iPhone and Mobile Telecom in the Pacific Rim
Apr 20th, 2010 by Dan Butterfield
Dear all …
I will be taking a break from posting on iPhonAsia. I am working on a series of projects for a firm that precludes staff from posting any “non-approved” material in any public forum. Posting on blogs and/or message boards comes under industry “communications with the public” guidelines and any such posts must be “pre-approved” by their compliance group. Consequently, I will be on an indefinite hiatus.
Thanks very much to everyone for your readership!
~ Dan
Apr 1st, 2010 by Dan Butterfield
Apple’s official carrier in South Korea, KT, revealed yesterday that iPhone has now surpassed the half-million (500,000) sales mark. This makes South Korea, a nation with 47 million total mobile subscribers, number 8 globally in first year iPhone sales. KT is understandably delighted. According to Pyo Hyun-myung, president of the mobile business group at KT;
There are only seven out of 88 countries, including the United States, where the figure of iPhone users has gone over 500,000 within one year. It even took seven months for Japan, a country with some 3 million using the device, to reach over 500,000 users.”
The ascention of iPhone in Korea has been surprising to many veteran telecom watchers. Until the summer of 2009, Korean government regulators kept a walled garden (special protocols & regs) that effectively shut out smartphone competition. These rules had allowed home players such as Samsung and LG to grab a dominant share of the mobile handset market. Apple has now trimmed the walled garden’s hedge.
There have been several chauvinistic campaigns in Korea that attempted to undermine iPhone’s success. Yet, ironically, these well-funded initiatives may have backfired … Read > News from the battlefront: Buying an iPhone is patriotic act
iPhone launched in South Korea on November 28, 2009 … to hit the 500,000 mark by March 30 means that KT has been selling 4,000 iPhones per day. Not too shabby.
Mar 19th, 2010 by Dan Butterfield
March 19, 2010: Thanks to dirt cheap prepaid (no contract) calling plans, and low average revenue per user (ARPU), India’s carriers have virtually no appetite (no margin room) to subsidize handsets. Now add in the fact that India’s networks had overwhelmingly relied on 2G, and have been far behind schedule in deploying 3G. This equation has added up to less than stellar iPhone sales in India. But that may be about to change. India’s Bharti Airtel is in the process of expanding their 3G network and today (March 19, 2010) Bharti Airtel announced an accord with Apple Inc to sell its iPhone 3GS in India in the “next few months.”
Bharti Airtel is the country’s largest mobile phone operator by users and had previously launched the iPhone 3G > read prior PR
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May 14th, 2008: Venkatesh Ganesh writes in Rayaz.net
Full article > HERE
EXCERPT: The rollout of Apple, Inc’s iPhones in India is set to be the largest, anywhere in the world. It is understood from industry sources that Apple’s iPhones will be sold through about 2.5 lakh Vodafone and Airtel retail outlets including franchisee owned shops. This rollout would be mammoth when compared to iPhones being available only in about 7000 AT&T outlets in the US apart from the Apple Stores.
“Most phone makers want their products in as many stores as possible and Apple is changing its strategy from exclusivity to wider availability,” said an analyst from a brokerage house who did not wish to be named. Airtel announced yesterday that they would be selling iPhones in India. Earlier Vodafone inked a deal last week to rollout iPhones in 10 countries including India.
Read more > HERE
iPhonAsia comment:
It is apparent that iPhone will be available by multiple carriers in all major markets and at least two carriers will offer iPhone in India (Bharti AirTel and Vodafone). Our understanding is that 1 lakh translates to 100,000 … The Ryaz.net article states that iphone will be available through 2.5 lakh (which translates to 250,000) distribution points. Perhaps something was lost in our translation as this number (250,000) is not realistic even in a nation as populace as India. We suspect something like 25,000 is possible albeit this is also a mammoth number of distribution points. Update: Sources have confirmed the 250,000 points of distribution in India.
India is a highly competitive cellular market with many low cost plans. For a more detailed analysis of the Indian wireless markets, visit iPhonAsia post featuring video and audio interviews with Duncan Clark, Chairman BDA. The NPR interview at the bottom of this post contains discussion of the India wireless market.
NPR Interview with Duncan Clark, Chairman of BDA Connect
BDA Telecom Market Review > HERE
Mar 17th, 2010 by Dan Butterfield
China Mobile CEO - Wang Jianzhou
Update March 17, 2010: China Mobile CEO, Wang Jianzhou, is talking “Apple” again. During a recent press conference, Wang Jianzhou revealed that he is interested in the iPad and has told Apple that China Mobile would also like to see a special version of iPhone with a chipset that supports time division synchronous code division multiple access (TDSCDMA), the 3G standard awarded to (licensed by) China Mobile.
Since early February Apple’s China website has been taking indications of interest (notify me) for the “soon to launch” iPad. Read more background > here. However, there has been no mention of any 3G carrier data plans for iPad in China. An iPad carrier plan via China Unicom is a no brainer. China Unicom runs WCDMA 3G and this global standard is already supported by the current 3G versions of iPhone and iPad. An iPad or iPhone deal with China Mobile would be more complex as it would require a special production run to support the TDSCDMA standard.
There are multiple hurdles to overcome before Apple opts to include TDSCDMA 3G support in a special version of either the iPhone or iPad. For readers interested in exploring the complexities of the Apple and China Mobile relationship, I would point you to a recent interview with yours truly posted on Neonpunch and CNN Asia. Read more > here
March 4, 2010: With apologies to long time iPhonAsia readers … but once again (for the umpteenth time) China Mobile CEO Wang Jianzhou revealed (WSJ March 4, 2010) that China Mobile is in “talks” with Apple to offer iPhone.
Apple’s deal with China Unicom is non-exclusive and it’s possible that one day China Mobile and Apple will indeed come to terms on an iPhone deal. Summer of 2010 would be good timing.
If Apple and China Mobile reach an agreement, it is more likely that the deal will be to offer consumers a low-priced EDGE 2G iPhone. Why 2G? EDGE is a very reliable network used by 500+ million China Mobile consumers. Despite substantial state backing, the newly launched TDSCDMA (China Mobile’s 3G network) has not motivated enough mobile consumers to upgrade to 3G (requiring the purchase of a TDSCDMA capable handset) and the China developed 3G standard may not be long for this world. TD-LTE 4G will likely supplant TDSCDMA by 2012. In my opinion, Apple would only reluctantly add TDSCDMA support in a special “for China Mobile” iPhone. If Apple does agree to add a chipset that supports TDSCDMA, then you can be sure that the deal involves a massive pre-purchase commitment by China Mobile … good for Apple (AAPL).
Mar 16th, 2010 by Dan Butterfield
Richard W. DeVaul Ph.D.
Update – March 16, 2010: Apple has hired Richard DeVaul Ph.D., a veteran of the wearable computing field and computer animation. While at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dr. DeVaul wrote his dissertation on “The Memory Glasses,” a real-time memory support system (smart glasses).
I spent the last five years of graduate school working on new human-computer interaction techniques for wearable, mobile, and portable applications.
April 20, 2008: I have to chuckle after seeing Apple’s recent patent filing for a laser-based head mounted display tethered to iPhone or other Apple hardware. Back in late 2006 I posted on AppleInsider Forums about the notion of Apple offering just such a product. I called it “iShades.” This was my first and only post on AppleInsider Forum and I was ridiculed mercilessly. I actually had to laugh too. Some of the veterans on that board had good fun at my expense … and they were quite creative with their humorous digs. One posted a photo of a new graduate blowing bubbles with massive, oversized glasses. “iShades found!” was his caption. Thus inspired, more “piled on” with good humor. Finally one veteran poster chimed in … some words to the effect “Okay, now that we’ve had our fun with the newbie, let’s address the idea he presented.” He added more about early iterations of augmented reality eyeware in the market that failed to live up to promise … yet he liked the idea and was the first to support my post and the merit of Apple eventually producing such a product. The product manager for Microvision’s augmented reality eyeware, Ben Averch, joined the thread discussion and (no surprise) supported the notion that augmented reality eyeware would soon have a big impact in the marketplace. The thread eventually died and sadly it is nowhere to be found on the Forum. Perhaps it is archived somewhere in Indiana Jones’ forgotten artifacts warehouse? I added a similar post (12.20.2006) on Everything iPhone now icafe. No lively retorts or banter there, but at least the thread still exists … see below
Image of > Wearable Displays: Mobile Device Eyewear via Microvision
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 A New Jaw-Dropping Apple Product – iShades?After reading various articles and looking at ink blots (seeing what I want to see), here is my latest SWAP (Super wild-ass prognostication)
The future (2008/9) for Apple may be via an “augmented reality” (AR) eye-phone. Let’s call them iShades. Apple Insider hints at a “jaw-dropping device not due to hit the market until the following year.” Is this new product an AR iShades (eyewear)? *To learn more about the “things” you might see in your field of vision, read Microvision (MVIS) Blog The eyewear product manager for Mircovision has even hinted that an Apple logo might at some point appear on “augmented reality” (AR) eyewear. He didn’t mention his own company, but it’s not a stretch to conceive of such a collaboration. And oh by the way, Microvision has just announced (Thurs., Dec 14th) a joint development agreement with a manufacturing partner. What are they cooking up? “Ultra-miniature laser projectors for mobile phones, personal media players, laptops and DVD players. Additional applications include lightweight color eyewear.” Hmmm? Interesting! Hope it’s Apple. But darned if Microvision isn’t HQed in Redmond, WA. Too cold and rainy up there. And the Vistas aren’t very good there either. [url=http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061214/20061214005202.html?.v=1] ~ Dan B. Last edited by idannyb : 12-20-2006 at 06:22 AM.
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