> The more the iPhone succeeds, the less leverage the carriers have, Mr. Kuittinen explained. All they have is bandwidth.
I look forward to the day when mobile carriers are nothing but dumb pipes. Maybe then they'll focus on providing the most bandwidth and best coverage, instead of crap apps that no one cares about.
in addition, i look forward to the days when mobile phones are nothing but web/html5 browsers where apple/google.microsoft lost the control over the stores. they'll provide the best web rendering and convenience; rather than crap apps and monetization needs that no one cares about.
I look forward to the day that the cellphone is just a generic computer, where you can install anything you want, including the operating system. I want more than a system locked down to only HTML/CSS/JS.
> is carrier commoditization necessarily a bad thing?
Depends on the POV you're considering.
From the POV of the carriers it's a very, very bad thing as it's going to eat into their money and their control. For some manufacturers it's not a good thing as they build handsets for carriers who may not want handsets built specifically for them once they're "nothing but dumb pipes".
For pretty much everybody else, it'll be a great day.
>For some manufacturers it's not a good thing as they build handsets for carriers who may not want handsets built specifically for them once they're "nothing but dumb pipes".
I think manufacturers are very pissed at having to make a different model for each carrier or make slight changes in the design and naming for each carrier.
This is the reason that Nokia stopped dealing with carriers and went the unlocked route a few years before having to eat crow and get back into bed with the carriers this year.
The manufacturers would be very happy to make one model and be able to sell it on multiple carriers with consistent naming.
> I think manufacturers are very pissed at having to make a different model for each carrier or make slight changes in the design and naming for each carrier.
I'm guessing that depends on the carrier, Nokia had power and brand name but HTC was founded as a strict ODM.
The advantage is that you get money to build the phone (to specs, and usually shitty, but still build it) and are cushioned from device failure: currently, carriers want many devices in their portfolio (even if most barely sell).
I look forward to the day when mobile carriers are nothing but dumb pipes. Maybe then they'll focus on providing the most bandwidth and best coverage, instead of crap apps that no one cares about.