The iPhone's Role In Crippling T-Mobile

GMGruman writes "The feds may be blocking AT&T's buyout of T-Mobile, but T-Mobile is in poor shape to continue as is. Parent company Deutsche Telekom's decision not to invest in U.S. spectrum a decade ago constrained T-Mobile's ability to grow, especially through 4G networks now finally emerging. But from a customer point of view, it was the iPhone that has threatened the company the most. Or, more precisely, its lack of the iPhone."

Comments

Fanboi rant

[kurt555gs]

Are you kidding? Unless you are paid by Apple or a Zombie, can do you really believe and iPhone is any better and a T-Mobile G2 or any high end Android handset?

Really? Want some Apple flavored Kool Aid?

Re:Fanboi rant

[ScrewMaster]

Are you kidding? Unless you are paid by Apple or a Zombie, can do you really believe and iPhone is any better and a T-Mobile G2 or any high end Android handset?

Really? Want some Apple flavored Kool Aid?

I agree. Why is it that Apple fans have to make everything about the iPhone? Considering that the handset market is owned by Android, not by Apple (half a million Android phones light up every day) the claim that T-Mobile is being hurt by the lack of that product is remarkable. Now, the tablet market is a different matter entirely, but we aren't talking about tablets here.

More to the point, when you look at the total number of handsets sold, smartphones are a drop in the bucket. Supersmart phones such as the iPhone and high-end Android devices, even more so. Cellular outfits did just fine before the iPhone came along, and they'd do just fine without it. About the only thing the iPhone did for AT&T was allow them to sell voice/data plans at the subsidized price for unsubsidized phones!

The fact that millions of iPhone owners fell for that ongoing scam still amazes me. Those people who bought a Nexus One from Google and went with T-Mobile found themselves getting a discount, because T-Mobile wasn't providing the phone. Just good business. Now, I suppose in that context the iPhone did hurt T-Mo, because AT&T was making extra money to not supply a device to the consumer. Really says a lot about AT&T's management than anything else. Says even more about your average iPhone user.

I also agree with you about the T-Mobile G2 / HTC Desire Z ... I have one of those and you'll pry it from my cold dead fingers. It's rooted and running Cyanogenmod 7 (no choice in operating system is yet another reason why I detest Apple and AT&T.)

Re:Fanboi rant

[Lemmy Caution]

I prefer Android phones, and I am a T-Mobile customer, yet I think the original post is correct. People left T-Mobile so that they could get an iPhone, and - despite glowing reviews of T-Mobile's service - decided against becoming T-Mobile customers due to the lack of an iPhone.

I think that the pull of the iPhone is weaker than it used to be: many people who I know would have been "iPhone or nothing" 2+ years ago are either buying Android phones now or, at least, see them as real alternatives. But the damage done to T-Mobile's numbers has already happened.

Insane premise

[Anonymous Coward]

The iPhone has 5% of the mobile market. T-Mobile is not failing because they don't have a slice of that 5%. That did not cripple them in any way. Lack of investment in coverage area hurt them, but not having the iPhone is insignificant next to that.

It sucks they're declining, because they were the only company that you could ever pay off a subsidized phone - at the end of your 2 year contract, your rate went down unless you got a new phone. It should be illegal to keep charging you for the phone once it's paid off, but that's what all the other companies do.

Re:Insane premise

[Belial6]

What hurt them the most was the announcement that AT&T was going to acquire them.

Re:Insane premise

[ScrewMaster]

and I love not having to install a virus scanner on my phone

What? If you were talking about Windows vs. Mac I might believe you. But closed-source operating systems are not inherently more secure than open source OSes ... usually quite the opposite. Your feeling of security is probably misplaced.

Re:insane government

[Hazel Bergeron]

Who cares what the market needs? The market skews the value of individuals by personal wealth.

I care about what people need.

Ironically accurate title

[SuperKendall]

Fanboi rant
Are you kidding? Unless you are paid by Apple or a Zombie, can do you really believe and iPhone is any better and a T-Mobile G2 or any high end Android handset?

Although I dislike using the term "fanboi" in any context, I cannot help but note how ironic it is that you disparage iPhone users by using that term, when you yourself seem to be blindly pushing Android even to people who would be better served by using an iPhone. There is a real difference in security and ease of use.

Re:Ironically accurate title

[ScrewMaster]

Fanboi rant Are you kidding? Unless you are paid by Apple or a Zombie, can do you really believe and iPhone is any better and a T-Mobile G2 or any high end Android handset?

Although I dislike using the term "fanboi" in any context, I cannot help but note how ironic it is that you disparage iPhone users by using that term, when you yourself seem to be blindly pushing Android even to people who would be better served by using an iPhone. There is a real difference in security and ease of use.

You are a fanboi. He wasn't pushing anything: he was making a valid point that the market today is not like it was when the iPhone was first introduced. From a functional perspective, Android products are generally equivalent in capability to the iPhone, and are actually ahead of the game in others. They're often a better value as well, although I've never found an iPhone user to understand that concept when applied to smartphones.

There may or may not be a "real" difference anymore (many people prefer Android for one reason or another, hey, no accounting for taste) so claims that one is intrinsically superior to the other are fundamentally ridiculous. Face facts: smartphone tech is maturing, rapidly, and the iPhone is no longer the unquestioned leader in that market. Certainly it isn't in terms of unit sales. And that is to be expected and is entirely proper: nobody (and I mean nobody) remains market leader forever. That's just the way it works.

Put it this way: there's a reason that Apple broke into the tablet market, even though they were hardly the originators of that technology either. It's because they knew very well that their lead in the cellular market would eventually be lost, and it has been. No different than Microsoft casting desperately about to find something, anything with which they can make money outside of Windows and Office. Well, it is different in that Microsoft has continually failed at that whereas Apple has had some spectacular successes. But it's the same idea, and I give Apple credit for pulling it off again.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether their new leadership can continue Jobs' tradition of learning from his own failures and coming up with something that people just absolutely must have. Generally speaking, when the founder of a successful organization dies or retires, his creation loses focus, becomes excessively conservative and risk-averse ... and falls from the top spot. We'll see. Jobs' vision drove Apple to where it is and it remains to be seen if the company can flourish without it.

Re:Ironically accurate title

[node 3]

You are a fanboi. He wasn't pushing anything: he was making a valid point that the market today is not like it was when the iPhone was first introduced.

Um...

"Are you kidding? Unless you are paid by Apple or a Zombie, can do you really believe and iPhone is any better and a T-Mobile G2 or any high end Android handset?"

Pretty much using a term like "fanboi" increases the odds dramatically that you, yourself, are being a "fanboi". It's a stupid term that simply means "you don't like what I like, therefore you're an idiot".

The iPhone had a significant impact on T-Mobile. It's difficult to see how it couldn't, and it still does. In spite of all the Apple hatred around here, Apple has sold over 100 million iPhones, and sells tens of millions every quarter. In other words, people want iPhones. Not having the iPhone has caused problems for T-Mobile. It's nice that they have Android phones, and that people want those, but T-Mobile is automatically locked out of a large portion of the consumer market.

Apple Fans

[VisibleSchlong]

"Why is it that Apple fans have to make everything about the iPhone?"

It really is sad. Apple fans were never like this years ago. I know I certainly wasn't. Yes there was fanboyism. But somehow Apple's move into the cellphone market turned Apple fans into foaming at the mouth batshit insane cultists.

One just has to see what has become of major Apple sites like AppleInsider:

* Apple invented EVERYTHING

* Anything not made by Apple SUCKS

* Anything not made by Apple would be AMAZING if Apple did it

* 'Teh OMG!!! iPhone' caused or is responsible for X. Where X is basically EVERYTHING. Wars, famines, stock market swings, celebrity breakups, medical breakthroughs.

Re:Apple Fans

[Antisyzygy]

Im sorry, but Apple fans were always like this. When I became aware of it they were talking about how superior the G3 processor was over anything offered by Intel or AMD. This is in spite of actual evidence showing that other processors were superior at many things. I remember an ad campaign when Apple talked about how "Your Macbook is a super-computer, doing XXX gigaflops". Funny thing about that is they were making up lies by using an older standard of what a super-computer is. Apple fan-bois have always been assholes. The only difference now is that since Apple became mainstream, they have more people making decent enough money to afford their products who are also fucking idiots. I own some Apple products in spite of the distasteful ways Apple fanboi's handle themselves. There are legitimate reasons for using Macbooks, or iPods, etc. One in particular is that you can use Unix based scientific software on Apple with slightly less of a headache over using Unix. However, Apple products are hardly more advanced, or more capable over other products. They just slap on some prettiness and ergonomics to existing technology.

Re:Apple Fans

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

But somehow Apple's move into the cellphone market turned Apple fans into foaming at the mouth batshit insane cultists.

Apple fans turn up, they babble a lot. Android fans turn up, they babble about how sheeple'ish Apple fans are. Apple fans fight back, pointing out strengths in their choices. Android fans fight back, pointing out the strengths in their choices. Apple gets bad news, Android fans laugh. Android gets bad news, Apple fans laugh louder. Then it escalates from there.

Let's just face facts, we like the side we're on and we like antagonizing the other side. There really is no real substance here outside of that.

Re:"to invest in U.S. spectrum"

[slimjim8094]

The protection of radio spectrum goes both ways, though. I'm a pretty fucking big fan of the idea that there's nobody else on the frequency my ambulance squad uses to communicate with our dispatcher and the police, or the paramedics, or other agencies. And that's only because the FCC has a very big stick to hit people with if they violate it. If people or businesses thought they could get away with co-opting public safety frequencies, you bet your ass they would.

And you don't have to think very hard to come up with countless other problems with an unregulated spectrum. Everything from cordless phones to RC cars to WiFi would become useless as people just shat all over the spectrum because it was easy and convenient to do so. Things like allocation and emissions regulations keep the spectrum useful in the same way that a drivers' license keeps the roads useful to everybody. Even the most anarchist person must recognize the tragedy of the commons, even if he doesn't like the solution - at least if he's intellectually honest.

Re:Apple Warriors Unite!

[ScrewMaster]

Head for your local Starbucks and mod down the unbelievers! Let's those mod points fly Apple Warriors!

No kidding: look at my original comment.

To all you fanboys with mod points, be careful: I wasn't insulting your favorite company or its products, I was taking you to task for your choices. If that's enough to make you mod someone down, you have pretty damn thin skins.