The iPhone threat continues

Recent news about the iPhone has caused quite a debate in the forum. Your comments here and here show just how passionately you feel about it. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a recent interview that the iPhone has “no chance of getting any significant market share”, I wish I could share his optimism.


Apple have a huge upper hand – they’re getting a whacking 10% of revenue and now Orange are confirmed as carrying it in France with T-Mobile doing the business in Germany. I could rattle on with reasons why the Apple iPhone shouldn’t succeed. For a start it costs a fortune up-front, even with an 18 month contract – normally handsets are free or incredibly cheap when you enter into a contract of that length. Also you’ve got EDGE connectivity when you’re roaming, which isn’t too fast at the best of times – plus o2 engineers are busy rolling it out here in the UK.


The iPhone though has its plus points. Updates have been rolled out several times over the last few months and, whilst so many updates and fixes would normally raise eyebrows, it has shown the sheer speed and alertness of Apple. Whilst Apple have all the cards and force networks into 10% profit deals, Microsoft have an uphill battle when trying to roll out updates onto their phones. Networks may choose not to roll them out, or you may never find out about them.