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Israel Finally (Officially) Gets the iPhone

Aviv — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:03:57 +0000

From an article on popular Israeli website nana10, it has been announced that Israel will finally (officially) get the iPhone through national carrier support.

As of now, the announcements only state that Pelephone will be carrying the device and that they’ve been told to “get ready” for the launch. What’s perplexing is why Orange isn’t anywhere near these negotiations. They have a major presence in Israel and surrounding nations. Plus they already have deals with Apple to carry the iPhone, and it has been reported that they have upwards of 1 million iPhone users on their network.

Either way, this is good news for Israel, and for Apple. The tech scene over there is so involved in telecommunications and innovating for mobile environments, it’s a natural fit for the country to get official iPhone support. With the upcoming release of iPhone OS 3.0, Apple announced that Hebrew would officially be supported as a language, so that definitely gave a tiny clue as to what was coming.

Of course, unlocked iPhones are literally a dime a dozen over there. Certain pockets of software developers stay in business by selling unlocked iPhones with Hebrew pre-installed, so it makes sense for Apple to get rid of this foul play and allow even more people to innovate on the already burgeoning platform.

iPhone Negotiations With China Unicom Have Reached Possible Agreement

Aviv — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:20:23 +0000

Recent information sheds light on negotiations between Apple and Chinese telecom provider China Unicom, and the possibility that both sides have reached an amicable agreement.

In early February we first reported about the ongoing talks between Apple and China Unicom. As we previously explained, even though feverish reports came in claiming that all talks had broken down about bringing the iPhone to China, these reports were a bit premature. Amidst all of the treacherous negotiations between China Mobile and Apple, China Unicom were the ones to step and take control of the prospective partnership.

Contrary to recent reports that talks between Apple and Chinese mobile provider China Mobile had broke down because of App Store negotiations, it’s now being reported that the iPhone will be arriving in China on May 19th with China Unicom.

Reports that negotiations between Apple and China Mobile had broke down were true, albeit a bit premature. As it turns out, previous negotiations surrounding China Mobile and the potential iPhone 3G agreement were “becoming a threat to Apple’s business.” The “business model differences” as well as the inability to agree on distribution benefits made it so that negotiations had reached a stalemate. This is when China Unicom stepped in to takeover negotiations with Apple around September of 2008. Due to a shakeup in management on the Chinese telecommunications side, Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing has been appointed as the head of the team leading negotiations with Apple. If everything goes smoothly, the iPhone is expected to launch in mainland China on May 19th, 2009. Apple is expected to get between a 20% and 30% “share” of iPhone sales. Whether China will subsidize the iPhone is still unconfirmed.

At the time of those initial China Unicom reports, we were a bit skeptical at first. However, we diligently spent nearly 4 hours tracking down and locating connections and colleagues in China who were able to confirm the information and relay what was being reported in local news. The general understanding was that talks between China Unicom and Apple were healthy, and the iPhone was something executives in China did not want to miss out on.

As Chinese news source gansudaily notes in a report about the subject, China Unicom will be restructuring its cellular network to support WDCMA, alongside a newly secured arrangement that will allow them to license certain 3G technologies. These cellular network technologies will be deployed into Chinese mobile markets making way for the iPhone, which is slated to arrive around May 19th. The iPhone 3G has simply plaid too big of a role in shaping the global market and Chinese telecom executives do not want to miss what is going on. They are deeply intrigued by the success of the App Store and have been paying extra close attention to the development of 3G networks outside of their markets.

Backing up these reports is some new information that has been made available today via ChinaTechNews.com. “Foreign media are quoting representatives from Ovum, a British consultancy, as saying that China Unicom and Apple will achieve cooperation soon and if everything goes smoothly, the 3G iPhone will enter the Chinese market in May 2009 at the earliest, but no more detail is given. Prior to this latest rumor, other rumors abounded both China Mobile and China Unicom intended to introduce Apple’s iPhone into China. China Mobile started early in the negotiations with Apple, but the two sides have not reached any agreement.”

Apple’s iPhone Hitting Chinese Markets on May 19th with China Unicom

Aviv — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:01:43 +0000

Contrary to recent reports that talks between Apple and Chinese mobile provider China Mobile had broke down because of App Store negotiations, it’s now being reported that the iPhone will be arriving in China on May 19th with China Unicom.

Reports that negotiations between Apple and China Mobile had broke down were true, albeit a bit premature. As it turns out, previous negotiations surrounding China Mobile and the potential iPhone 3G agreement were “becoming a threat to Apple’s business.” The “business model differences” as well as the inability to agree on distribution benefits made it so that negotiations had reached a stalemate. This is when China Unicom stepped in to takeover negotiations with Apple around September of 2008. Due to a shakeup in management on the Chinese telecommunications side, Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing has been appointed as the head of the team leading negotiations with Apple. If everything goes smoothly, the iPhone is expected to launch in mainland China on May 19th, 2009. Apple is expected to get between a 20% and 30% “share” of iPhone sales. Whether China will subsidize the iPhone is still unconfirmed.

According to reports from the Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese iPhone faces three core obstacles. First is the SIM card lock issue, second is the “Telecommunications Regulations”, which revolves around the device having Wi-fi functions and embedded software when working on certain networks under specific conditions, and the general support of TD cellular networks.

Apple’s iPhone 3G can currently support WCDMA, which is the dominant standard as we move forward with 3G (WCDMA/HSDPA) networks. China Mobile has invested time, money and extensive resources into the development of TD cellular networks, which the iPhone 3G cannot support. As it turns out, China Mobile would have fully supported the introduction of an iPhone 3G that can run on the TD network. “As long as the production of foreign brands TD mobile phones, China Mobile will give full support,” Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile’s CEO explained. However, Apple made no efforts to introduce such a device and China Mobile was angered. Analysts have specified that “Apple is unlikely to launch a TD edition iPhone, which requires a large number of inputs, and may give rise to enforcement and market risk.”

As Chinese news source gansudaily notes in a report about the subject, China Unicom will be restructuring its cellular network to support WDCMA, alongside a newly secured arrangement that will allow them to license certain 3G technologies. These cellular network technologies will be deployed into Chinese mobile markets making way for the iPhone, which is slated to arrive around May 19th. The iPhone 3G has simply plaid too big of a role in shaping the global market and Chinese telecom executives do not want to miss what is going on. They are deeply intrigued by the success of the App Store and have been paying extra close attention to the development of 3G networks outside of their markets.

The Chinese market has been a bit troublesome for Apple, and rumors of China Mobile subsidizing iPhones have been making the rounds since August. Back when Apple CEO Steve Jobs first unveiled the iPhone 3G back back in June 2008, he explicitly stated (youtube link) that Russia and China were the “two big ones [markets]” that Apple was working on.

NATO Chief Commends the iPhone as a Symbol of Optimism

Dave — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:51:20 +0000

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General, Japp de Hoop Scheffer, has alluded to technological advance, specifically the iPhone, as being a primary step forward in the global effort to fight terrorism in Afghanistan.

In a recent speech given at the Security and Defense Agenda in Brussels Belgium, de Hoop Scheffer covered a vast array of topics pertaining to the Afghani situation, most notably arguing that the European NATO affiliates should be more proactive in their cooperation and loosen the restrictions of where their troops are allowed to go. The Register notes that German troops, for example, are primarily relegated to the more peaceful northern areas of the country. With heightened western aid, and better communication between their allied defense, de Hoop Scheffer, maintains that a real difference can be made.

While the NATO chief has spoken of ambitious plans to relieve the the ongoing strife in this nation, he went on to note that when people of war-torn regions can pull themselves out of dark despondency and reach toward the vitality of new and ever-expanding technologies there will be hope for the future. In this sense, he had revealed a brief bout of multi-touch jealousy while on a recent trip to Kabul, adding:

“Today, half the country is relatively at peace. Access to education is up tenfold. So is access to health care. We are preparing for the second round of national elections. The Afghan Army, and increasingly the police, are growing and improving — slowly, but clearly and steadily. And when I saw an Afghan fellow pull out his Apple iPhone in Kabul, while I was talking on my 5 year old NATO mobile, I saw another symbol of progress.”

There is a lot that can be said about judging the condition of a nation by the technologies that run through it (which is a subject that can be discussed more in depth in a different setting), yet in any light, it certainly does pose a prospect of hope. Even though one can simply construe this as being just another case of a person buying a black-market iPhone, which it is clear that the device is not currently available in Afghanistan, the mere fact that new technologies are abound can show signs of prosperity. Throughout history there has been a direct correlation between technological advance and the overall quality of life. If in the future, if emerging countries can gain access to such advances, the possibilities of expanse will widen. While this by no means shows radical improvement, it does provide a small glimmer into what can be. Clearly there is a long way to go, and on the road to improvement there are several equally important barriers that must be overcome, but hey, every little step can help.

Contract Free iPhones Sell for up to $1,263 in France

Aviv — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:36:33 +0000

French retailer FNAC has begun offering contract free iPhones with an extremely hefty price-tag.

As Macnn explains, 8GB contract free iPhones will be selling for €799 ($1,123), and 16GB models will be priced at €899 ($1,263). Our iPhone carrier worldmap has details about nearly every iPhone carrier and their rates around the world.

Apple was just recently forced to end iPhone exclusivity in France. And it seems like the country is able to demand more out of the arrangement than most.

Previous reports have covered why Apple and primarily AT&T have yet to offer up a similar deal here in the states. Even though some may consider the contract free iPhone’s price-tag too outrageous to consider, many would appreciate the no strings attached payment.

via Cult of Mac and Apple Insider

Apple Forced to End iPhone Exclusivity in France

Dave — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:31:20 +0000

A ruling made on Wednesday by the French competition regulator mandates that Apple will now be forced to allow mobile operators other than France Telecom’s Orange SA, to carry the iPhone.

This decision will overturn the exclusivity contract that allowed Orange to be sole carrier of the device in France. The country’s third largest mobile operator, Bouygues Telecom SA, had issued a complaint with the regulator over the exclusive arrangement between Orange and Apple. This order is being treated as a protective measure while the regulator checks the validity of the claim.

BusinessWeek notes that a statement from the competition regulator maintains that this matter poses a “serious and immediate threat to competition in the mobile telecommunications sector and increased costs for mobile phone users who sought to change operators.” Rival carrier Bouygues Telecom, had fittingly welcomed the regulator’s decision and are anxious to begin selling the popular device.

The ruling is said to take effect by Thursday of this week, in hopes that customers will be able to purchase the handset from both Bouygues Telecom and the country’s second largest outfit, SFR, owned by France’s Vivendi SA. France Telecom had noted their intentions to appeal the decision stating, “it places France in a radically different position” than Britain, Germany and Spain, where Apple has also struck exclusivity deals.

Yet the council insists that the 5 year contract with France Telecom is “clearly excessive” and threatens “serious and immediate damage to competition on the mobile market and to consumers.” Apple is yet to make any official statement surrounding the matter.

300 Million Apps Downloaded, 6.4 Billion To Go

Aviv — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:31:29 +0000

CNBC’s Jim Goldman points out some incredible information regarding the success of Apple’s App Store. Of note, users have downloaded over 100 million apps in the past 6 weeks.

In the fine print of Apple’s advertisement in the New York Times this morning, Apple quietly mentions that users have “downloaded over 300 million” applications from the App Store. On October 21st, during the companies quarterly conference call, Apple explained that it was expecting to pass 200 million app store downloads the very next day. This means that in the past six weeks, users have downloaded nearly 100 million apps.

Images from flickr and Macworld.

Why is that stunning? Consider that on the company’s conference call on October 21, Apple disclosed that the following day, Apple expected users to download their 200 millionth app. Which means, as of today, users have downloaded a staggering 100 million apps in just the past 6 weeks.

Compare this with numbers released in July, and the numbers released in August. It’s clear that Apple’s app store has been an incredibly successful launch for the company.

Currently, the population in the United States is approximately 305,815,340 million. So, Apple could technically have sold an application to nearly every person in the US. The entire world’s population is roughly 6.7 billion. So, Apple would need roughly 6.4 billion more downloads to mathematically match every person in the world with an app store download. We know that many people around the world don’t have access to the app store, but looking at the numbers this way is still very interesting.

Apple’s App Store has proven time and time again to be a blockbuster success. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs says that Apple is five years ahead of the competition, it’s because Apple’s competitors’ are still trying to make the phone. The problem is, Apple’s iPhone is the hottest development platform around right now, and competing with it is nearly impossible. Once those development guidelines get released, we’ll really be ready to roll.

iPhone Nabs 16.6% of Smartphone Market; Staves off Industry Decline

Dave — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:44:49 +0000

According to a recent note from Needham analyst, Charlie Wolf, the iPhone is now not only the world’s second most in demand smartphone, but has actually had a hand in rescuing the entire market from decline.

Elecronista reiterates that for the second quarter which ended in September, the iPhone held 16.6 percent of the global smartphone market, placing it directly behind the world’s leading smartphone producer, Nokia, whose significant hold over the market has been since dwindling away. It is noted that the launch of the iPhone 3G had shown such success, that is was able to guise potential declines in the smartphone market as a whole. Wolf claims that Apple’s presence in the industry is the only reason that the market did not show significant declines.

For the US, the iPhone is second only to RIM, earning nearly 30 percent of overall sales to the Blackberry ensemble’s 40 percent. Wolf explains that while Windows Mobile and Pam OS are continuing to decline, users are making the shift to Apple and Rim products for the fact that they utilize proprietary operating systems, thus having greater control over their hardware. Smartphone producers have been disinclined to license operating systems for multiple devices, essentially unwilling to allow for another Microsoft monopoly. “The desire from companies such as HTC and Sony Ericsson to develop front-ends like TouchFLO or the XPERIA panels for Windows Mobile simply shows that many of them have felt a need to mask a difficult stock interface,” Wolf Adds.

“The Symbian operating system is generally considered to be less robust than
Windows Mobile or the Palm OS,” Wolf claims. “But Symbian was able to retain a huge lead over competing operating systems chiefly through Nokia’s endorsement and marketing muscle, especially in Europe, along with Microsoft’s difficulties in attracting major handset manufacturers.

Wolf maintains that one must also take into account how Google’s Android may chip away at Symbian’s share, as developers may opt to work with the free platform, while adding that Microsoft’s inherent advantages of Office and Exchange severs had been swept away by the Blackberry and the smartphone market in general.

Images: iPhone 3G Hardware Unlock Shops

Aviv — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:54:23 +0000

29 year old Tuan Anh Do owns five cell phone repair shops in Hanoi, Vietnam. Due to the black market Apple’s iPhone has created, a big part of his business is to unlock iPhone 3G’s at the hardware level.

The following is first hand from Cnet’s Dong Ngo:

First the iPhone is opened up by the technician.

Ngo explains that the process starts with a skillful technician extracting the iPhone’s baseband chip from the motherboard. “This is a painstaking task as the chip is strongly glued to the phone’s motherboard. A mistake during this process could brick the phone completely.”

The baseband is marked with a red X at the bottom of the iPhone’s motherboard.

Once the chip is extracted, the chip’s information is exported (with a card reader) into a file. Next, the data locking the chip is removed with a Hex editor, and then the chip is reprogrammed with the new altered file. This allows it to work with more than one specific cell provider.

The baseband chip marked with a red X is extracted from the iPhone’s motherboard.

Each unlock job takes roughly an hour to complete and costs around 1.2 million dong, which translates into roughly $80. Tuan Anh says that his business has unlocked thousands of first generation iphones and hundreds of iPhone 3G’s.

The baseband chip then gets glued back to the iPhone’s motherboard.

A few interesting pieces of information:
• iPhone firmware 2.2 locks the iPhone again, and Tuan Anh will work to re-unlock it for a discounted price of $50.
• Tuan Anh pays his employees $300 per month. Average household income is around $100 per month.
• He has about 30 employees and a bachelor’s degrees in history and journalism from Hanoi National University.
• If his company misplaces or bricks your iPhone, you will get a brand new one. As Ngo points out, this could cost anywhere between $800-$1200 in Hanoi. So it’s definitely a confident statement.

Ultimately, Tuan Anh’s dream is to become an official reseller supporting all of Apple’s products in Vietnam. He thinks that what he is currently doing would be considered illegal in the states, and he’s right. However, Anh’s operation isn’t your typical black market importing job. He is an organized ethical businessman who sees an opportunity and has created valuable wealth for those around him, and his employees.

The iPhone’s global dominance is growing and Apple is pushing the device as hard as ever. Inevitably though, as long as carrier exclusivity is part of the bargain, and the App Store is run like a high-end boutique, black markets will exist. Be sure to head over to Cnet for the full read.

Cnet editor Dong Ngo is spending the next month in Vietnam, his homeland. While there he will be sharing his experiences and opinions into how modern technology has affected the culture overseas via Cnet. (Image Credit Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

Chunghwa Telecom Wins iPhone Rights in Taiwan

Aviv — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:53:55 +0000

Right in time for the December holiday season, Chunghwa Telecom has announced that they have won the exclusive rights to begin selling the iPhone in Taiwan.

Chunghwa Telecom is Taiwan’s largest telecom provider by revenue. It owns 300 sales outlets across the island, and its 37.5% owned Senao International Co, has 200 outlets, according to the newspaper.

CNN: The company “has signed a contract with Apple, and will provide third- generation iPhone services in Taiwan before the end of the year,” Chunghwa Telecom said in a brief e-mailed statement, without giving any further specifics.

The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported Saturday Apple granted Chunghwa Telecom the exclusive right to sell iPhones because of its large sales channel.

Additionally, Apple Insider points out that Movistar began selling the iPhone 3G in Venezuela on Saturday. As always, check out our iPhone Carrier Worldmap for details regarding the iPhone’s global expansion efforts.