4 ms·

I don't know the figures of running a telecom but buying a carrier would make a lot of sense. There is a lot of Apple-cash that's being pumped into AT&T. I've

I don't know the figures of running a telecom but buying a carrier would make a lot of sense. There is a lot of Apple-cash that's being pumped into AT&T. I've thought that would make sense for Google to do but it would presumably alienate the other carriers and destabilise Android. Apple however doesn't have any such conflicts. I don't see them wanting to buy Facebook and moreover I can't possibly see Facebook selling to Apple. Their ideologies and goals are far too different.

aberkowitz 16y ago
Apple is not going to buy a mobile phone carrier. They are interested in a product or service that they can shutdown and relaunch into an Apple product as quickly as possible. Mobile phone companies are not a unique market for Apple that can be i-stamped and sold. All carriers support competitor's products which cannot be easily removed.
- petenixey 16y ago
  Maybe but when they announce iTunes in the cloud there's going to be a massive youth sector for whom mobile access will be a killer feature and who won't be able to get it affordably or reliably from the current carriers. If Apple were to buy a carrier they could relaunch it with dataplans focussed on kids and transition a massive younger section of the market across to them. Ten years later that youth market grows up to become the adult market and all of a sudden Apple dominates the carriers too.
  - aberkowitz 16y ago
    Apple is not known for affordable products, nor can they magic a phone carrier towards reliability. AT&T is a massive company that cannot "relaunch" due to contractual obligations. Even if they did, carriers already offer "kid friendly" plans - unlimited data/text that Mommy and Daddy can pay for. So the kids transition toward adulthood and iAT&T transitions back towards their successful business model of offering plans for everyone?
    - petenixey 16y ago
      Your point about reliability is fair although doubling the capitalisation of a carrier would make a significant dent. However I think you overestimate the inertia of the status quo. 1. Apple doesn't need to relaunch AT&T, Sprint or any other network it simply launches a supplementary branded network like Virgin mobile. 2. The current unlimited data plans are only unlimited in the face of limited data utility. Where people can use massive amounts of data (i.e. the iPhone), unlimited comes at a premium. 3. Although Apple is revered for its high end products its iOS marketshare is 41% iPod touch and most of its device sales come from low end products like the iPod touch and the nano. It's now no stranger to mass market affordability.
kemayo 16y ago
I don't know if it would be good for Apple to own a carrier. Right now the iPhone is in a good place: everything awesome about it is attributed to Apple, while everything crappy about it can be blamed on AT&T. Calls drop all the time? Crappy reception? That's AT&T. If Apple suddenly becomes responsible for the whole shebang then it'd probably tarnish their brand somewhat. I'd imagine that's why they came out swinging after "Antennagate": for the first time people could blame Apple for some of these AT&T-issues.

aberkowitz 16y ago

Apple is not going to buy a mobile phone carrier. They are interested in a product or service that they can shutdown and relaunch into an Apple product as quickly as possible. Mobile phone companies are not a unique market for Apple that can be i-stamped and sold. All carriers support competitor's products which cannot be easily removed.

petenixey 16y ago
Maybe but when they announce iTunes in the cloud there's going to be a massive youth sector for whom mobile access will be a killer feature and who won't be able to get it affordably or reliably from the current carriers. If Apple were to buy a carrier they could relaunch it with dataplans focussed on kids and transition a massive younger section of the market across to them. Ten years later that youth market grows up to become the adult market and all of a sudden Apple dominates the carriers too.
- aberkowitz 16y ago
  Apple is not known for affordable products, nor can they magic a phone carrier towards reliability. AT&T is a massive company that cannot "relaunch" due to contractual obligations. Even if they did, carriers already offer "kid friendly" plans - unlimited data/text that Mommy and Daddy can pay for. So the kids transition toward adulthood and iAT&T transitions back towards their successful business model of offering plans for everyone?
  - petenixey 16y ago
    Your point about reliability is fair although doubling the capitalisation of a carrier would make a significant dent. However I think you overestimate the inertia of the status quo. 1. Apple doesn't need to relaunch AT&T, Sprint or any other network it simply launches a supplementary branded network like Virgin mobile. 2. The current unlimited data plans are only unlimited in the face of limited data utility. Where people can use massive amounts of data (i.e. the iPhone), unlimited comes at a premium. 3. Although Apple is revered for its high end products its iOS marketshare is 41% iPod touch and most of its device sales come from low end products like the iPod touch and the nano. It's now no stranger to mass market affordability.

kemayo 16y ago

I don't know if it would be good for Apple to own a carrier. Right now the iPhone is in a good place: everything awesome about it is attributed to Apple, while everything crappy about it can be blamed on AT&T. Calls drop all the time? Crappy reception? That's AT&T. If Apple suddenly becomes responsible for the whole shebang then it'd probably tarnish their brand somewhat. I'd imagine that's why they came out swinging after "Antennagate": for the first time people could blame Apple for some of these AT&T-issues.