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I think most interesting will be in countries like Argentina (where I live). The government here has put obscene tariffs on imports, especially in technology. T
by codelitt 13y ago
I think most interesting will be in countries like Argentina (where I live). The government here has put obscene tariffs on imports, especially in technology. The government does this in an attempt to promote growth in local manufacturing and technology companies (albeit an attempt which only hinders the purchasing power of their people and growth of their economy in the long run.)
For example, iPhone's are not available here through the normal market. If you want an iPhone you would have to purchase one through MercadoLibre (Latin America's Ebay). An iPhone which costs you $600 in the states or Canada would cost you nearly double here. Even Android devices are generally extremely overpriced.
This combined with BBM and terrible messaging packages are the reasons why BlackBerry does so well here. Nearly everyone owns a BB here.
If Firefox can offer a reasonably priced phone which can offer an app ecosystem and (data driven) messaging service, I think they stand to win significantly - at least in Argentina.
- wmf 13y agoThis seems orthogonal to FxOS vs. Android, though. If somebody figures out how to ship cheap phones in broken economies, why not ship phones that can run apps?