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How China Mobile called Apple's bluff
BGR
Thursday, May 30, 2013 7:10 PM GMT
Apple and China Mobile have been locked in bitter contract negotiations for years. Apple wants the same kind of deal it has with Verizon or Vodafone. China Mobile wants something much, much sweeter. But as months slide by, Apple�s position weakens and China Mobile�s grows stronger. In April, China Mobile hit 730 million subscribers, growing by another 4 million subscribers in just one month. China Mobile is now adding more 3G subscribers per month than its smaller rivals China Unicom and China Telecom.
Most importantly, China Mobile�s month-on-month 3G subscriber growth is the fastest in China. China�s leviathan has demonstrated it does not need the iPhone to remain the fastest growing 3G player in the biggest phone market in the world. Tim Cook thought that he could force China Mobile into making some concessions by showing that its subscriber growth would slow without the iPhone. This was a dreadful miscalculation and possibly another sign that Cook still has much to learn.
Now China Mobile has demonstrated it does not need the iPhone, while annualized iPhone volume growth dropped to under 7% in the March quarter. The balance of power at the negotiation table has shifted. If Apple opts to launch a new budget iPhone this summer, it simply has to get China Mobile on board if it hopes to gain ground in China. Having China Mobile�s marketing muscle behind a mid-priced device that is given out for free for contract customers is invaluable right now.
Samsung is sizzling in China, racking up sales of 12 million smartphones in the first quarter of the year. That was twice the iPhone�s volume in China. Lenovo and Huawei sold 8 million smartphones each in China and are also threatening to pull away. China�s portion of global smartphone sales is growing far faster than was expected just a year ago. North America�s portion is shrinking faster than projected, and North America is turning into a drag on Apple as it rapidly matures and China�s global weight grows each month.
It is highly likely that sometime over the next few months, Tim Cook will have to accept whatever terms China Mobile is now offering him. Those terms may be far worse than what Apple could have extracted in early 2012 or 2011. But that is the price you pay for letting the biggest operator in the world to call your bluff.05-30-13 05:57 PM - More sniffing in the Apple barrel . . . . .
European commission investigating claims Apple exploited mobile networks
The Guardian
Thursday, May 30, 2013 7:03 PM GMT
Questionnaire sent to rival networks gives insight into how a market leading company could squeeze out its competitors
Juliette Garside, telecoms correspondent
The European Commission is investigating whether Apple has used its influence to secure unfair terms from the mobile networks that sell its phones.
The Guardian has been shown a questionnaire sent to mobile networks by the Commission, and we are publishing a copy of the key passages below. Some of the wording has been changed to protect our source.
The questions posed by Europe's top competition authority, to which mobile networks have been asked to respond by 17 June, make interesting reading. They give a rare insight into how a market leading company could squeeze out competitors.
Apple says its contracts "fully comply with local laws" wherever it does business, including the EU. Proving that Apple is dominant would be difficult. The company is not the leading smartphone maker in Europe - that position is held by Samsung.
In its preamble, the questionnaire sent out by the European competition chief, Joaqu�n Almunia, to mobile network operators in Case AT.40016 - Smartphone Distribution Issues, states:
"The Commission is currently investigating alleged anti-competitive behaviour in the EU/European Economic Area … relating to the distribution of Apple's smartphones ("iPhones") and the limitation or exclusion from use of technical functions on "iPhones"."
The Commission has information indicating that Apple and mobile network operators ("MNOs") have concluded distribution agreements which may potentially lead to the foreclosure of other smartphone manufacturers from the market. There are also indications that certain technical functions are disabled on certain Apple products in certain countries in the EU/EEA.
If the existence of such behaviour were to be confirmed, it might constitute an infringement of Article 101/102 of the treaty on the functioning of the European Union and article 53/54 of the EEA agreement.
The Commission then goes on to ask the following:
…
Does your company have to commit to purchase a minimum level of iPhones?
- does that contract have minimum volumes?
- does it set levels and time periods of volumes?
- How much of your company's total demand for smartphones is covered by the volume commitments?
- do you have indications that Apple considers an MNO's total demand for smartphones when setting the minimum volumes? How does that mechanism work?
- Do the minimum volumes lead your company to order more iPhones in practice than it would order without such minimum volumes, or does your company's demand for iPhones exceed the minimum volume?
- Are the minimum volumes modified over time? If yes, according to which criteria?
- What are the consequences if your company were not to meet the minimum volume commitment?
Preferential treatment
Does your company have to agree to any kind of obligation to treat the iphone in a preferential manner? If yes...
- Is your company under any obligation to not market non-Apple devices to current users of Apple devices?
- How does Apple enforce this?
Subscription plans
Does your company have to agree any kind of subsidy plan for the iPhone?
- How is the level and type of the monthly subsidy for the iPhone determined?
- What are the criteria for setting the subsidy at a certain level?
Is your company obliged to offer better services to subscribers who use the iPhone than to subscribers who use competing products from other manufacturers?
Subsidies
Does your company have to agree to any kind of obligation concerning the level of the subsidy for the iPhone?
- How is the level of the subsidy for the iPhone determined?
- What are the criteria for setting the subsidy at a given level?
Do you have indications of how decisive the granting of an MNO (mobile network operator) subsidy is for the market entry or expansion of a smartphone manufacturer? What percentage of the smartphones that your company sells are sold with an MNO subsidy?
Most favoured supplier clauses
Does Apple impose in its distribution agreements with MNOs most favoured supplier clauses or non discriminatory clauses, providing that a subsidy or other incentives granted by the sale of a smartphone other than the iPhone would need to be granted on the same or better terms to sales of the iPhone as well?
…
Explain how the above informs your decisions to distribute or promote smartphones from other handset manufacturers.
Does your company have a 4G network?
Is Apple imposing technical or contract restrictions on the use of the iphone 5 in your 4G network? For what reasons?
How can those restrictions be lifted?05-30-13 07:05 PM - Windows 8 flops . . . . . . so we diversify . . . .
Ex-Microsoft manager plans to create first U.S. marijuana brand
Jonathan Kaminsky
Seattle — Reuters
Published Thursday, May. 30 2013, 3:40 PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, May. 30 2013, 6:47 PM EDT
A former Microsoft executive plans to create the first U.S. national marijuana brand, with cannabis he hopes to eventually import legally from Mexico, and said he was kicking off his business by acquiring medical pot dispensaries in three U.S. states.
Jamen Shively, a former Microsoft corporate strategy manager, said he envisions his Seattle-based enterprise becoming the leader in both recreational and medical cannabis – much like Starbucks is the dominant name in coffee, he said.
Shively, 45, whose six years at Microsoft ended in 2009, said he was soliciting investors for $10-million in start-up money.
The use, sale and possession of marijuana remains illegal in the United States under federal law. Two U.S. states have, however, legalized recreational marijuana use and are among 18 states that allow it for medical use.
“It’s a giant market in search of a brand,” Shively said of the marijuana industry. “We would be happy if we get 40 per cent of it worldwide.”
A 2005 United Nations report estimated the global marijuana trade to be valued at $142-billion.
Washington state and Colorado became the first two U.S. states to legalize recreational marijuana when voters approved legalization in November.
Shively laid out his plans, along with his vision for a future in which marijuana will be imported from Mexico, at a Thursday news conference in downtown Seattle.
Joining him was former Mexican president Vicente Fox, a long-time Shively acquaintance who has been an advocate of decriminalizing marijuana. Fox said he was there to show his support for Shively’s company but has no financial stake in it.
“What a difference it makes to have Jamen here sitting at my side instead of Chapo Guzman,” said Fox, referring to the fact he would rather see Shively selling marijuana legally than the Mexican drug kingpin selling it illegally. “This is the story that has begun to be written here.”
Shively told Reuters he hoped Fox would serve an advisory role in his enterprise, dubbed Diego Pellicer after Shively’s hemp-producing great grandfather.
The sale of cannabis or marijuana remains illegal in much of the world although countries mainly in Europe and the Americas have decriminalized the possession of small quantities of it. A larger number of countries have decriminalized or legalized cannabis for medical use.
Shively acknowledges that his business plans conflict with U.S. federal law and are complicated by regulations in both Washington state and Colorado. He said he is interested in buying dispensaries that comply with local and state rules and are less likely to attract the scrutiny of authorities.
“If they want to come talk to me, I’ll be delighted to meet with them,” he said of federal officials. “I’ll tell them everything that we’re doing and show them all our books.”
Washington state’s marijuana consultant, Mark Kleiman, said he was skeptical of Shively’s plans, and feared that the businessman is seeking to profit off others’ addiction.
“It’s very hard for me to understand why anybody seriously interested in being in the marijuana business, which after all is against the federal law, would so publicly announce his conspiracy to break that law,” said Kleiman, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, referred questions to the Department of Justice headquarters. Department officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Washington state Representative Reuven Carlyle, a Seattle Democrat, sees promise in Shively’s initiative. Any industry emerging from the shadows will inevitably undergo consolidation – and thereby simplify the task of regulators, he said.
“The fact that an entrepreneur is publicly pushing the envelope around a branding and value-based pricing opportunity, I would say that’s in the water in Seattle,” said Carlyle, chairman of the House Finance Committee. “That’s in our DNA ... We could have predicted that as much as the rain.”
Shively said he has already acquired the rights to the Northwest Patient Resource Center, a medical marijuana operation that includes two Seattle store fronts. He added that he was close to acquiring another dispensary in Colorado, as well as two more each in Washington state and California, with the owners given the option to retain a stake in their businesses.
“We’ve created the first risk-mitigated vehicles for investing directly in this business opportunity,” he said.
Shively said he ultimately plans to create separate medical and recreational-use marijuana brands. Shively said he also plans to launch a study of the effectiveness of concentrated cannabis oil in the treatment of cancer and other illnesses.
05-30-13 08:22 PM - Angry Birds Space now on z10/q10
Angry Birds Space Lifts Off To The BlackBerry Z10 & Q10 | Science and Technology05-30-13 08:40 PM - Whew! The app gap has finally closed.Angry Birds Space now on z10/q10
Angry Birds Space Lifts Off To The BlackBerry Z10 & Q10 | Science and Technology
Posted via CB10 on a Z10 root device!05-30-13 08:41 PM - Ottawa too!Angry Birds Space now on z10/q10
Angry Birds Space Lifts Off To The BlackBerry Z10 & Q10 | Science and Technology
Angry bird attacks passersby on Parliament Hill | The Chronicle Herald05-30-13 08:51 PM
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The BBRY Café. [Formerly: I support BBRY and I buy shares!]
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