I am a regular on LinkedIn and love their Q/A features, where you can ask, as well as answer questions. Today, Suresh, a consultant in Mobile VAS and Telecom, asked a question on what kind of impact and opportunities will iPhone launch bring to India? I answered the question and then I thought why not share my answer with NAMP readers, so here is my response to Suresh’s question -
The iPhone will be coming to India anytime and people are going crazy about it. Both, Vodafone and AirTel have opened pre-registrations for the iPhone. They are still not disclosing the launch date and pricing but I guess for their existing customers its will be less than 18K. Though the iPhone is being launched officially in India this year, it had made its ways into the Indian market long time back through the illegal route (the main concern of Apple). When you talk about the impact of iPhone on the Indian smart phone and PDA market, I guess it will not be that much. Yeah people will buy the iPhone just because the kind of multi-touch interface it has. The current features of the 3G iPhone stand no where near to the enterprise phones and smart phones that are there in the Indian market. You talk about the Nokia E90 Communicator or the Blackberry they are tough competitors for the iPhone if it wants to make a head away in the smart phone/PDA market. The initial hype will certainly give a head start to the iPhone but in the long run, I can’t say anything. Also, it will be available only on AirTel and Vodafone; this kind of scenario was not there in India till now. You buy a phone and choose your operator. This can be turn-off for many Indians.
When you talk about UNIQUE applications I think games that are based on motion control will be coming up in the Indian market to take advantage of the iPhone’s built-in motion sensor. iPhone will be used more as a entertainment device than a phone. If you look at numbers, consumers who have an iPhone, only 20% of the time they use it as phone, rest of the time is dedicated to browsing internet, listening to music and checking/sending mails Also, the iPhone 3G is open for applications only if you buy them from App. Store otherwise you have to jailbreak it.. iPhone, no doubt, is an amazing thing that has happened to the world of mobile phones and its touch interface in the most unique one. But I wont be going for the new 3G iPhone, wanna know why, Click Here.
The iPhone will be coming to India anytime and people are going crazy about it. Both, Vodafone and AirTel have opened pre-registrations for the iPhone. They are still not disclosing the launch date and pricing but I guess for their existing customers its will be less than 18K. Though the iPhone is being launched officially in India this year, it had made its ways into the Indian market long time back through the illegal route (the main concern of Apple). When you talk about the impact of iPhone on the Indian smart phone and PDA market, I guess it will not be that much. Yeah people will buy the iPhone just because the kind of multi-touch interface it has. The current features of the 3G iPhone stand no where near to the enterprise phones and smart phones that are there in the Indian market. You talk about the Nokia E90 Communicator or the Blackberry they are tough competitors for the iPhone if it wants to make a head away in the smart phone/PDA market. The initial hype will certainly give a head start to the iPhone but in the long run, I can’t say anything. Also, it will be available only on AirTel and Vodafone; this kind of scenario was not there in India till now. You buy a phone and choose your operator. This can be turn-off for many Indians.
When you talk about UNIQUE applications I think games that are based on motion control will be coming up in the Indian market to take advantage of the iPhone’s built-in motion sensor. iPhone will be used more as a entertainment device than a phone. If you look at numbers, consumers who have an iPhone, only 20% of the time they use it as phone, rest of the time is dedicated to browsing internet, listening to music and checking/sending mails Also, the iPhone 3G is open for applications only if you buy them from App. Store otherwise you have to jailbreak it.. iPhone, no doubt, is an amazing thing that has happened to the world of mobile phones and its touch interface in the most unique one. But I wont be going for the new 3G iPhone, wanna know why, Click Here.
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