damian24
Senior Member
from an article in Telecommunication magazine...
Demystifying the iPhone
Potential is Great, but Mainstream Adoption is Far Off
by Sean Buckley
Mon, July 2. 2007
No matter which way you turn, you can’t escape last week’s buzz about AT&T and Apple’s joint launch of the iPhone.
Combining the functions of a mobile phone, iPod and Internet browser on one device, the iPhone is heralding a new era of mobile device, according to industry onlookers.
To widen appeal to its customer base, AT&T launched the iPhone with three service tiers ranging from $49.99 to $99.99.
Even with a high price tag of $499, AT&T and Apple reportedly sold over a half-million units during the first day on the market.
Since the launch last Friday, rumors have emerged that Apple may be securing a partnership with European wireless giant Vodafone.
Consumer Adoption Barriers
Despite its strong start with early adopters, not everyone is convinced the iPhone will rise to the meteoric heights Apple and AT&T have proposed, at least not in the near term.
Chart 1
While acknowledging a growing trend for converged functions on wireless devices, Parks Associates’ 2007 “Mobile Entertainment Platform and Services” survey of 2,000 U.S. Internet users identified only 3 percent of consumers as having a significant interest in buying the iPhone.
“The underlying drivers for converging music, multimedia and communications capabilities in a device such as an iPhone are certainly prevalent in today’s market,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst for Parks Associates in the report. “However, the high price point may prevent the iPhone from achieving greater adoption over the short term. It may be an early-adopter product that appeals to technofiles but initially leaves other interested users on the outside looking in.”
Even the so-called technofile willing to pay $499 for an iPhone will encounter a significant problem: network connection speeds.
Initially, the iPhone service will run over AT&T’s 2.5G EDGE network, a technology offering little more than a dial-up connection. Technofiles may be disappointed if they can’t quickly download the latest music release due to a slow connection.
The Enterprise Threat
Consumers are only one part of the iPhone equation. Although enterprises and business users are willing to pay premium for a multi-functional device like a Blackberry, basic services such as Web access and voice-not multimedia-are what’s important to this user demographic.
Nonetheless, some industry forums argue the iPhone poses several challenges to enterprise, including loss of productivity and security threats.
Kent Anderson, managing director of Network Risk Management, LLC and an information security expert for ISACA, an industry forum providing IT governance, control, security and assurance, says introduction of the iPhone will be similar to the launch of the Web.
“When the Web first came out, everyone wanted to spend time on the Web,” he said. “The other potential problem, if the companies don’t control it, is the potential loss of things like bandwidth and storage. If people start using company systems rather than their home systems, there could be some impact there.”
On the security side, introduction of any new mobile device could mean potential leakage of company data and pirate content into the enterprise.
The solution for enterprises, however, is not so much technical, but rather to set clear business policies around mobile devices like they already do for the Web.
“Today, when things are coming through the wire, companies have content filters, but these devices, when they use WiFi or wireless technologies, allow users to bring that content into the company by bypassing all of the controls they put in place over the years,” Anderson said. “Companies need to have their users understand why mobile security is important-not just a big brother ‘we don’t want you to watch a movie while you’re working,’ but what the implications are.”
Demystifying the iPhone
Potential is Great, but Mainstream Adoption is Far Off
by Sean Buckley
Mon, July 2. 2007
No matter which way you turn, you can’t escape last week’s buzz about AT&T and Apple’s joint launch of the iPhone.
Combining the functions of a mobile phone, iPod and Internet browser on one device, the iPhone is heralding a new era of mobile device, according to industry onlookers.
To widen appeal to its customer base, AT&T launched the iPhone with three service tiers ranging from $49.99 to $99.99.
Even with a high price tag of $499, AT&T and Apple reportedly sold over a half-million units during the first day on the market.
Since the launch last Friday, rumors have emerged that Apple may be securing a partnership with European wireless giant Vodafone.
Consumer Adoption Barriers
Despite its strong start with early adopters, not everyone is convinced the iPhone will rise to the meteoric heights Apple and AT&T have proposed, at least not in the near term.
Chart 1
While acknowledging a growing trend for converged functions on wireless devices, Parks Associates’ 2007 “Mobile Entertainment Platform and Services” survey of 2,000 U.S. Internet users identified only 3 percent of consumers as having a significant interest in buying the iPhone.
“The underlying drivers for converging music, multimedia and communications capabilities in a device such as an iPhone are certainly prevalent in today’s market,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst for Parks Associates in the report. “However, the high price point may prevent the iPhone from achieving greater adoption over the short term. It may be an early-adopter product that appeals to technofiles but initially leaves other interested users on the outside looking in.”
Even the so-called technofile willing to pay $499 for an iPhone will encounter a significant problem: network connection speeds.
Initially, the iPhone service will run over AT&T’s 2.5G EDGE network, a technology offering little more than a dial-up connection. Technofiles may be disappointed if they can’t quickly download the latest music release due to a slow connection.
The Enterprise Threat
Consumers are only one part of the iPhone equation. Although enterprises and business users are willing to pay premium for a multi-functional device like a Blackberry, basic services such as Web access and voice-not multimedia-are what’s important to this user demographic.
Nonetheless, some industry forums argue the iPhone poses several challenges to enterprise, including loss of productivity and security threats.
Kent Anderson, managing director of Network Risk Management, LLC and an information security expert for ISACA, an industry forum providing IT governance, control, security and assurance, says introduction of the iPhone will be similar to the launch of the Web.
“When the Web first came out, everyone wanted to spend time on the Web,” he said. “The other potential problem, if the companies don’t control it, is the potential loss of things like bandwidth and storage. If people start using company systems rather than their home systems, there could be some impact there.”
On the security side, introduction of any new mobile device could mean potential leakage of company data and pirate content into the enterprise.
The solution for enterprises, however, is not so much technical, but rather to set clear business policies around mobile devices like they already do for the Web.
“Today, when things are coming through the wire, companies have content filters, but these devices, when they use WiFi or wireless technologies, allow users to bring that content into the company by bypassing all of the controls they put in place over the years,” Anderson said. “Companies need to have their users understand why mobile security is important-not just a big brother ‘we don’t want you to watch a movie while you’re working,’ but what the implications are.”