A quote from the April 2009 issue of Rutberg & Co.’s Wireless Industry Newsletter (via ):
An under-discussed dynamic with the iPhone has been the impact to carrier subsidy budgets for non-iPhone handsets. In our conversations with handset OEM and carrier executives, we hear that subsidy budgets for those carriers carrying the iPhone are now disproportionately allocated to the iPhone. Furthermore, OEMs continue to face the hurdle and opportunity to match the experience and capabilities of the iPhone. As a result, as stated to us by a North American industry executive recently, “OEMs are being asked to do a lot more with a lot less.” An executive in Europe, where subsidies are less widely used, similarly stated, “a battlefront for OEMs is where carriers are going to place their subsidy budgets, after the iPhone.”
This quote was pulled from a GigaOm post, titled, .
It seems that the iPhone, far from hurting rival phone makers, is making them improve their product offerings. Yes, when someone is doing better quality work than you, it can sting a little. In the case of the mobile phone industry, most manufacturers are experiencing this frustration and envy and are taking the easy road by simply copying (albeit poorly) the aesthetic and superficial characteristics of the iPhone.
Then there are others, like Palm, who look to be creating a truly great product. It’s no question that if it weren’t for release of the iPhone in 2007, Palm would still be sitting on its ass, milking the antiquated Palm OS and Treo for quite a while longer. Palm and others who are rising to the challenge of designing a better phone experience are no doubt realizing how hard it is – how holistic the scope has to be.
While the exclusive partnership between AT&T and Apple is not an ideal one for consumers, it represents a huge step forward in giving control of the hardware back to those who make it. It also begins to treat phone companies as what they are, which is simply a communication pipeline. AT&T is not a Blackberry, an iPhone or a Samsung BlackJack.
The days of sleek RAZR’s selling like hotcakes are over. If OEMs want to stay relevent (read: keep making money) they’ll need to treat hardware design as just one aspect of many when they create new devices. It sucks having shitty product offerings, but all those competing against Apple should keep in mind this quote by Thomas Edison, “Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.”
