Mar 29, 2009

iPhone poer compares to DS

Metal Gear Solid publisher Konami has compared the power of the iPhone and iPod touch to that of the DS and PSP. A Konami head of business noted that while the power of today's multimedia devices are often comparable to current portable gaming hardware, essentially these are not primarily gaming devices.

Konami has compared the power of iPhone and iPod Touch to DS and PSP – as it launches its first Metal Gear Solid game for the platform.

Metal Gear Solid Touch sees players control Solid Snake in “the final chapter in the legendary saga”.

Head of mobile business at Konami Digital Entertainment Florian Stronk told MCV: “Whereas the sheer power of today's multimedia devices are often comparable to the current portable gaming hardware, these machines are not primarily gaming devices. It will be interesting to see these platforms evolve further.”
source
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Nov 29, 2007

Apple's iPhone a tougher sell in Europe?

Apple's learning fairly quickly that Europe is a very different place, especially when it comes to mobile phones.

The iPhone went on sale Wednesday through wireless carrier Orange in France, marking the third European country to carry the phone within its borders. The launch also marked the debut of the third pricing strategy for the iPhone in the three countries: France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
It appears that at least for a while, the iPhone is going to move more slowly for Apple in Europe. Orange said hopes to sell 100,000 iPhones by the end of 2007, and 400,000 to 500,000 in total by the end of next year, according to several reports Tuesday. Apple wants to sell 10 million iPhones next year in total, after expanding to Asia some time in 2008.

Was Apple blasé about the challenges it faces in Europe? The device's debut in one of the most hotly contested mobile phone markets in the world has been a little chaotic, with last-minute changes to pricing plans that don't appear to have been part of the plan.

Orange, the "exclusive" carrier of the iPhone in France, offers three payment plans. You can purchase an iPhone for 399 euros ($592.78) and sign up for one of the special "Orange for iPhone" plans, which range in price from 49 euros a month to 119 euros a month depending on usage. You can buy an iPhone for 549 euros if you want to use one of Orange's other rate plans. Or, you can buy an iPhone for 649 euros ($964.20) with no plan.

The only company that can sell you an iPhone in France is Orange (Apple doesn't have any stores in France) but it sure as heck isn't going to be the exclusive carrier. French law requires that carriers offer their customers the option of an unlocked phone. That will cost you 100 euros today, but if you're willing to wait six months, you can have it unlocked for free.

So French shoppers who want an unlocked iPhone today will pay the equivalent of $1,112,77, which is actually a significant bargain over what their German neighbors are being asked to pay for a key to other networks. After a legal challenge from rival Vodafone forced its hand, T-Mobile agreed to offer an unlocked iPhone in Germany for the equivalent of $1,478 (at last week's exchange rate).

At least in U.K., Apple's one-phone, one-carrier strategy is still in place. O2 and Apple have yet to release any sales figures, although O2 said it was its "fastest-selling" launch. No matter what, however, any expectations for lines and hoopla similar to what happened stateside on iPhone Day did not materialize in Blighty.

Simply put, Europe is different. Entering the European mobile phone market from the United States is like getting called up to the majors after just a few months in the minors.

One of the many things I've heard from U.S. iPhone owners is that many of them were relatively new to smartphones, especially the idea of getting e-mail and anything more than a real basic stripped-down Web page on their phones. They bought the iPhone because of its user interface, not because it was a data phone, although they quickly grasped what they had at their disposal.

And they didn't care that they'd be locked to AT&T for two years, because two-year wireless contracts are the norm in this country. Maybe that will change in upcoming years following Verizon's announcement earlier this week that it will open up its network, but it will take a long time before all of us are using our phones that way.
It seems Apple didn't anticipate the difficulties it would have selling the first generation iPhone to European customers and carriers under the same terms and conditions that AT&T and O2 were willing to accept. That situation could very well change next year, when Apple is expected to unveil a 3G phone that would be much more attractive for both consumers and carriers.

But how could Apple possibly have expected that it would be able to sell locked, exclusive iPhones in Europe going into the launch? A German judge quickly imposed an injunction after Vodafone aired its complaints (which were opportunistic, to be sure). But from that swift action it would appear the law regarding locked cell phones wasn't exactly murky, although the carrier said it would attempt to "clarify" the issues.
Likewise, from the pricing discrepancies, it's hard to imagine that the current situation was part of the original plan. A German citizen living on the French border could cross the old Maginot Line and pick up an unlocked iPhone at a 150 euro discount, and then use it with any German carrier, without having to pay any sort of additional import tax. Perhaps the T-Mobile and Orange "exclusive" deals don't transfer as much revenue to Apple as the company gets from AT&T, which is likely the reason behind the steep premium to be paid for an unlocked iPhone.

As always, we have to remind ourselves that this is very early days for Apple in this market. It has very little experience marketing mobile phones and even less experience negotiating tough deals with carriers, who still rule this industry.

Just look at Apple's early dance partners. AT&T's Stan Sigman told attendees at Macworld earlier this year that he signed an exclusive (and expensive revenue-sharing) deal with Apple to distribute and promote the iPhone without having even seen the device. O2 was so eager to be the exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.K. that it allowed Apple to throw in a free subscription to The Cloud--a U.K Wi-Fi hotspot aggregator that offers access to more than 7,000 hot spots--even though that almost guaranteed that iPhone users would do any heavy data action over Wi-Fi and deny O2 a cut of that revenue. Not exactly a bunch of Red Auerbachs, there; Apple must have gotten almost everything it wanted from those two carriers going into the negotiations.

Of course, Apple has one very powerful negotiating chip: a sweet product. I've been to several conferences and conventions this year about the smartphone industry, and Apple's user interface and design prowess has come up in every single one--the CTIA Wireless conference devoted an entire session to it.

The entire wireless industry is trying to figure out what to do about Apple's iPhone. But Apple has to do a better job figuring out how to navigate the complicated minefield that is the international wireless industry. A strategy that works in this country won't necessarily work in other places; just ask Dell, Disney, or the National Football League.
source: news.com
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Nov 23, 2007

Orange iPhone plan details revealed

The iPhone will be arriving in France on November 29th, just under a week away, and we're beginning to hear quite a few more details about Orange and the iPhone. iPhone plan pricing seems to be a big concern, but fortunately some digging on Orange's website has revealed the plan and pricing details for the iPhone, which have also been covered in English by MacScoop.

As with most other iPhone plans, Orange's rates seem to be pretty competitive. Plans are priced at €49, €59, €79, and €119, which will get you either 2+2 (daytime + nights and weekends), 3+3, 5+5 or 8+8 hours of calls. The plans also include 50, 100, 150, and 1000 SMS messages, respectively. All four of the plans offer unlimited EDGE data usage and Visual Voicemail, and the plans also let you use Orange's WiFi hotspots for 10 hours a month (100 hours for the €119 plan).

All of those prices are for a two-year contract; reducing the length to a year will cost roughly another €4,5 a month. People have also been wondering about Orange's price premium for unlocked iPhones, which is apparently going to be €100 if you want to unlock your phone before six months of your contract have elapsed. That €100 isn't bad compared to what T-Mobile is charging, so I suspect we'll see at least a few French iPhones leaving the country. And as usual, we'll be hearing more about the launch in the next few days, so stay tuned.
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