iPhone in Israel? Not so fast.
The coveted iPhone will not be sold in Israel through either of the possible channels, Orange or Cellcom. This fact is quite sad for all Israeli technophiles especially considering how difficult it is to purchase the new iPhone 3G without a contract. Ebay prices for this unique piece of technology exceed $800.
The speculated reason can shed a light on the way Apple does business as well as the way Israeli large enterprises are interwoven. The list of countries where the iPhone will be available does not explain why Israel is not a part of this glamorous club. Some of the countries are smaller, less technologically advanced than Israel and definitely have a rate of cellphone penetration smaller than Israel’s insane > 100%.
In my opinion, Apple approached both GSM cellphone providers and tried to reach an accord. Such an agreement must have included revenue sharing in percentage that was too high for the providers. Rumor has it that Apple charges the phone company a whooping $10 per month per phone. The deal probably included exposing to Apple a fair amount of data regarding usage and revenue that the providers refused to reveal. Being such a sexy revenue generator, I must conclude that Orange and Cellcom jointly decided to reject the deal having their on agreement that neither company will let the iPhone manufacturer in. Even the steep $10 a month is a very reasonable price if you earn a customer that pays at least five times that amount a month.
In its deregulation frenzy of the 1990s, Israel divided such lucrative markets as cellular telephony and cable TV to few selected companies and made competition almost impossible. TV Cable providers were divided geographically so you could not choose your provider unless it was important enough for you to justify a move. The second broadcast channel was granted to three grantees, each broadcasting on a different day making customer choice between them impossible (again, unless it was important enough for you to alter the time-space continuum).
The cellphone industry seemed somewhat different and more competitive. You can switch phone companies until your fingers hurt and can even now keep your number – but it sure smells like a duopoly, the legitimate but ugly sister of a monopoly.
Instead of selling its product at market value and free the customer to choose her phone company, Apple is imposing restrictions and play the cop, pretending to cell the iPhone for $199 while the actual price is much highr.
I love Apple product as much as the next guy, and probably more. I enjoy my iMac immensely and have a burning itch to buy anything Apple even when my cousin (who is a survivor of the Apple Newton) ridicules me at every opportunity for it. Still, I do think that Apple is evil. It is at least as evil as Microsoft, but it sure makes better functioning sexy products. At least I know on whose minions I am
Filed under: Geek | 1 Comment
Tags: apple, evil, GSM, iphone, israel
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!