Apple
iPhone as platform = cha-ching
My friend and fellow mesh 2008 organizer Mark Evans has a post about the iPhone and how it is just one part of a “razor and blades” market model — i.e., the carriers subsidize the phone as a lure, in order to sign you up for long-term contracts at usurious rates. Of course, in the typical razor and blades business, the same company benefits from both the giveaway and the ongoing revenue. In this case, however, Apple benefits from the giveaway — since it means that more people buy iPhones — but the carrier benefits from the ongoing revenue (Apple used to get a piece of that, but it has changed its model, which is part of the reason why its stock took a hit following the announcement at WWDC).
As I was reading Mark’s post, I was thinking about all of the talk following Steve Jobs’ keynote, about how the iPhone has become a platform now, meaning it is becoming more and more like a PC and less like just a communications device. This is clearly the future: a handheld that has a great browser, GPS with location-enabled services, integration with MobileMe cloud-computing type features, etc. Sounds cool, right? Except that (for Canadians in particular) users have to pay through the nose for every one of those bandwidth-gobbling services. For your average bandwidth-shaping and usage-cap throttling ISP, it’s a wet dream: charge per usage of everything, not just a flat fee.
What if when you used your computer, you not only had to pay for the bandwidth itself, but had to pay your provider every time you used Google Maps, or every time you sent a text message or a Twitter post or uploaded a photo? For a lot of people using regular cellphone plans (or the fake “unlimited” plans that redefine the word “unlimited”) that is an unfortunate reality. I love the idea of the iPhone — but I hate the feeling that if I were to use one, I would get taken to the cleaners in ways that I haven’t even thought of yet.
Update:
As Bob Warfield of Smoothspan notes, and Piper Jaffray is speculating, Apple is also potentially the beneficiary of the razor-and-blades approach, through the Application Store.
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Unfortunately people can't see past the initial cost of the phone. If you calculate the true cost for the new 3G data plans coupled with the subsidized handset, the total real cost of ownership is actually higher over the two year contract, but that's something people don't see. One good thing in the US, at least initially, is that it's still an unlimited data plan.
The change of their model to a handset subsidized one actually doesn't bode well for the overall experience. There is already talk that users will be unable to activate their phones at home and that business users will have different phone rates from regular users (without any clear indication so far as to why). With apple relinquishing control of the plan selection and activation process, it does open up the possibility for a whole host of abusive ISP/Wireless co practices.
I don't know about you, but when presented a whole smorgasbord of plans, I can't help but think I'm getting scammed in some way for each of them, I get the "car dealer option package" feeling "Oh you want a sunroof, then you have to take alloy wheels then", "really? I didn't know they were connected."
I think if ISP's become too abusive, the market will route around the issue. People are willing to pay for pipes, but metered pipes is another question. I think Google's foray into the 700MHz spectrum auction here in the US was a warning shot aimed at Telcos. Many companies whole business model (like google moving ad inventory) depends on unfettered access to bandwidth.
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Apple as a kind of saviour, someone who would do battle with the
telcos on the user's behalf, but their interest in doing that (if they
ever had any) seems to have waned, and the carriers are once again
firmly in the driver's seat. Maybe Google will take up the challenge
with Android :-)
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I would think that it would tarnish the iPhone brand if Rogers continues their crippling data rates so that people get hit with huge data bills after the first month.
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about the company's negotiations with AT&T in the U.S. -- Apple seems
to have given up the battle to force carriers to charge lower fees, so
I wouldn't get my hopes up about Rogers.
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the cloud, it's even easier now for the phone to take on a lot of the
functions that previously required a PC.
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WRONG! Apple susbidy model actually helps the stock as they get money upfront from AT&T versus over the life of the contract. The stock only went down because investors played "Buy the Rumor, Sell the News" at the announcement of the 3G device.
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