What is the actual manufacturing price for an advanced i-mode handset with
color screen and all the bell'n'whistles?
The markets has already shown that it's far from easy to build mobile
handdsets profitably. The mobile carriers have been active in absurbing the
costs of the handsets, including the i-mode sets in Japan, but the total
mobile market has grown to a state when this trend is very unlikely to
continue.
The lack of progress in new technologies is also worrying. I-mode was
supposed to conquer the world a long time ago, GPRS is still struggling and
the existing handsets don't give the customers much. Many people,
especially the masses, hardly see any need to replace their existing phones.
New GPRS phones and PDA-combos are niche products.
I believe it will be more and more difficult for Nokia, Motorola,
Sony-Ericsson and all the rest to sell new phones at reasonable volumes,
especially if the cost is not covered by the struggling mobile operators.
Would you pay 30-40000 yen to get a small color screen?
Petri
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Received on Wed Aug 29 12:24:03 2001