When rumors first emerged that Blackberry was embracing Android Market, many (including yours truly) were perplexed why RIM would even consider making a move that would potentially starve out their own app store.
Although RIM has yet to confirm or deny their embrace of Android (note: RIM is courting Android upon their Playbook tablet), doing so might ensure the companies survival in light of what Apple plans on doing with the iPhone in the future.
The analyst says Cook “appeared to reaffirm the notion that Apple is likely to develop lower priced offerings†to expand the market for the iPhone. Cook said the company is planning “clever things†to address the prepaid market, and that Apple did not want its products to be “just for the rich,†and that the company is “not ceding any market.†(Forbes.com)
In order for Apple to launch within the prepaid phone market, the company is going to have to release a phone well below $100 without contract (note: probably below $50 if they want to compete against prepaid feature phones).
Although an iPhone at that price would probably not include retina display and boast a 3 mega-pixel camera at best (for basic video support), it would help Apple to tap into a new market where owning a smartphone is considered an expensive luxury.
Truth be told only Android (and the vast OEM alliance) is positioned to match Apple at those prices (at least without significant losses), with both platforms reaping more developers due to their expanded market shares.
Although Microsoft and HP (via webOS) boast impressive mobile OS’s, unless they can capture significant developer mind share they will face a difficult (if not near impossible) battle convincing users to buy phones with very few apps available.
(Image via MobileCrunch)
Originally posted on February 28, 2011 @ 4:04 pm
thanks for share!