At 04:31 2001-08-29, you wrote:
>Now here is an insight into how the Euro i-mode (KPN) will deal with the
>handset issue.
>
>http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/08/27/i.mode.handsets.idg/index.html
>
>Make sense really, and I'm sure DoCoMo is holding the whip.
It didn't really happen that way. Some of the Japanese handset
manufacturers tried to fulfill two or even three parallel needs with the
same base series:
a) i-mode/GPRS for DoCoMo
b) other i-mode-like services but more strictly using Internet standards
for especially email and with tighter integration with SMS, XHTML in
parallel with CHTML etc.
c) "Good enough" WAP 1.2.1 handsets (although with colour screens) for all
those other Nokia/Ericsson/Motorola/OpenWave brainwashed operators (but in
most aspects exactly the same as above)
What has happened since then with all the delays of GPRS etc. is that the
borders between these have blurred, and that some (or one...) of them have
focused their surprisingly scarce resources mostly on DoCoMo's and their
partners' needs. Which doesn't make us in the b) lane too happy...
In a little bit longer perspective, b) and c) will merge into WAP 2.0 (or
at least something Internet standard), and the question then is where a)
stands? We don't know yet.
There is one example of handsets really built to order. And that is Sharp's
GPRS version of J-SH04. This one is made only for BT Wireless. The GPRS
Iris PDA is open to all, though.
http://www.sharp.co.uk/press/scripts/showrelease.asp?id=222
We expect that some of the Taiwanese manufacturers, though, will go more
towards tailor made, or at least customized, versions for a specific
operator. One Taiwanese manufacturer has just cut a deal for Virgin Mobile
with a completely Virgin branded and partly specified handset
>So is this the way forward for the global handset industry? (Well,
>built-to-order certainly worked for Dell, to give a PC analogy). I guess
>the question is, and this is also mentioned in the article, can handset
>makers be profitable this way?
Depending on volumes of course. And the Japanese are good at doing things
in small volumes. Nokia is not...
/g
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Received on Fri Aug 31 08:11:59 2001