Summary
All of the wireless operators are recognizing the importance of having a variety of Smartphone offerings that target specific operating system (OS) capabilities and libraries of applications that will meet the lifestyle needs of their customers and provide the sticky features needed to keep those customers through device replacement.
Analysis
T-Mobile is opening its eyes to alternative revenue streams. T-Mobile is also recognizing that to compete in the Smartphone/Netbook space you need to offer a huge library of applications to your customers.
There are literally millions of developers creating applications for Smartphones. These are independent developers. Not Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android developers. Not Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone developers. Developers that want to sell their applications on every device on the planet regardless of operating system (OS) and regardless of the device manufacturer. To gather these applications on to their specific devices, the device manufacturers are opening up their devices to the developers:
- Samsung - Application Store
- Apple - iPhone WiMo Marketplace
- Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) - Marketplace for Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
- Google - Android App Store
- Research in Motion, Ltd. (RIMM) - Blackberry App World
- Nokia - Ovi Store
- and on
- and on
Eventually, all these application stores will balance out and carry pretty much the same applications. The differences to the consumer will become the features of the device and the operating system that maximize the benefits of each application. Consumer preferences will be broad and varied. To maximize market penetration, wireless providers, like T-Mobile, must offer a blend of devices and operating systems. This should have a rather dramatic downward effect on customer churn.
The world of the wireless providers is changing quickly. It will change even more over the next year.
David Croslin consults with leading institutions through GLG
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
