Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
I think most people in the wireless industry – outside of wireless operators – feel that at this point in the game the device makers are really the ones steering this ship. Sure, wireless operators are the ones that control the spectrum and networks, have that one-on-one relationship with consumers and throw their weight around like they own the joint. You know, think they are actually at the controls.
But, just one week of a new iPhone launch shows where the power really lies: that person sitting in the passenger seat. (Do they have passenger seats on ships?)
Earlier this week Apple said it managed to push 4 million iPhone 4S models into the clamoring hands of its adoring public in just a few days. Not bad for a device that most admitted was just a slightly updated model of the previous version that was still available for a discount.
After Apple let it be known how many devices it sold, those carriers that in turn sold those devices were “allowed” to tout their own sales results. AT&T Mobility claimed it sold 1 million devices over its opening sales weekend; while Sprint Nextel could only claim that its first chance to offer the device resulted in its“ best ever day of sales in retail, web and telesales for a device family in Sprint history,” or in other words not a bad sales day.
(Verizon Wireless was notably quiet on the sales front. I can only assume this is because the carrier is trying to maintain its air of superiority in its relationship with Apple. How cute.)
Apple even threw the industry a bone this time by allowing not only Sprint Nextel to offer the devices, but also allowing rural provider C Spire (or Cellular South for those of us still living in the past) to offer the iPhone in the coming weeks. This would seem to placate the rural factions that have been clamoring against device exclusivity clauses that really began to hit home with the launch of the original iPhone in 2007.
Adding to this body of evidence were the initial third quarter results offered up by AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless this week that seemed to show a slight pause in postpaid customer growth, which most analysts attributed to Apple pushing off the launch of the iPhone 4S until the first days of Q4. Now, I am not saying Apple did this just so it could again show carriers who is really wearing the pants in this family, but I can’t imagine Apple really needed the extra time to rollout the 4S just to add a new chipset and fine-tune the camera.
The funniest part is that carriers are now in this love/hate relationship with their devices. They need to offer the latest and greatest devices or consumers will go elsewhere, but to do so requires a substantial outlay in upfront subsidies as well as increased spending to make sure that their networks are up to snuff.
All of this iPhone nonsense also seemed to egg on other device makers, who seemed to take this past week as the time to unveil every new mobile device they plan to have on their shelves for the upcoming holiday season. I have mentioned in the past that to launch a device anywhere in the vicinity of an Apple product announcement or launch is akin to asking your husband to stop and ask for directions (i.e., Bueller? Bueller?).
All of this got me thinking of just how much device makers really are in charge. Sure, they play nice with their carrier customers, often refusing to discuss details on particular devices so as to not step on the toes of operators, but consumers are increasingly making their carrier decisions based on what devices are being offered. And, to this point, customers are still clamoring for the iPhone regardless of how it stacks up against the competition.
So, go ahead wireless carriers. Keep thinking you are in the driver’s seat. But when that person sitting next to you “recommends” you consult a map – or whatever it is they use to navigate on water – from time to time, how about you at least acknowledge their existence.
OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:
–Speaking of Apple, last weekend I ventured into a real-life Apple store for the first time in a long time. Now, I have nothing really against Apple or its stores, but this particular outlet is in a mall, which I typically try to avoid anyways, and this store always seems to have more people in it than I am guessing the local fire chief would allow.
My visit did happen to coincide with the recent launch of the iPhone 4S, so I am guessing the store was busier than normal. Or I least hope it was. While there seemed to be dozens of t-shirt-clad salespeople running around the store, I could not find one that was not already helping nine other people. Heck, there were two police officers standing outside the door, which I can attribute to their attempts to keep the peace or they were themselves waiting for a salesperson to help them.
The strangest part of the visit was seeing all of the people camped out inside the store. While there were the usual hoards of pre-teens molesting every device they could get their grubby little hands on, most shocking were the several “adults” seemingly set up in front of several Macs like they had been there all day doing homework and had no plans to leave in the near future. One woman had several books opened up around a particular desktop and a near-empty Starbucks cup. Isn’t that what all of those free computers at the local library are there for? Anyone?
All the while, the Apple employees either did not mind this encampment or were so busy really had no time to deal with it. All I could hope was that was the reason the cops were posted outside. A little old-fashioned “crowd control.”
–I found it refreshing to see Motorola bring back the Razr name for its latest and greatest smartphone. Sure, the original Razr sort of resulted in some difficult times for the device maker (though now being part of Google does not seem like such a bad thing. I hear they get to sit on beanbags at their desks!), but it also harkens back to a time when Motorola was the Apple of its day. The Razr was the de-facto “cellphone.”
Now we can only hope Motorola dusts off some more aces from its past like StarTAC, MicroTAC or DynaTAC. Heck, I would settle for any TAC.
I welcome your comments. Please send me an e-mail at: dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.
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