> After reading the M-Services press release more carefully, it occurred to me
> that European operators and handset manufacturing might have actually
> learned something from the Japanese situation: They are attempting to copy a
> valuable part of what made mobile internet services such as i-mode a runaway
> success in Japan -- industrial organization and alignment.
I'm not sure that model works well other places. In the US, Sprint controls
their handsets more than other carriers, and I think it hurts them more than
it helps. I don't know how much design control Sprint exerts over their
partners, but I do know Sprint rebrands many of their handsets (e.g. The
Sprint "NP1000" handset is the NeoPoint handset) and doesn't offer Nokia
products - perhaps the only US carrier not to do so. This is remarkable
because Nokia phones are very popular here. I wonder: Does Sprint refuse to
carry Nokia handsets because Nokia won't make them Sprint-like?
I wonder: in the US do the best handset designs come from carriers (DoCoMo) or
handset manufacturers (Nokia)?
-Josh
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
Received on Mon Jun 18 19:16:21 2001