Is T-Mobile the Netflix of the mobile operators world?
We know the current situation of Netflix trying to re-invent the relationship between TV viewers and broadcasters, by ultimately dis-intermediating the classical TV channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox)
The recent release of the TV Series "House of Cards" is a perfect example of this change of business model, this (fun) TV show is only for Netflix subscribers, and the full season is available at once!
It was so successful that they are filming the second season!
Although the business models are different, is T-Mobile going to reinvent the relationship between cellphone subscribers and carriers?
It seems like it's the case by listening to their charismatic new CEO, John Legere.
They called in the press for an event on March 26th in New York where they will expose their new business model.
Judging by the tone of the invite "We're still a wireless company. We're just not going to act like one anymore", everyone expect them to announce the end of all subsidies for 2 years contract, in exchange of a lower monthly rate for their subscription.
T-Mobile has always been an "agitator" of the US cellphone market, let's see if this goes beyond a marketing and communication promise!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
iPhone, iPod, iThermostat?
It is very interesting to note that since Steve Jobs passed away, many Apple execs have left the company to do something different.
I noticed two of these startup, Leapmotion and Nest.
Nest is all about bringing the cool design of an Iphone to your home thermostat! And you pay the price for all that coolness: $249 at BestBuy or Amazon.
http://nest.com/
Leapmotion's promise is related to the control of PC, sorry Macs! It will be available in May, but it sounds like a very exciting device that will turn your mouse and keyboard into dust collectors!
https://www.leapmotion.com/
In both cases, the leadership teams of these companies are composed with former Apple executives with innovative ideas and design.
I wish them the same success as their previous company!
I noticed two of these startup, Leapmotion and Nest.
Nest is all about bringing the cool design of an Iphone to your home thermostat! And you pay the price for all that coolness: $249 at BestBuy or Amazon.
http://nest.com/
Leapmotion's promise is related to the control of PC, sorry Macs! It will be available in May, but it sounds like a very exciting device that will turn your mouse and keyboard into dust collectors!
https://www.leapmotion.com/
In both cases, the leadership teams of these companies are composed with former Apple executives with innovative ideas and design.
I wish them the same success as their previous company!
Friday, March 15, 2013
Mobile World Congress 2013 Debrief
There was a time, when Mobile World Congress used to be called 3GSM (and happened in Cannes, France) when the biggest booths were the ones from Motorola, Nokia or even Sagem.
Sierra Wireless was shipping ruggedized Windows Mobile phones, and 3G was a distant dream, hence the naming "3GSM"...all this was less than 10 years ago!
This year, even the logistics have changed dramatically.
The show doesn't take place anymore in the Gran Fira, next to an authentic historic Arena (finally renovated) but in the very convenient Fira Via, fully equipped to accommodate 70,000 persons. Of course, it less glamorous than the previous places, you are no longer surrounded by Spanish architecture, but the set up is very convenient.
The first halls were fully dedicated to meeting spaces, hence you find yourself in front of huge booth closed to the public and under strict security (LG, Samsung, etc), so it was very easy to navigate between booth and meeting spaces without leaving the show. Gone is the time when each major player had to privatize entire hotel to manage their side meetings!
For me, the key learning's from last week were around the mobile OS and the Chinese handset manufacturers:
Mobile OS-Android fragmentation and the fight for the third place.
While RIM still struggles for its life, Mozilla made a lot of noise by announcing their FirefoxOS with the support of 18 major carriers (they announced launches with Telefonica and America Movil in Latam). Alcatel One Touch, ZTE and LG are among the device makers behind that initiative, targeting a $100 transfer price with a...Qualcomm chipset!
On the other side of the spectrum, Windows Phone is in a great position to capture that market share, but despite their recent progress, the carriers still have to push MSFT to fill that place.
Then, it's interesting to note that Samsung isn't at all in Mozilla, and they are replacing Bada (their last mobile OS initiative) with Tizen in some of their phones. Does that mean that Samsung wants to take distance with Google? It is very likely and the Galaxy S4 launch goes into that direction.
Samsung isn't the only one who customize Android. For its P2 Ascend Smartphone, Huawei has customized the Android 4.1 interface with its own layer called "Emotion", what a program!
The conclusion of all these initiatives make me think that the fight for Mobile OS domination is just starting actually. The pure Android OS is not "enterprise ready" and massive deployments in large corporations still remain to be seen. On the other hand, all device makers are customizing their Android OS, which will lead to worse fragmentation and complex interoperability for carriers.
All the discussions in Barcelona led to the conclusion that "pure" Android market share has reached its ceiling, now the question is who will win the third place: Windows Phone? RIM? Mozilla? Tizen? Or someone else?
Beyond the mobile OS war, it was very surprising to witness the massive wave of Chinese device makers on the show floor: Huawei, Lenovo etc were having huge booth where they displayed cheap hardware.
More to comment soon with the Galaxy S4 launch in New York and the reactions it will trigger.
Sierra Wireless was shipping ruggedized Windows Mobile phones, and 3G was a distant dream, hence the naming "3GSM"...all this was less than 10 years ago!
This year, even the logistics have changed dramatically.
The show doesn't take place anymore in the Gran Fira, next to an authentic historic Arena (finally renovated) but in the very convenient Fira Via, fully equipped to accommodate 70,000 persons. Of course, it less glamorous than the previous places, you are no longer surrounded by Spanish architecture, but the set up is very convenient.
The first halls were fully dedicated to meeting spaces, hence you find yourself in front of huge booth closed to the public and under strict security (LG, Samsung, etc), so it was very easy to navigate between booth and meeting spaces without leaving the show. Gone is the time when each major player had to privatize entire hotel to manage their side meetings!
For me, the key learning's from last week were around the mobile OS and the Chinese handset manufacturers:
Mobile OS-Android fragmentation and the fight for the third place.
While RIM still struggles for its life, Mozilla made a lot of noise by announcing their FirefoxOS with the support of 18 major carriers (they announced launches with Telefonica and America Movil in Latam). Alcatel One Touch, ZTE and LG are among the device makers behind that initiative, targeting a $100 transfer price with a...Qualcomm chipset!
On the other side of the spectrum, Windows Phone is in a great position to capture that market share, but despite their recent progress, the carriers still have to push MSFT to fill that place.
Then, it's interesting to note that Samsung isn't at all in Mozilla, and they are replacing Bada (their last mobile OS initiative) with Tizen in some of their phones. Does that mean that Samsung wants to take distance with Google? It is very likely and the Galaxy S4 launch goes into that direction.
Samsung isn't the only one who customize Android. For its P2 Ascend Smartphone, Huawei has customized the Android 4.1 interface with its own layer called "Emotion", what a program!
The conclusion of all these initiatives make me think that the fight for Mobile OS domination is just starting actually. The pure Android OS is not "enterprise ready" and massive deployments in large corporations still remain to be seen. On the other hand, all device makers are customizing their Android OS, which will lead to worse fragmentation and complex interoperability for carriers.
All the discussions in Barcelona led to the conclusion that "pure" Android market share has reached its ceiling, now the question is who will win the third place: Windows Phone? RIM? Mozilla? Tizen? Or someone else?
Beyond the mobile OS war, it was very surprising to witness the massive wave of Chinese device makers on the show floor: Huawei, Lenovo etc were having huge booth where they displayed cheap hardware.
More to comment soon with the Galaxy S4 launch in New York and the reactions it will trigger.
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