season and will be “aggressively priced.” That means somewhere between $150 - $200. The other marquee touchscreen smartphones, including the G1, iPhone, and Instinct are in that range.

Some unique features of the Storm include a tactile touchscreen, compatibility with iTunes, and dual CDMA and GSM modes. The tactile touchscreen gives the user a subtle signal when touched. The dual mode functionality takes aim at probably the iPhone’s biggest weakness right now – being exclusively tethered to AT&T. Although, practically speaking, the Storm will be exclusive to Verizon Wireless for a while. And while the Storm is a smartphone that will appeal to BlackBerry’s entrenched enterprise user base, RIM and Verizon will aggressively target consumers in the hopes of slowing down the iPhone’s momentum with that larger market segment. First quarter 2009 will be an interesting one to watch because it will be the first full quarter for the smartphone competitive battle between Apple/AT&T, Google/T-Mobile, and RIM/Verizon.

iPhone’s Competitive Prowess

Bernie — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:31:39 -0400

According to the NPD Group, 30% of iPhone purchasers (and corresponding AT&T wireless subs) from June to August 2008 churned from other wireless providers. Nearly half of those new AT&T wireless subs came from Verizon Wireless, 24% from T-Mobile, and 19% from Sprint. So by NPD’s estimate, just under one-third of new AT&T wireless subs came to them as a direct result of the iPhone, and Verizon Wireless felt the most iPhone pain.

Lucky for Verizon, Sprint, on average, is losing 1 million subs per quarter in 2008, many of whom are fleeing to Verizon. So while Verizon lost a fair number of subs to AT&T and the iPhone, they made up for it by welcoming all those disgruntled Sprint customers. Upcoming third quarter numbers will provide a more revealing view of this competitive battle. So far, Verizon has fared quite well next to the iPhone challenge (thanks in part to the aforementioned Sprint). But the third quarter will be the first full quarter of the iPhone 3G bonanza. I’ve seen estimates that suggest 7 million+ total iPhone sales in the 3Q08 alone. All of those sales won’t be AT&T customers, but the majority will. Look for a blowout wireless quarter for AT&T. Now, will Sprint continue to deliver for Verizon?

BlackBerry Starting to Feel Pain from iPhone?

Bernie — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:46:17 -0400

RIM announced their quarterly results today, and missed estimates for revenue and earnings per share. Wall Street had no sympathy – punishing RIM’s share price with a 20% decline in after hours trading. It’s RIM’s second quarter in a row of missed financial expectations. It begs the question – is this the result of an iPhone effect? RIM dismisses that idea and instead wants to focus on maximizing the “growing smartphone opportunity” rather than worrying about minor financial setbacks or competitive implications of the iPhone. Silicon Alley Insider has the details on RIM’s numbers. It’s not going to get any easier, even with the rosy outlook RIM has on smartphones. You can add T-mobile’s new G1 to the growing smartphone landscape. Sure, there will be significant smartphone growth, but there is also corresponding growth in the number of non-RIM handsets chasing that opportunity. RIM does have some tricks up its sleeve, including the forthcoming BlackBerry Storm, their touchscreen entrant that will launch on Verizon’s network later this year. Stay tuned.

AT&T Toys With Convergence

Bernie — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:30:20 -0400

AT&T offered a preview earlier this week of their vision for convergence. They demoed technology that’s not publicly available yet, including linking the iPhone to U-verse services. For example, the iPhone can turn into a remote control for U-verse video services. Other applications will include the ability to download programming from a U-Verse DVR to an iPhone for mobile playback. AT&T CTO John Donovan tells Dow Jones, "You're going to see dramatic changes in the how we look and feel to our customers."

AT&T has taken its lumps lately, with slowing broadband growth and questioning of its FTTN strategy with U-Verse. Its trump card is wireless, and the iPhone is leading the way. AT&T knows it’s going to have to start integrating wireless into its wireline, broadband, and video strategies to take some of the shine off of its cable competitors. Wireless is their answer. The sooner they can integrate wireless and iPhone applications into their broadband and U-verse experience, the better off they’ll be. They need some of that “cool” factor in place for their entire product portfolio to hedge against any possible success from cable’s forthcoming attempt to integrate WiMAX into their triple play portfolio.

T-Mobile to be First With Google Phone

Bernie — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:45:58 -0400

T-Mobile will be the first carrier in the U.S. to launch Google’s highly anticipated Android phone. Android is the open source mobile operating system being developed by Google and its partners, who together form the Open Handset Alliance. According to the New York Times, the new Google phone may be available in October. The phone will be manufactured by HTC, and is often referred to as the “Dream.” Google can’t wait to get Android going because it believes its long term future resides in mobile computing. The New York Times article quotes Google CEO Eric Schmidt as saying, “We can make more money on mobile than we do on the desktop, eventually.”

A first to market launch of Android could also help T-Mobile. They have been somewhat behind the wireless innovation curve, arriving late to both the 3G and smartphone parties. A successful Google phone launch, and the buzz it will create, could help T-Mobile’s competitive posturing with AT&T and the iPhone and Verizon’s continuing wireless gains. T-Mobile will have to leverage any potential Android buzz effectively, because they won’t have the limelight to themselves for long. Sprint is expected to follow with an Android launch sometime in 2009. Both T-Mobile and Sprint could use a boost from Android. Their competitors, AT&T and Verizon, seem to be hitting on all cylinders when it comes to wireless. Maybe Android can help them catch up.

New Treo 850 Looks to Take on RIM/Apple

Bernie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:15:19 -0400

The new Treo 850 or Treo Pro is the slickest looking Treo to date. Engadget has the scoop with photos to boot. From a design point of view, this new Palm is heads and tales better than the tired looking traditional Treo. It resembles the new Blackberry Bold, with traces of an iPhone. Lord knows Palm could use a smartphone hit. They’ve been trampled by RIM and Apple lately. The Treo 850 is believed to be a Windows Mobile device and will offer Wi-Fi and a 400 MHz processor with 100 MB of RAM. I’ve always had a sweet spot for Palm, being one of the first on “my block” with a Treo 600. I traded it up to the Treo 700, but got a little tired of it and moved on to the HTC/Sprint Mogul. Now I’m getting a little tired of that, and this new Treo 850 looks enticing. Let’s hope it’s more than just looks, for my and Palm’s sake.

Apple and AT&T Own 3G

Bernie — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:07:17 -0400

One of the most compelling story lines behind Friday’s release of the 3G iPhone was the term 3G itself. As I read and listened to all of the mainstream press, which included local radio “news” stories and local television news bottom screen tickers, I was amazed at the frequent use of the term 3G. Here’s a telecom term which causes great confusion even within the telecom industry, now being thrust into mainstream discussion. In some regards, Apple (and to some extent, AT&T) now owns the term 3G with the average consumer. They now control the perception of 3G, and it’s tied to the iPhone. Will they be able to leverage that ownership for additional competitive advantage? Perhaps. I suspect we’ll start to see other carriers now use the term 3G in their mainstream marketing messages, in a “hey, we have 3G too,” sort of way. It’s somewhat analogous to how Verizon has leveraged FTTH with FiOS. Mainstream consumers now perceive FTTH as FiOS. To the point where competitors are disingenuously claiming they offer FTTH too.

I can very easily see customers walking into Sprint and AT&T stores today, asking, do you have 3G? Those competitors will have to ensure they can place their 3G offering in the context of what the iPhone has to offer, not in the context of the actual technology explanation. Otherwise, they risk losing the attention span of those potential customers, who may opt for their perception of 3G, which is now, an iPhone.

App Store Launch Changing iPhone Equation

Bernie — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:22:14 -0400

As if the iPhone 3G launch needs more anticipation, the launch today of the iPhone App Store will contribute to it. Some may argue that the App Store launch is the more important event. The store will offer more than 500 options which can be used by the iPhone for applications including games, enterprise apps, e-commerce, social networking, and entertainment. This variety of applications will help the iPhone continue its evolutionary role of transforming the cell phone from just an advanced communications tool to a true portable user friendly computer and Internet gateway (it will be interesting to track the iPhone’s impact on the laptop computer). I’m not ignoring the iPhone’s competitors, including BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian/Nokia, or Palm, who collectively outnumber iPhone applications by the thousands. But Apple has the chance to establish the iPhone as the first true smartphone for the masses, beyond the usual smartphone suspects of geeks and business professionals. The App Store is one of many steps for that process. Other steps still need to occur, including getting the iPhone out from under that exclusive deal with that “quaint little” communications company that has a globe for a logo. What else needs to happen?

Chink in Android’s Armor

Bernie — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:01:51 -0400

Google’s mobile operating system has been delayed. Android’s much anticipated launch, originally scheduled for a midyear, has been delayed until the fourth quarter. Realistically, we won’t be seeing Android until 2009. It’s a somewhat more costly delay than normal for Google. Development projects of this scale always have delays, but Google’s competitors are seizing on the Android void. Apple’s 3G iPhone will now have a sizeable lead in the marketplace and RIM’s BlackBerry will as well. According to the Wall Street Journal, the delays are being caused by customization and translation challenges from carriers like Sprint and China Mobile. The Wall Street Journal even speculates that Sprint may forgo a 3G version of Android, and wait until a 4G WiMAX version is ready. Whatever the cause, we’ll have to wait to see what the competitive impact of Android and its burgeoning ecosystem will be.

Sprint Follows Instinct to Battle iPhone

Bernie — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:45:58 -0400

Sprint released its main competitor to the iPhone with an aggressive entry price point. The Instinct, manufactured by Samsung, will be priced at $129.99, a direct shot across the iPhone bow, which is priced at $199 (or $299 for a better version). The Instinct offers many of the same features of the iPhone, minus the fanatical following. Sprint will market the Instinct through their retail footprint, website, and through telesales. It will also be sold through an exclusive retail window at Best Buy from June 20 - August 28.

The Instinct mimics the iPhone in many ways, including a touchscreen, visual voicemail, and advanced data and web friendly features. Unlike the iPhone, the Instinct also has a slide out QWERTY keyboard. Sprint is marketing the Instinct as their “… first EV-DO Rev A consumer-centric device,” referencing the consumer appeal of the iPhone and 3G broadband capabilities. Sprint needs all the help it can get. We’re sure the iPhone has contributed to Sprint’s customer hemorrhaging problem of late, which has been averaging one million+ customer defections per quarter this year.