The free/nearly-free phone with contract subsidization gimmick is also the way phones are sold in the States. If you haven't noticed yet, Apple is trying to stop this. You pay for the phone outright and sign no contract upfront. You have no obligation to ever activate your iPhone. It's up to you activate it via iTunes at your convenience.
Um... here's what Apple is doing, last I heard:
-- You pay upfront for the phone, no subsidy. If you don't want to sign a contract, too bad... no phone service for you. Not only that, but if you do want service, you have to sign up for 2 years.
What people actually want (and some carriers already do):
-- You pay upfront for the phone, no subsidy. You can now get phone service without a contract, since the contract only exists to pay off the phone subsidy.
There's kind of a huge difference between those two models. I don't think too many ppl are thinking Apple is doing us a big favor there. No subsidy, but you still require a contract? Urk.
Posters at engadget.com do not seem like a very happy group of people, in general.
An especially unhappy and vocal group there seems to be those that regularly get VERY agitated every time the word "Apple" is mentioned in a story....
I agree, but I don't think it was the usual crowd this time. Engadget was the most popular site providing live coverage of the UK event, so people just kinda herded on over there from everywhere, especially the UKers, obviously.
And we certainly have enough Euro folk here at AI expressing similar feelings towards the Euro iPhone.
Still think the Euro launch will go pretty well, but after that, I dunno. I think a lot of ppl over there will be sitting on their hands 'til an 'iPhone 2.0' shows up in '08. Or they'll just buy one of the many high-end alternatives. \
We're ignoring it because it's totally irrelevant to the argument. The point is we can get Nokia's most expensive, most feature packed smartphone for free whereas Apple's much less capable device is £269.
The iPod when it was released was only a bit more expensive than the competition and the competition wasn't very good, to be more than kind. That's not like Apple v Nokia or Sony Ericsson today.
I agree entirely. But they've chosen to only implement a very small subset of features well in the iPhone's case missing out features we expect in Europe in an expensive phone.
I think it'll do ok too but I'm pretty sure that's based on it's brand image not it's price, features or ease of use.
Everything ISN'T more expensive in the UK. Healthcare and Education to name two.
Not really. Both are free so there's no cost difference. The Cloud hotspots are few and far between in some areas of the country and it doesn't really help you get fast internet access on a train. Where I live, O2 3G coverage is non-existent so it's not really a dilemma I have to face - I'm stuck with standard non-EDGE GPRS.
There'd be little point. The N95 has a decent enough media player already and yes it syncs just fine. http://europe.nokia.com/mac/isync/
The amount of MP *IS* important coupled to a good lens and a flash. Guess what, most high end Euro phones have all three.
Why not. It's free. And the N95 has Google maps too. Use either with the built in GPS.
It's obviously not the first unlimited data package because there's a 1400 page 'fair use' policy in place and t-mobile have been selling 'unlimited' data packages for over a year at least. The detail in the fine print will be interesting.
I'm not sure how many MB 1400 pages equates to if that's what they're estimating. Do they really count page views? I would have thought not. You have to wonder what the 1400 pages usage translates for YouTube usage.
It's a brick of a phone but it does do almost absolutely everything in one brick. If you want everything in one brick, it's the phone for you.
The iPhone's been out a few months now and no major gripes with the hardware beyond a few phones losing touch sensitivity. It's always worth waiting a few months perhaps but so far the iPhone v1 has been ok IMHO.
There's been more issues with iPod Touch already!
After what Jobs said today I'd be very surprised to see a 3G iPhone till at least mid 2008. It's only an 18 month contract here so not a big deal. O2's future 3G coverage map is showing no more coverage for me than current so I'd guess 3G is going to be mostly irrelevant.
Only thing I'd want now is a better camera so I don't have to carry around another device.
It's a good example of a free phone you can sell on eBay to people who value features over Apple-ness to pay for your iPhone.
Symbian OS 9 happened. It was very buggy. Couple it to Nokia's S60 interface and you've a turd on your hands. S60 was always the bastard child compared to UIQ and S80 but OS 9.0 added insult to injury.
Could be worse though - See Windows Mobile or PalmOS.
But it's also leagues better than the 2mp non-autofocus, non-flash teeny lens Apple camera and perfectly acceptable for snaps. I prefered the SE K800i's 3.2mp built in camera myself.
But then if you need it, it's there, whereas you don't have that option at all with the iPhone.
It's like arguing that an ice cream with optional free hot fudge sauce isn't better than a plain ice cream, even if your ice cream melts quicker.
It *IS* pretty good for a phone. I don't think it's as good as Sony's K800 3.2mp cybershot phone cameras. Even Moto's new phones are 3.2mp. Either would be fine for most people instead of a point and shoot. Go to any wedding in the UK these days and there's a dozen people with phones snapping, not cameras. It just shows up Apple's offering as being lack lustre by comparison - that's all - which the 'mp myth' fanboys don't seem to realise that there's a lower limit on quality, not just a higher limit on diminishing returns.
Oh my god! I feel like we're in the presence of GOD!
I agree, but I don't think it was the usual crowd this time. Engadget was the most popular site providing live coverage of the UK event, so people just kinda herded on over there from everywhere, especially the UKers, obviously.
And we certainly have enough Euro folk here at AI expressing similar feelings towards the Euro iPhone.
Still think the Euro launch will go pretty well, but after that, I dunno. I think a lot of ppl over there will be sitting on their hands 'til an 'iPhone 2.0' shows up in '08. Or they'll just buy one of the many high-end alternatives. \
.
We'll see. I predict that it will do very well in the UK. Why? Because of ease of use, cool looks, pushes the envelope in terms of integration of functionality, and for all but the internet (for which there is the wifi option), EDGE is pretty darn adequate.
That's not the myth though, that's the truth. Megapixels does not necessarily add more quality.
Right I should have called it myth busting.
Quote:
Sure, you can have feature overload but there's features missing or badly done already in the iPhone. eg. No video at all and who forgot the camera shutter button?
These are two different concepts that people confuse together. Features that don't work properly is one complaint. Features or functionality that people feel should be included is something different.
The features that Apple included in the phone for the most part work as Apple designed them to work. Wanting more features or additional functionality to features on the phone is something different. But still the phone does what Apple designed it to do with little problem.
Quote:
It doesn't have to be better, it just has to be 'good enough' and for many people that don't know what A/D is, many modern phones are 'good enough'.
As the megapixels increase the processing has to improve to handle the increase in information. Without proper processing you gain nothing but an increase in noise and a larger picture to store with little more real picture information.
I haven't seen an SLR camera that increased its pixel count and did not improve the A/D processing.
We'll see. I predict that it will do very well in the UK. Why? Because of ease of use, cool looks, pushes the envelope in terms of integration of functionality, and for all but the internet (for which there is the wifi option), EDGE is pretty darn adequate.
A good chunk of Euro folks don't seem to think EDGE is all that adequate, actually. Remember, they're a couple of years ahead of us in terms of having 3G, and in phone features too. Their expectations are a bit higher than ours.
Another problem is that O2's network isn't even EDGE in most places yet... it's apparently GPRS. Which is even slower... 30 kbps or so, real-world.
You mean, the ones that write on Edgadget or any other forum.. say 0.0001% of the population?
Obviously, 60 million ppl aren't going to post to Engadget, unless they're accurately reporting on the second coming of Jesus (and what cellphone he's using ).
The real question is, are the (hundreds) of commenters on the story representative of the market for the Euro iPhone? Well, let's see...
- Mostly from the UK or Europe? Check.
- Internet user? Check.
- At least moderately tech-savvy or tech-aware? Check.
- Interested in the iPhone? Check.
Also, while this wasn't a poll, it's pretty obvious from things like political polls that you don't have to get millions of responses in order to get a good picture of what public opinion is.
Engadget, of course, would not provide a good snapshot as to what the 'UKer in the street' thinks of the Euro iPhone, but that person isn't the iPhone's demographic anyway... the kind of person who'd go to Engadget in the first place is.
A good chunk of Euro folks don't seem to think EDGE is all that adequate, actually. Remember, they're a couple of years ahead of us in terms of having 3G, and in phone features too. Their expectations are a bit higher than ours.
Another problem is that O2's network isn't even EDGE in most places yet... it's apparently GPRS. Which is even slower... 30 kbps or so, real-world.
On the plus side, these guys will love it:
.
I reckon it'll still do well, just not with the geek/smartphone crowd. People who want a status symbol will love it. As will the kids who just want a phone to talk, text and play music.
The one thing that will affect adoption most isn't 3G, but lack of pay-as-you-go. And if the phone is not subsidised, there's no excuse for that. But hey, we've all heard the arguments, right?
I reckon it'll still do well, just not with the geek/smartphone crowd. People who want a status symbol will love it. As will the kids who just want a phone to talk, text and play music.
The one thing that will affect adoption most isn't 3G, but lack of pay-as-you-go. And if the phone is not subsidised, there's no excuse for that. But hey, we've all heard the arguments, right?
Amorya
I agree with most of your points, though the "kids who just want a phone to talk, text and play music" might be a bit miffed when they learn there is no MMS.
I reckon it'll still do well, just not with the geek/smartphone crowd. People who want a status symbol will love it. As will the kids who just want a phone to talk, text and play music.
If they've got ₤269 (about $540 US) to drop on a status symbol, well, they can knock themselves out. I think that helps the launch numbers more than the long-term ones, though.
And as was mentioned, the lack of MMS is gonna hurt them some with the demographic you describe.
In terms of the BASIC features expected of a phone in the UK it is clear that the iPhone is not the best phone on the market, other phones have better cameras, flashes, video recording, better messenging capability and have the serious advantage of being built by manufacturers who have not only been making phones for over 10 years but also design and manufacture the equipment used in telco networks and all the voice experience they bring to the table.
What Apple have going for them and what people on here mistakenly believe are ground breaking features are cover-flow and visual voicemail. These are too gimmicky to be called true phone features, they add nothing to the quality of the voice call or the text messenging experience, all they do is make the user experience a bit more fun for a while till you get bored of that and want something else.
I wouldn't count the people on web boards as an accurate representation of the whole European market, the same as we on these boards do not accurately represent the entire US market.
The latest number I've seen have 478 million mobile phone users in Europe nearly 100% of the market. 45 million of those users are 3G subscribers, 9.4%. Smartphone adoption is about 9%, so both are around the same. So there still is a lot of room for growth.
The iPhone some advantages going for it. The user interface and its superior apps. Its also likely Apple may have software updates with new apps before November. I'm sure these advantages will outweigh 3G for a good number of people in Europe.
You likely don't use visual voicemail, I wouldn't count it as a gimmick. It does add real time saving functionality. It would be difficult to go back to listening through all voice mails to find the one I want.
I wouldn't count the people on web boards as an accurate representation of the whole European market, the same as we on these boards do not accurately represent the entire US market.
The latest number I've seen have 478 million mobile phone users in Europe nearly 100% of the market. 45 million of those users are 3G subscribers, 9.4%. Smart-phone adoption is about 9%, so both are around the same. So there still is a lot of room for growth.
The iPhone some advantages going for it. The user interface and its superior apps. Its also likely Apple may have software updates with new apps before November. I'm sure these advantages will outweigh 3G for a good number of people in Europe.
Tenobell, there is a saying about statistics. The far biggest area of the mobile phone market in the UK is very low cost pay as you go phones. These phones still have have a camera, MMS, voice calling and text features but are bought for around 50-90 quid with no contract at all. I cannot see this senario changing in the near future, there are many people out there paying 10-20 quid a month on their phones and are not in a position to buy an iPhone.
If you laid the market out as such:
1 - business device
2 - high end consumer smart phone
3 - 3G consumer phone - with smart phone features
4 - 2G consumer phone
5 - 2G pay as you go
Apples market is really all of 2 and 3 (of course they should be hitting 1 but even without 3G i am not sure why they are not trying)
So the 9.4% who are buying 3G phones are actually make up the biggest chunk of Apples market, in fact i would go as far to say as they are Apples Market. So this lots of room for growth only exists in a section of the market that does not spend 270 quid on a handset and will not spend upwards of 40 quid a month on a contract.
What i have been saying all along is that the iPhone is not a bad phone, it is just the wrong phone for the market they are trying to sell into. When Apple release a phone that can be sold into the 4&5 segments then they may well be onto a winner but in the 2&3 segment there are already better and cheaper phones available and it remains to be seen how far the Apple brand can convince people to overlook the high cost and missing features of the iPhone.
So the 9.4% who are buying 3G phones are actually make up the biggest chunk of Apples market, in fact i would go as far to say as they are Apples Market.
The smartphone number is not static it is quickly growing. Since Europe has pretty much topped out, the smartphone market is going to become the most lucrative and competitive.
Quote:
What i have been saying all along is that the iPhone is not a bad phone, it is just the wrong phone for the market they are trying to sell into.
You may be right, I don't live in Europe so I'm not disagreeing.
What I do think though is that too much emphasis is put purely on hardware spec. User interface, software functionality and ease of use all count just as equally. The hardware doesn't much matter if the software is too difficult to use.
You likely don't use visual voicemail, I wouldn't count it as a gimmick. It does add real time saving functionality. It would be difficult to go back to listening through all voice mails to find the one I want.
I have actually been using visual voicemail on my blackberry for a year now and people i know use it on Windows smart phones. It of course it a great feature for business use hence why it has been popular in business for years. I am just not sold on it as a serious feature for normal users who maybe only get 1 or 2 voicemails a day, of course it is a blessing when you get 10-30 voicemails a day.
Comments
http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/18/h...hone/#comments
.
The free/nearly-free phone with contract subsidization gimmick is also the way phones are sold in the States. If you haven't noticed yet, Apple is trying to stop this. You pay for the phone outright and sign no contract upfront. You have no obligation to ever activate your iPhone. It's up to you activate it via iTunes at your convenience.
Um... here's what Apple is doing, last I heard:
-- You pay upfront for the phone, no subsidy. If you don't want to sign a contract, too bad... no phone service for you. Not only that, but if you do want service, you have to sign up for 2 years.
What people actually want (and some carriers already do):
-- You pay upfront for the phone, no subsidy. You can now get phone service without a contract, since the contract only exists to pay off the phone subsidy.
There's kind of a huge difference between those two models. I don't think too many ppl are thinking Apple is doing us a big favor there. No subsidy, but you still require a contract? Urk.
.
Wow... judging by the comments after the article, many of the UKers over at Engadget are not happy at all with the Euro iPhone :
http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/18/h...hone/#comments
.
Posters at engadget.com do not seem like a very happy group of people, in general.
An especially unhappy and vocal group there seems to be those that regularly get VERY agitated every time the word "Apple" is mentioned in a story....
Posters at engadget.com do not seem like a very happy group of people, in general.
An especially unhappy and vocal group there seems to be those that regularly get VERY agitated every time the word "Apple" is mentioned in a story....
I agree, but I don't think it was the usual crowd this time. Engadget was the most popular site providing live coverage of the UK event, so people just kinda herded on over there from everywhere, especially the UKers, obviously.
And we certainly have enough Euro folk here at AI expressing similar feelings towards the Euro iPhone.
Still think the Euro launch will go pretty well, but after that, I dunno. I think a lot of ppl over there will be sitting on their hands 'til an 'iPhone 2.0' shows up in '08. Or they'll just buy one of the many high-end alternatives.
.
Nope. Royal Mail was privatised years ago.
We're ignoring it because it's totally irrelevant to the argument. The point is we can get Nokia's most expensive, most feature packed smartphone for free whereas Apple's much less capable device is £269.
The iPod when it was released was only a bit more expensive than the competition and the competition wasn't very good, to be more than kind. That's not like Apple v Nokia or Sony Ericsson today.
I agree entirely. But they've chosen to only implement a very small subset of features well in the iPhone's case missing out features we expect in Europe in an expensive phone.
I think it'll do ok too but I'm pretty sure that's based on it's brand image not it's price, features or ease of use.
Everything ISN'T more expensive in the UK. Healthcare and Education to name two.
Not really. Both are free so there's no cost difference. The Cloud hotspots are few and far between in some areas of the country and it doesn't really help you get fast internet access on a train. Where I live, O2 3G coverage is non-existent so it's not really a dilemma I have to face - I'm stuck with standard non-EDGE GPRS.
There'd be little point. The N95 has a decent enough media player already and yes it syncs just fine. http://europe.nokia.com/mac/isync/
The amount of MP *IS* important coupled to a good lens and a flash. Guess what, most high end Euro phones have all three.
Why not. It's free. And the N95 has Google maps too. Use either with the built in GPS.
It's obviously not the first unlimited data package because there's a 1400 page 'fair use' policy in place and t-mobile have been selling 'unlimited' data packages for over a year at least. The detail in the fine print will be interesting.
I'm not sure how many MB 1400 pages equates to if that's what they're estimating. Do they really count page views? I would have thought not. You have to wonder what the 1400 pages usage translates for YouTube usage.
It's a brick of a phone but it does do almost absolutely everything in one brick. If you want everything in one brick, it's the phone for you.
The iPhone's been out a few months now and no major gripes with the hardware beyond a few phones losing touch sensitivity. It's always worth waiting a few months perhaps but so far the iPhone v1 has been ok IMHO.
There's been more issues with iPod Touch already!
After what Jobs said today I'd be very surprised to see a 3G iPhone till at least mid 2008. It's only an 18 month contract here so not a big deal. O2's future 3G coverage map is showing no more coverage for me than current so I'd guess 3G is going to be mostly irrelevant.
Only thing I'd want now is a better camera so I don't have to carry around another device.
It's a good example of a free phone you can sell on eBay to people who value features over Apple-ness to pay for your iPhone.
Symbian OS 9 happened. It was very buggy. Couple it to Nokia's S60 interface and you've a turd on your hands. S60 was always the bastard child compared to UIQ and S80 but OS 9.0 added insult to injury.
Could be worse though - See Windows Mobile or PalmOS.
But it's also leagues better than the 2mp non-autofocus, non-flash teeny lens Apple camera and perfectly acceptable for snaps. I prefered the SE K800i's 3.2mp built in camera myself.
But then if you need it, it's there, whereas you don't have that option at all with the iPhone.
It's like arguing that an ice cream with optional free hot fudge sauce isn't better than a plain ice cream, even if your ice cream melts quicker.
It *IS* pretty good for a phone. I don't think it's as good as Sony's K800 3.2mp cybershot phone cameras. Even Moto's new phones are 3.2mp. Either would be fine for most people instead of a point and shoot. Go to any wedding in the UK these days and there's a dozen people with phones snapping, not cameras. It just shows up Apple's offering as being lack lustre by comparison - that's all - which the 'mp myth' fanboys don't seem to realise that there's a lower limit on quality, not just a higher limit on diminishing returns.
Oh my god! I feel like we're in the presence of GOD!
I agree, but I don't think it was the usual crowd this time. Engadget was the most popular site providing live coverage of the UK event, so people just kinda herded on over there from everywhere, especially the UKers, obviously.
And we certainly have enough Euro folk here at AI expressing similar feelings towards the Euro iPhone.
Still think the Euro launch will go pretty well, but after that, I dunno. I think a lot of ppl over there will be sitting on their hands 'til an 'iPhone 2.0' shows up in '08. Or they'll just buy one of the many high-end alternatives.
.
We'll see. I predict that it will do very well in the UK. Why? Because of ease of use, cool looks, pushes the envelope in terms of integration of functionality, and for all but the internet (for which there is the wifi option), EDGE is pretty darn adequate.
Wow... judging by the comments after the article, many of the UKers over at Engadget are not happy at all with the Euro iPhone :
http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/18/h...hone/#comments
.
You mean, the ones that write on Edgadget or any other forum.. say 0.0001% of the population?
That's not the myth though, that's the truth. Megapixels does not necessarily add more quality.
Right I should have called it myth busting.
Sure, you can have feature overload but there's features missing or badly done already in the iPhone. eg. No video at all and who forgot the camera shutter button?
These are two different concepts that people confuse together. Features that don't work properly is one complaint. Features or functionality that people feel should be included is something different.
The features that Apple included in the phone for the most part work as Apple designed them to work. Wanting more features or additional functionality to features on the phone is something different. But still the phone does what Apple designed it to do with little problem.
It doesn't have to be better, it just has to be 'good enough' and for many people that don't know what A/D is, many modern phones are 'good enough'.
As the megapixels increase the processing has to improve to handle the increase in information. Without proper processing you gain nothing but an increase in noise and a larger picture to store with little more real picture information.
I haven't seen an SLR camera that increased its pixel count and did not improve the A/D processing.
We'll see. I predict that it will do very well in the UK. Why? Because of ease of use, cool looks, pushes the envelope in terms of integration of functionality, and for all but the internet (for which there is the wifi option), EDGE is pretty darn adequate.
A good chunk of Euro folks don't seem to think EDGE is all that adequate, actually. Remember, they're a couple of years ahead of us in terms of having 3G, and in phone features too. Their expectations are a bit higher than ours.
Another problem is that O2's network isn't even EDGE in most places yet... it's apparently GPRS. Which is even slower... 30 kbps or so, real-world.
On the plus side, these guys will love it:
.
You mean, the ones that write on Edgadget or any other forum.. say 0.0001% of the population?
Obviously, 60 million ppl aren't going to post to Engadget, unless they're accurately reporting on the second coming of Jesus (and what cellphone he's using
The real question is, are the (hundreds) of commenters on the story representative of the market for the Euro iPhone? Well, let's see...
- Mostly from the UK or Europe? Check.
- Internet user? Check.
- At least moderately tech-savvy or tech-aware? Check.
- Interested in the iPhone? Check.
Also, while this wasn't a poll, it's pretty obvious from things like political polls that you don't have to get millions of responses in order to get a good picture of what public opinion is.
Engadget, of course, would not provide a good snapshot as to what the 'UKer in the street' thinks of the Euro iPhone, but that person isn't the iPhone's demographic anyway... the kind of person who'd go to Engadget in the first place is.
.
A good chunk of Euro folks don't seem to think EDGE is all that adequate, actually. Remember, they're a couple of years ahead of us in terms of having 3G, and in phone features too. Their expectations are a bit higher than ours.
Another problem is that O2's network isn't even EDGE in most places yet... it's apparently GPRS. Which is even slower... 30 kbps or so, real-world.
On the plus side, these guys will love it:
.
I reckon it'll still do well, just not with the geek/smartphone crowd. People who want a status symbol will love it. As will the kids who just want a phone to talk, text and play music.
The one thing that will affect adoption most isn't 3G, but lack of pay-as-you-go. And if the phone is not subsidised, there's no excuse for that. But hey, we've all heard the arguments, right?
Amorya
I reckon it'll still do well, just not with the geek/smartphone crowd. People who want a status symbol will love it. As will the kids who just want a phone to talk, text and play music.
The one thing that will affect adoption most isn't 3G, but lack of pay-as-you-go. And if the phone is not subsidised, there's no excuse for that. But hey, we've all heard the arguments, right?
Amorya
I agree with most of your points, though the "kids who just want a phone to talk, text and play music" might be a bit miffed when they learn there is no MMS.
I reckon it'll still do well, just not with the geek/smartphone crowd. People who want a status symbol will love it. As will the kids who just want a phone to talk, text and play music.
If they've got ₤269 (about $540 US) to drop on a status symbol, well, they can knock themselves out. I think that helps the launch numbers more than the long-term ones, though.
And as was mentioned, the lack of MMS is gonna hurt them some with the demographic you describe.
.
What Apple have going for them and what people on here mistakenly believe are ground breaking features are cover-flow and visual voicemail. These are too gimmicky to be called true phone features, they add nothing to the quality of the voice call or the text messenging experience, all they do is make the user experience a bit more fun for a while till you get bored of that and want something else.
Don't confuse features with gimmicks!
The latest number I've seen have 478 million mobile phone users in Europe nearly 100% of the market. 45 million of those users are 3G subscribers, 9.4%. Smartphone adoption is about 9%, so both are around the same. So there still is a lot of room for growth.
The iPhone some advantages going for it. The user interface and its superior apps. Its also likely Apple may have software updates with new apps before November. I'm sure these advantages will outweigh 3G for a good number of people in Europe.
visual voicemail
You likely don't use visual voicemail, I wouldn't count it as a gimmick. It does add real time saving functionality. It would be difficult to go back to listening through all voice mails to find the one I want.
I wouldn't count the people on web boards as an accurate representation of the whole European market, the same as we on these boards do not accurately represent the entire US market.
The latest number I've seen have 478 million mobile phone users in Europe nearly 100% of the market. 45 million of those users are 3G subscribers, 9.4%. Smart-phone adoption is about 9%, so both are around the same. So there still is a lot of room for growth.
The iPhone some advantages going for it. The user interface and its superior apps. Its also likely Apple may have software updates with new apps before November. I'm sure these advantages will outweigh 3G for a good number of people in Europe.
Tenobell, there is a saying about statistics. The far biggest area of the mobile phone market in the UK is very low cost pay as you go phones. These phones still have have a camera, MMS, voice calling and text features but are bought for around 50-90 quid with no contract at all. I cannot see this senario changing in the near future, there are many people out there paying 10-20 quid a month on their phones and are not in a position to buy an iPhone.
If you laid the market out as such:
1 - business device
2 - high end consumer smart phone
3 - 3G consumer phone - with smart phone features
4 - 2G consumer phone
5 - 2G pay as you go
Apples market is really all of 2 and 3 (of course they should be hitting 1 but even without 3G i am not sure why they are not trying)
So the 9.4% who are buying 3G phones are actually make up the biggest chunk of Apples market, in fact i would go as far to say as they are Apples Market. So this lots of room for growth only exists in a section of the market that does not spend 270 quid on a handset and will not spend upwards of 40 quid a month on a contract.
What i have been saying all along is that the iPhone is not a bad phone, it is just the wrong phone for the market they are trying to sell into. When Apple release a phone that can be sold into the 4&5 segments then they may well be onto a winner but in the 2&3 segment there are already better and cheaper phones available and it remains to be seen how far the Apple brand can convince people to overlook the high cost and missing features of the iPhone.
Oh my god! I feel like we're in the presence of GOD!
Heh, I have to ask, would you really blaspheme if you were in the presence of God? To His face no less!
So the 9.4% who are buying 3G phones are actually make up the biggest chunk of Apples market, in fact i would go as far to say as they are Apples Market.
The smartphone number is not static it is quickly growing. Since Europe has pretty much topped out, the smartphone market is going to become the most lucrative and competitive.
What i have been saying all along is that the iPhone is not a bad phone, it is just the wrong phone for the market they are trying to sell into.
You may be right, I don't live in Europe so I'm not disagreeing.
What I do think though is that too much emphasis is put purely on hardware spec. User interface, software functionality and ease of use all count just as equally. The hardware doesn't much matter if the software is too difficult to use.
You likely don't use visual voicemail, I wouldn't count it as a gimmick. It does add real time saving functionality. It would be difficult to go back to listening through all voice mails to find the one I want.
I have actually been using visual voicemail on my blackberry for a year now and people i know use it on Windows smart phones. It of course it a great feature for business use hence why it has been popular in business for years. I am just not sold on it as a serious feature for normal users who maybe only get 1 or 2 voicemails a day, of course it is a blessing when you get 10-30 voicemails a day.