Apple's Demands of Vodafone

[MacRumors]

Guardian.co.uk reports that the reason Vodafone decided not to partner with Apple for the UK iPhone launch is due to Apple's demands.

Apple is understood to be demanding that its European mobile phone partners hand over a significant proportion of revenues generated by the iPhone and restrict the content that users can access.

O2 is rumored to have won the deal, though no contract has been signed yet.

Apples unconventional contract terms also led to Verizon's rejection of the iPhone deal. Apple ended up partnering with AT&T and reportedly has some form of revenue sharing for monthly iPhone contracts.



Article Link

 

[ppc_michael]

Well we've all heard that one before...

 

[aricher]

Somebody at Vodafone crunched the hard numbers and found something was fishy - long term it could be a bad decision though.

 

[princealfie]

Vodafone is going to be losing big time. I expect them to get fried because of this.

 

[DakotaGuy]

Is this place going to become iphonerumors.com or telecomrumors.com? It seems like Macs are becoming a forgotten item around here.

 

[TheChillPill]

I'm curious about this content restriction though - I can't recall seeing it mentioned in relation to the AT&T deal.

 

[calculus]

Somebody at Vodafone crunched the hard numbers and found something was fishy - long term it could be a bad decision though.

My 'contact at vodafone' told me today that it's still not decided and the O2 story is a Carphone Warehouse spoiler.

 

[D 5]

He said she said all over again. blah blah blah... next

 

[marco114]

it's just a business decision

Apple comes to them with an offer. If it doesn't make business sense, then it's not worth it. Obviously AT&T was hurting for customers and was willing to "pay" for them upfront.

I hate when vendors demand that I change my business rules to accommodate them, especially when the "them" isn't even a proven player in the market.

Verizon is already a major cell phone player and to adjust your entire business model for one company just isn't really smart. It costs a lot of extra dough to make that happen. If you think about it, Apple has basically bypassed AT&T completely on this deal. If tomorrow Apple wasn't happy with AT&T, they could change the activation process to another provider in a snap.

That's why it makes the cellphone companies nervous.

 

[superleccy]

Apple is understood to be demanding that its European mobile phone partners hand over a significant proportion of revenues generated by the iPhone and restrict the content that users can access.

Restrict content? What content? In the US, is any content restricted?

Perhaps it means Vodafone's Vodafone Live! service, which is only accessible via the Vodafone network, and in my experience charges you a very high premium for very poor quality content. I can see why Apple would want to restrict that, and I could see why Vodafone would go off to sulk in a corner.

It's Vodafone's loss.

SL

 

[steve_hill4]

I'm curious about this content restriction though - I can't recall seeing it mentioned in relation to the AT&T deal.

Probably European only. We always get screwed over compared to our American and Japanese cousins.

 

[princealfie]

Is this place going to become iphonerumors.com or telecomrumors.com? It seems like Macs are becoming a forgotten item around here.

that's because the iphone is a mac! It's better than my Powerbook G3

 

[Yankees 4 Life]

Is this place going to become iphonerumors.com or telecomrumors.com? It seems like Macs are becoming a forgotten item around here.

yea man you're just going to have to deal with the awesome iphone(which is a mobile mac) stories... When you actually get to own an iphone, maybe you'll appreciate them more and stop naysaying.

 

[guzhogi]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but what does "restrict their content" mean?

Is this place going to become iphonerumors.com or telecomrumors.com? It seems like Macs are becoming a forgotten item around here.

Probably. Just remember the 1st rule of mass media: give the people what they want. And apparently, most people want news on the iPhone. Or maybe Macrumors thinks everyone wants more info on the iPhone since that's the only thing out there. Time to try something new!

 

[DakotaGuy]

that's because the iphone is a mac! It's better than my Powerbook G3

The iPhone is a phone...a portable communications device. I don't consider it a computer, at least not in same way a Mac is a computer. If you need a portable device to go with you, the iPhone is great. Honestly though, who would prefer to surf the net or do anything on the iPhone over like say a 20" iMac while sitting in your house??? Screen size alone will prevent the iPhone from being a full featured computer.

yea man you're just going to have to deal with the awesome iphone(which is a mobile mac) stories... When you actually get to own an iphone, maybe you'll appreciate them more and stop naysaying.

Sadly some of us in the United States will never see an iPhone because of it being tied to only one carrier who does not do business in all 50 states.

 

[0098386]

Is this place going to become iphonerumors.com or telecomrumors.com? It seems like Macs are becoming a forgotten item around here.

I'm sick of it too, but what Mac news? It's a dry season as Apple worked on their iPhone, and are probably working on updates/patches right now.

iPhone news will dwindle. iPod news does too. Just waiting for the next big thing.

 

[csimmons]

Restrict content? What content? In the US, is any content restricted?

Perhaps it means Vodafone's Vodafone Live! service, which is only accessible via the Vodafone network, and in my experience charges you a very high premium for very poor quality content. I can see why Apple would want to restrict that, and I could see why Vodafone would go off to sulk in a corner.

It's Vodafone's loss.

SL

"Restrict content" probably means that Apple didn't want Vodafone's interface branding, and didn't want Vodafone Live! software on the iPhone. Anyone who has ever used Vodafone Live! knows that it seriously sucks. If such was the case, then bravo to Apple for not caving in.

If the rumor is true that the exclusive carrier for Germany is T-Mobile, it would be very interesting to see how the relationship will play out, since Telekom also owns Musicload, the second largest online music portal behind iTunes...

 

[mmzplanet]

that's because the iphone is a mac! It's better than my Powerbook G3

A powerbook G3 can do a lot more than an iPhone. Just because a phone can make calls, it does not suddenly become better than any full Macintosh.

I don't blame Vodaphone or Verizon for not wanting to cave in to Apple. I agree with OS and hardware lock-in because it makes things more stable. However, what Apple is doing with AT&T is like trying to make Macs only connect to the internet with one ISP.

 

[Much Ado]

Is this place going to become iphonerumors.com or telecomrumors.com? It seems like Macs are becoming a forgotten item around here.

Care to offer a rumor to do with Macs then?

Don't post if you don't like the thread, as this is called trolling.

 

[aristobrat]

Honestly though, who would prefer to surf the net or do anything on the iPhone over like say a 20" iMac while sitting in your house??? Screen size alone will prevent the iPhone from being a full featured computer.

Sadly some of us in the United States will never see an iPhone because of it being tied to only one carrier who does not do business in all 50 states.

For those of us who get stuck in places outside of our houses (read: in line at the post office, etc), the iPhone's the next best thing.

I'm not aware of any carrier that offers service in all 50 states. It's too bad that Apple's blown away how business is done to the point that they can easily just work with all carriers.

Could you imagine Verizon carrying a phone that they weren't allowed to put their stupid red GUI all over? That'd go over like a fart in church.

 

[Project]

The iPhone is quite clearly a computer made by Apple. It has every business to be here.

 

[dukeblue91]

If you think about it, Apple has basically bypassed AT&T completely on this deal. If tomorrow Apple wasn't happy with AT&T, they could change the activation process to another provider in a snap.

That's why it makes the cellphone companies nervous.

No they can't just walk away, they have a contract they have to go by.
AT&T made a very good calculated move because if this turns out to be a bust Apple will be holding the bag, and for AT&T it will be just another vendor and phone that just didn't work out.

 

[twoodcc]

i'm sure apple will get their way

 

[kcroy]

Macs

Vodafone is going to be losing big time. I expect them to get fried because of this.

I'm sure MacRumors will keep us updated on all things Apple. The iPhone is a huge release right now. Like you, I'm interested in Macs too. I guess there just aren't any rumors right now. I'm anxious for that new iMac that SJ referenced. How did he describe it...?

 

[bigmc6000]

Apple comes to them with an offer. If it doesn't make business sense, then it's not worth it. Obviously AT&T was hurting for customers and was willing to "pay" for them upfront.

I hate when vendors demand that I change my business rules to accommodate them, especially when the "them" isn't even a proven player in the market.

Verizon is already a major cell phone player and to adjust your entire business model for one company just isn't really smart. It costs a lot of extra dough to make that happen. If you think about it, Apple has basically bypassed AT&T completely on this deal. If tomorrow Apple wasn't happy with AT&T, they could change the activation process to another provider in a snap.

That's why it makes the cellphone companies nervous.

I'm really, REALLY doubting that AT&T was hurting that bad for customers. Before the iPhone was even announced they were out pacing all the other guys in terms of new subscribers and have been the largest network for a while now. What's more likely is that AT&T realized that the cell phone market is becoming extremely saturated and the # of people out there that want a cell phone but don't have one is evaporating very quickly (in the US at least) and they saw a way to get a bunch of people to switch. This is what the industry is going - they are going after the switchers (that should sound pretty familiar to people on this board ).

AT&T might have bent to some of Apple's demands but they know they are gonna end up in the black, easily, in the long run. They got 10's of thousands (if not more) to switch carriers just for 1 phone - that's a feat in and of itself and they know whatever concessions they made to Apple they are gonna get more money because of all those switchers.