Today, Apple announced the iPhone 5 - doh - I mean the 4S. We were all so hoping for the big 5 to come out, it was a little disappointing really. That said, the trigger to change the major version number on the phone has traditionally been a physical change in the look of the device - and I am not really sure what they can do to change it.
So, the iPhone 4S has lots of new features including Siri (not to be confused with Tom and Nicole's daughter) which will allow you to speak your every desire in conversational English and the iPhone will just do it. Can't wait to try that one out! Most of the other features have been expected (8 megapixel camera, HD video, iCloud) and one that we weren't expecting - iMessage. This one is interesting for a number of reasons - iMessage allows you to send TXT/SMS type messages to any other iOS 5 users (including iPads) without any charge - effectively bypassing the telco's.
What an excellently audacious move! I am amazed that they have managed to get away with it - but maybe no one argues with Apple anymore? When you consider that a large part of the demographic that uses the iPhone will also be heavy text users, this will surely cut a hole in the telco revenue stream.
A July 2011 report by ComScore (a leading US digital research organisation) reveals that 70% of mobile subscribers over 13 send text message to another phone. Now admittedly this is also showing smartphone and non-smartphone users, but it is still a big chunk of people.
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Mobile Content Usage 3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2011 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers | |||
| Apr-11 | Jul-11 | Point Change | |
| Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| Sent text message to another phone | 68.8% | 70.0% | 1.2 |
| Used browser | 39.1% | 41.1% | 2.0 |
| Used downloaded apps | 37.8% | 40.6% | 2.8 |
| Accessed social networking site or blog | 28.0% | 30.1% | 2.1 |
| Played Games | 26.2% | 27.8% | 1.6 |
| Listened to music on mobile phone | 18.0% | 20.3% | 2.3 |
So, where is this heading? Combined with the Facetime application for making video calls to other IOS devices, and a plethora of other apps to do the same on other devices, the telco's must be concerned. What does a future telco look like? I suspect they will be moving to providing purely data services and letting the 3rd party apps handle the communication aspects. So, is this when a phone stops being a phone?
