CDMA iPhone from Reliance/Tata Indicom launch likely in 2010
A CDMA iPhone from Reliance Communications or Tata Indicom? It may not be too far, if some reports in the blogosphere have to be believed. Apple, which makes the iPhone is apparently planning to bring out a CDMA version of its iconic iPhone next year, say reports.
iPhone, the largest selling smartphone in the US, is currently available only for GSM networks. Besides, in the US, Apple has an exclusivity agreement with AT&T for selling the iPhone, which expires next year. AT&T has an ageing, slower 3G GSM network, while nimbler rival Verizon Wireless has a faster, wider 3G network, which is in CDMA. This means that iPhones cannot be used in CDMA networks even after the Apple-AT&T exclusivity agreement expires. To sell the iPhone to a wider audience, Apple will be compelled to make an iPhone which can work in CDMA networks. Reports say that Apple is planning a iPhone Nano – on the lines of the iPod Nano – which can work in CDMA and GSM networks. That is, a proper world phone from Apple. It may be noted that rival smartphone makers like Nokia and BlackBerry already have world phones, which work in CDMA and GSM networks. Launching a CDMA iPhone will be a market breakthrough for Apple, which is now constrained by the limited market of AT&T.
Apart from this breakthrough, Apple will also be able to find a bigger market for the CDMA iPhone in India, which has a large number of CDMA customers. A CDMA iPhone from Reliance Communications or Tata Indicom in India is only a matter of time once Apple unleashes its world mode iPhone with GSM-CDMA capabilities next year. Reliance Communications, which kicked off the mobile telephony revolution in India with cheap subsidized handsets, has the majority of its users in CDMA. Reliance has been recently expanding its GSM network too, but a CDMA iPhone will provide a boost to the company as its tries to grow revenues.
In fact, operators like Tata Teleservices (which provides CDMA services under the Tata Indicom brand) and Reliance Communications will have little option but to launch high-end phones in the coming years if they have to grow their revenues. In India, voice calls, which forms the bulk of subscriber use, brings paltry margins after cut-throat tariff wars. The higher-end data users are fewer in number, and use the phone for little more than emailing. However, with the advent of 3G networks in India, (expected by middle of 2010) telecom companies will more options to offer high-end data services, since 3G will support more data-capable handsets.
And the premium data users, who bring most revenues, will be from the users of iPhones, BlackBerrys and the high end Nokias, Samsungs, and HTCs. While all its rivals have found buyers in the CDMA base of Reliance Communications and Tata Indicom, the iPhone has been sorely missing from the CDMA smartphone market. BlackBerrys of varying models have been brought to India by Reliance and Tata Indicom, but iPhone fans in CDMA networks who want to lay their hands on the iconic handsets in India are a disappointed lot. That may change, if the rumors of the CDMA iPhone come true.
According to unconfirmed reports floating on the Web, the World Mode iPhone Nano will be smaller in size. It may come with a 2.8 inch screen, while the existing iPhone 3G S has a 3.5 inch screen. Apple may get Taiwanese Asustek subsidiary Pegatron to make the CDMA iPhone Nano. Currently, the iPhone 3GS is made in Taiwan by Hon Hai.
Currently, a user of a GSM iPhone (or any GSM phone) will be not able to roam in countries where there are only CDMA networks, even if he has international roaming. With a world mode iPhone, that hurdle is set to go. Having a world mode iPhone, rather than a plain CDMA iPhone means you will be able to roam internationally in all countries and networks, irrespective of whether it is GSM or CDMA.
BlackBerry, which is mainly tied with Verizon Wireless in the US, has been smart enough to launch both CDMA and GSM versions of all its new models. Since Verizon, a CDMA operator, sells maximum BlackBerrys, Research in Motion launches its new models in CDMA, and later follows it up with GSM variants. This ensures that Blackberry has users in Verizon, AT&T and every other network, while iPhone users are tied to AT&T’s old and lumbering GSM network.