It seems like the whole internet, or, at least the BlackBerry blog reading part of it, is up in arms over a rumor that AT&T will lock down features in the BlackBerry 8820 so that it doesn’t steal any of the iPhone’s thunder. If this rumor turns out to be reality, how do you think that it will affect sales?
AT&T often is the first U.S. based carrier to release the newest BlackBerry devices. Those BlackBerrys, when released, usually have all the features that RIM builds standard into them enabled. How will the market react if new BlackBerrys start coming feature locked and the perception of why they are doing so is because they are more committed to and don’t want to create competition for the iPhone, a device the just about every BlackBerry user would tell you is not a competitor at all of the Blackberry.
I know that most of earth uses GSM, however, 60% of BlackBerry users live in the U.S. and, depending on which report your read, the majority of U.S. based wireless customers use CDMA networks.
How will this affect the RIM AT&T relationship?
Another question that I have is how RIM will react to AT&T locking down their devices? It seems like Verizon has always locked their devices down in some form or fashion but when is the last time we’ve seen a new BlackBerry debut on Verizon.
Will we start to see RIM spread the love to other carriers when it comes to debuting devices in the United States? T-Mobile gets to test new concepts every now and again but will we ever see RIM do something radical like debut a new CDMA BlackBerry before it’s GSM counterpart?
I suspect AT&T will be handling requests to port a lot of numbers over to their competitors. If they are that concerned with protecting their precious iPhone business then phoey on them.
“will we ever see RIM do something radical like debut a new CDMA BlackBerry before it’s GSM counterpart?”
NO
cdma has less than a 1/8th of the customers GSM has. Most manufactures have found there is little reason to even bother with cdma technology and it’s falling customer base.
Also don’t forget the largest cdma service provider cripples features, removes applications, and forces a standardized GUI. Thats no rumor thats the FACT jack.
Most manufactures have found there is little reason to even bother with cdma technology
Not due to lack of customers. It all comes down to money. They don’t want to pay Qualcom for use of their CDMA tech patents. That and in Nokia’s part a bit of Euro snobbery.
RIM needs to look to Nokia, Apple, Sony and dare I say Palm and open up well positioned RIM factory stores, and maybe RIM online direct sales? As those named above and countless other device manufactures have found letting another company call the shots and/or get between you and your customers is a lose/lose.
RIM is both a device manufacture and also a service provider (in some sense)
There is alot for RIM to lose by letting greed and arrogant service providers shape it’s products and get between RIM relationship with it’s customers
Well, I’ve been going back and forth over whether or not to switch to AT&T because they get all of the new, cool stuff that actually works (without paying an arm and a leg, that is). If this holds true, there would be no need for me to switch…I’ll keep the clearer calls on the neutered Verizon phones, and leave the neutered AT&T phones alone.
Like Fletchi18, I’m looking into switching to AT&T for a blackberry as well. Currently a Verizon customer, if AT&T starts pulling the same restricting practices then I undoubtedly will not switch… or at least not to either of those. The whole reason is to use the features of the phone whether it be GPS or whatever.
I agree with Dave and Fletchi18. I would not buy a BB that was crippled. It’s really disappointing that AT&T would do this. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the Curve with at least GPS.
“Nokia sees CDMA phones as a shrinking market.”
“”Recent developments indicate that CDMA industry unit growth may be negatively impacted in the future as some CDMA carriers build out GSM and WCDMA networks,” he said. A few operators around the globe, including Telstra in Australia and KTF Co. in Korea, have decided to migrate from CDMA to GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) or to upgrade their networks to WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) rather than the flavor chosen by CDMA operators.”
“The Finnish company said on it would pull out of CDMA phone manufacturing, which it sees as a shrinking market in the longer term.”
“In addition to an already financially prohibitive CDMA ecosystem in general, recent developments may indicate that the CDMA emerging markets business case is looking more challenging.”
All one has to do is remove the word Nokia and add the word RIM….
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DUJ/is_6_108/ai_n6080125/pg_1
The Finnish company said on it would pull out of CDMA phone manufacturing
They can keep their ugly phones and exploding batteries.
“Sony Ericsson, a joint venture of the telephone-equipment giant and the consumer-electronics powerhouse, plans to phase out production of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)-based cell phones.”
“Sony Ericsson has decided to prioritize development of its GSM/UMTS/EDGE business and discontinue the development of CDMA mobile phones”
“Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson says it will soon Instead it will focus on developing Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)-based phones, which are more popular throughout the world.”
“Today’s announcement ensures the continued growth and development of Sony Ericsson. The actions reflect our strong forward momentum as we intensify our business focus and work to achieve profitability,” says Katsumi Ihara, President of Sony Ericsson.”
Sony saw the writing on the walls back in 2003
Why is the iPhone GSM and not 3G?
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/93CA0BF6-6296-4DCF-88EA-9E27E617E96A.html
http://www.cellphones.ca/news/post002044/
Apple knows the FACTS too…..
This rumor makes no sense. Considering AT&T gives Apple a cut of monthly revenue on the iPhone, I would think selling Blackberries is more profitable. However, I’m sure RIM gets a portion of BIS revenue and I don’t know for sure which is bigger.
Crippling the Blackberry to favor the iPhone is a stupid strategy as customers will just migrate to other carriers with uncrippled blackberries. The more reasonable explanation is that AT&T sees Verizon has been successful at crippling the phone and forcing customers to pay monthly fees to use phone hardware features and they want a piece of that action too.
If you are upset about this decision, have some patience and when the 8820 comes out uncrippled on T-Mobile, port your number.
Thankfully there are a number of online retailers that will be selling the BlackBerry 8820 unlocked and fully functional. Though it may cost more, at least I don’t need to “add a plan” to avail of functionality that was built-in and working to begin with.
@hellno: Please keep the discussion to the point. This is not a CDMA vs. GSM post… Looks like you want to create a FUD against CDMA. Everyone knows GSM is the most used technology world-wide. There is no disputing that. But CDMA isn’t a shrinking technology.
http://www.cdg.org/worldwide/cdma_world_subscriber.asp
I am not sure you even know the subscriber numbers for Verizon this quarter. Nokia doesn’t have much of a market for CDMA anyhow in the US and thats why they are exiting the market… They are also fighting a royalty battle with Qualcomm for licensing fee for WCDMA and using this as a leverage… Please get your fact straight..
As for iPhone not using 3G, you might want to read a post on embedded.com that explains it nicely… it has to do with size of the board… There is a comparison between blackjack vs. iPhone…
Eshwar S in your bid to be top cdma cheerleader you again miss the FACTS
http://windia.blogspot.com/2006/08/why-cdma-will-die.html
? SK Telecom and KT Freetel (in S. Korea), who collectively represent about 10 per cent of CDMA subscribers in the world are not likely to migrate to CDMA2000 1x Release A- according to Morgan Stanley report
? Reliance and Shyam Telecom in India, China Unicom in China and AT&T in US are switching to GSM from CDMA.
? VIVO (Brazil), the fourth largest CDMA carrier in the world has openly discussed the potential of migrating to the GSM roadmap- according to Morgan Stanley report
? According to Telstra (of Australia), ‘CDMA is on the way out and other carriers will follow Telstra’s lead because we have the second biggest network in the world.’ H3G, Australia’s only other CDMA network operator, is preparing to move away from CDMA as well.
? Alegro PCS (of Ecuador) plans to migrate to GSM technology from the CDMA 1x platform currently in use.
? According to a Credit-Suisse Report, “The share of CDMA subscribers in India would drop to 7 per cent by 2010, while that of GSM would grow from 75 per cent at present to 93 per cent.”
Qualcomm’s CDMA is going to die out because it lacks in (2) Ecosystem and (4) Cost of Development. It hasn’t been able to develop the ecosystem because of its proprietary nature. Its business model on getting royalties on various forms of its technology hasn’t been able to spur many new companies and startups that could have benefited in promoting the technology to create this ecosystem. Innovations could not happen at the same pace (that of GSM family) because it was closed to new companies. Research and Development efforts at various big companies were bogged down by patent infringements cases and other royalty obligations. Qualcomm went into war with many companies including its partners and customers.
“CDMA technology accounted for 18 percent of the global mobile phone market in the first quarter (2006), down from a peak of 21 percent in 2004, according to Strategy Analytics.”
“Due to recent developments in emerging CDMA markets, an already fragmented and challenging CDMA market is shrinking and becoming even more difficult,” said Arja Suominen, a Nokia spokeswoman in Helsinki.”
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/22/business/nokia.php
BTW your completely WRONG (again) about Nokia,cdma,qualcomm, and the iPhone. But nice try.
@hellno: I am not a CDMA cheerleader in anyway. I was just correcting your errors. You point to various sources saying CDMA will die. I can give point by point rebuttal, but it won’t serve any purpose. You can continue your anti-CDMA, anti-Verizon, and anti-Qualcomm rhetoric. I will let the market of the future decide what they want to pick. Time will ultimately be the judge.
@hellno: Regarding iPhone, you can read more about why they didn’t go 3G from the source here. I was just pointing it out. Somehow you head is blurred with so much of anti- CDMA/Qualcomm/Verizon that it just won’t sink in. So I wasn’t trying to make something up
http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3036
Now that we are ok with letting time and the market chose technologies, sit back and relax as the standard, open, non proprietary, Global System for Mobile Communication and it’s family of technologies continues to lead the way forward in wireless communications. Always remember there are very good reasons for RIM serving the GSM technologies 100%.
Here are more reasons from those in the know about your concerns about the iPhone, it’s amazing some are so stuck on a fabricated “no-3G problem” instead of reading and learning that Apple, like RIM have good reasons for design choices and have solutions which are better for them, better for the customer, and better for the industry in the long run. Like other manufactures have found there is ZERO reason for “qualcomm inside” and all the mess that comes along with that.
Walt: Why does the iPhone only run on a relatively slow cellphone data network, much slower than those used by some other smart phones?
Steve: The iPhone has built-in Wi-Fi and uses the EDGE high-speed data network. EDGE is pervasive throughout the U.S., and for many applications like email, maps, stocks and weather, it is plenty fast. The iPhone automatically switches to Wi-Fi whenever it senses a known Wi-Fi network, and Wi-Fi delivers data several times faster than 3G networks. So the iPhone sandwiches 3G networks with something a bit slower on the bottom and something far faster on the top.
Walt: When will there be an iPhone that runs on the fastest, so-called “3G” networks?
Steve: Walt, you know we don’t talk about future products. Again, Wi-Fi is far faster than 3G networks.
Walt: Why does the iPhone only work with a single carrier, AT&T? Will there be iPhones for other carriers in the U.S.?
Steve: AT&T is the most popular wireless carrier in the U.S. and they have been investing billions of dollars in the last couple of years to create a great network. They also have the advantage of using GSM technology, which is used by over 80% of the world. The iPhone is a world phone with quad-band GSM technology that works great in the U.S., Europe and most of Asia.
http://mossblog.allthingsd.com/20070626/jobs-qa/
The critics were effusive in praise for the iPhone, but had issues with the iPhone and the EDGE network, which they say is slower than others. How do you respond?
Stephenson: With a device like this, you need a broad based network that covers every nook and cranny of the country. That’s EDGE. It does a nice job. It also has Wi-Fi, which is better than anything you’ll find in any handset. Between the two, you’ll get a good experience. We’re selling tens of thousands of Blackberry devices, which are all Edge phones, and they perform well. We’ve tested this nine ways to Sunday, and we think the experience will be great.
Jobs: The iPhone switches to any known Wi-Fi network when it senses one. What we’ve found is that Edge is terrific for e-mail and basic Internet usage. When people need more speed, there’s Wi-Fi. The nice thing about Wi-Fi is it’s way faster than 3G. People are in areas with Wi-Fi much more than they think. I walk into work with the iPhone, and it instantly switches to a Wi-Fi network. If I’m walking down the street in downtown Palo Alto, the iPhone will switch from EDGE to Wi-Fi. It’s very fluid.
EDGE will be faster than people have read in the reviews. Some of the criticism of EDGE is more theoretical. Blackberrys use EDGE, and in many cases is slower, because our software is better.
Stephenson: I carry a 3G phone and the iPhone, and in terms of the general experience, it’s comparable. I’m not concerned.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/corporatenews/2007-06-28-jobs-stephenson-qa_N.htm
Steve Jobs explained Apple’s rationale for not including 3G support in the initial iPhone:
“When we looked at 3G, the chipsets are not quite mature, in the sense that they’re not low-enough power for what we were looking for. They were not integrated enough, so they took up too much physical space. We cared a lot about battery life and we cared a lot about physical size. Down the road, I’m sure some of those tradeoffs will become more favorable towards 3G but as of now we think we made a pretty good doggone decision.”
cdma requires more battery power than GSM too, sounds like a flaw.
Yet another reason why 3G is not currently a step up from GSM.
@hellno: Whatever! Continue living in your reason-less crazy little world.