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Apple’s Strategy to Control the Wireless Industry
By Drew Meyers | June 30, 2007
Bubblegeneration put together a thoughtful analysis of Apple’s strategy to control the wireless industry with their iPhone. Scott Karp also added some great insights over at Publishing 2.0.
The real battle for control is between Verizon, which has hands down the best network, and Apple, which now has hands down the best handset. The tide will turn when die hard Verizon customers start switching in significant numbers to AT&T to get an iPhone. People like me, who stood firm on the network is more important principle, will crack under the pressure. There will come a tipping point, then, when the cost to Verizon of refusing Apple’s terms will be greater than losing customers to the iPhone.
He’s right — Apple is going to be in a great negotiation position when the tipping point comes. Unless another company can create a killer phone like the iPhone that works on Verizon’s network, Verizon will have to cave at some point.
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July 10th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Apple’s phone is really cool. But AT&T’s network really stinks when compared to Verizon. What good is Apple’s gizmo if the primary function is a phone? Besides, the data network is pokey, too. Has anyone ever found objective data of cell phone reception capabilities? Thought not. It is one of the most closely guarded secrets in the biz.