Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, iTunes
Why an iTunes phone instead of software?
I was chatting with C.K. today about why Apple, Motorola and Cingular shook hands on an iTunes phone, instead of Apple just going ahead and making a client (probably in java) so that all sorts of phones could use it. I was listening to a great podcast, Inside Silicon Valley (iTMS link), that presented an insightful answer to this very question, and I tend to agree. Here's how it breaks down: since the wireless networks have been talking about debuting their own wireless download services for phones for a while now, Apple probably wouldn't have made a whole lot of headway into this mobile phone music market without coming up with something they could sell to both a wireless provider and a hardware manufacturer. By working with Motorola and Cingular to create a dedicated and *exclusive* iTunes phone, everybody wins: Apple gets to sell more music, the wireless networks rake in precious boatloads of new subscribers and Motorola gets to sell a ton of special little phones.
While I really don't want one of those phones - I'm heading out the door soon to pick up a 4 GB black iPod nano - this reasoning makes a lot of sense to me. Anyone else want to weigh in?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Glitch said 4:45PM on 9-08-2005
Yes, there is some logic behind that. But still, I doubt it very much that a lot of people are going to buy this phone 'because it has iTunes installed'. It seems to me that they should make a client you could install on your phone and still sell more music through it. But then of course, both Motorola and Cingular wouldn't get anything out of it.
I recently bought Nokia series 60 phone, just because now I am able to install all sort of software. I still prefer that over iTunes.
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Eric said 5:06PM on 9-08-2005
I just created an iTunes phone by duct-taping a Shuffle to my Nokia.
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Dan said 5:33PM on 9-08-2005
I'll be waiting for a true Apple branded phone. I just bought a treo650, don't see any reason to get a motorola. I can put MP3s on the treo- enough for me. Which sucks because I love Apple - I just don't see the appeal of this phone - looks pretty much the same as any other. I'll get an iPod Nano - and a Video iPod if it ever comes to pass. And if there's ever a phone made by Apple that has true Apple style - I'll get that as well. Until then... I'm waiting.
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Lee said 9:22PM on 9-08-2005
That may be a factor, but the larger factor is that this just isn't technically feasible....
None of the regular phones out there (I'm not counting PDA phones.. which have relatively small marketshare comparitively) have any storage space to stick any music. Most regular phones have on the order of 2mb of flash, and that is used for all your phone numbers, text messages, and tiny camera pics... loading 30 seconds of music isn't really an option. Beyond that, most phones probably do not also have the processing power to handle decoding of an mp3.
Alas, I think Motorola still screwed this one up horribly... I think the idea is great, but the phone only has USB 1.1.... so you're talking 64 minutes to sync your 512mb capacity of tunes. GACK!! Customers are not going to be happy, and most are not going to go through the trouble of removing the transflash card and sticking it in an external reader. Personally, I'm quite surprised Apple didn't back out based on that spec... just ridiculous at this day in age. Wait for the next generation my friends.
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metric152 said 6:32PM on 9-08-2005
iTunes seems shoe-horned into this phone. On top of not liking motorola menus there is no reason for me to buy this phone. It's half-assed.
1) can't listen to music over bluetooth headsets.
2) can't transfer music over bluetooth.
3) limited to 100 songs.
4) lousy camera.
Apple missed the mark on this one.
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danb said 8:56PM on 9-08-2005
Part of me can't help but think that Apple isn't too concerned with this kind of market.
Realistically, there not going to be raking in huge amounts of revenue via the $2 a song charge. Cingular and 02 will be taking a chunk of it and I question how many songs will actually be sold. You've gotta be pretty desperate to wanna pay such a large premium.
I think it's more a case of Apple wanting to secure some territory and not be completely blown out of the water if the whole cell phone/mp3 player convergance actually happens. (I personally don't think the average user wants the two device to combine.) Also the site quite clearly states the "first" mobile phone with iTunes. Something tells me this is a year long contract with exclusivity for Motorola and Cingular until Apple can jump ship and licence the thing to who ever they want.
Apple doesn't care that people aren't going to be running to buy one of these. What they do care about is the media attention and sending a clear message to competitors that this is a market they are now in. Join us or end up like the walkman.
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Jay Lyerly said 8:44AM on 9-09-2005
I agree with some of the previous posts. Apple keeps referring to this as the 'first' iTunes phone. It seems like its almost a proof of concept test device for the market. This will appeal to a certain market. I don't think it'll fly off the shelves like the original ipod (or even the nano), but it'll do fairly well. The cell phone market is so varied that it doesn't have to do all that well to be one of the most popular phones. This also provides the infrastructure for them to deploy and test with real users a Over-The-Air version of the iTMS.
Apple has been staging these technologies lately and rolling them out incrementally. Each one has been and interesting, but not mindblowing at the time. Then they reach critical mass and BAM! Steve's got himself a revolution.
Look at iTunes and the features its gotten recently. The podcast thing was pretty big, mostly because of the iTMS directory that lets users actually find content they want. iTMS is also selling vidoes now as well. This is clearly the precursor for the video iPod (maybe a set-top iPod) that can download movies,etc. from the internet. But combine these two technologies -- podcast and internet video content -- and you get a TV network replacement. Subscribe to your favorite show and new episodes automatically appear on your TV set.
Steve is setting up the dominos in his grand plan. At some point, he'll knock them down and we'll all say 'Wow'.
It'll be insanely great.
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