Apple’s Tight Rein On iPhone App Store To Boost Nokia?
Is Apple’s tight control over iPhone applications a blessing in disguise for Nokia?
In the last two weeks, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has pulled three applications from its stores: the $999-joke app “I Am Rich;” Box Office, which lets users look up movies and buy tickets; and NetShare, an application that turns the phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot. No official reason has ever been given for why the apps have been taken down. It’s easy to see why they yanked NetShare, given that it competes with the wireless broadband services of Apple’s partner carrier AT&T (NYSE: T). The same goes for I Am Rich. Yes, it was a joke, but then some apparently did click on it not believing they would really be charged $999. BoxOffice, however, was a popular app, and a useful one that had gotten favorable reviews. Perhaps its only crime was that it was free and undercuts a revenue share deal that AT&T’s own movie listing and ticketing application has in place.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) meanwhile has no restrictions on what can be downloaded onto their smartphones. This hasn’t ingratiated Nokia with US carriers, which in return have ruled out subsidizing some of the handset makers more popular smartphones—such as the N95, which retails for $533. But all this could change. As a Forbes article argues, the publicity surrounding the iPhone’s app store—both good and bad—may lead consumers looking for smartphones without the restrictions of iPhone to Nokia’s. Apple, for example, may have pulled NetShare, but for Nokia users there’s Joikusoft, an application that doesn’t just turn a phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, but lets it share the connection with multiple devices. iPhone-less carriers, too, may be re-examining what Nokia’s smartphones have to offer, thanks to the raised awareness that the iPhone has brought to these gadgets. They may not have the iPhone, but they’ll need something with similar capabilities.
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Comments (8)
Aug 8, 2008 8:25 AM
Is this the turning point? Everyone is waiting for Apple to tumble and a series of stupid, short-sited, insular moves like this could provide the opening all the others are looking for…
Aug 8, 2008 10:11 AM
Yea, Nokia the iPhone apps killer with its free for all apps…..lol
Aug 8, 2008 10:26 AM
Don’t know about Nokia being an iPhone apps killer, but certainly some people will want an alternative, no?
Aug 8, 2008 10:27 AM
Actually the iPhone App Store seems to be doing quite well with most customers and people seem pretty happy with the added functionality. The restrictions mostly affect the developers, but they all have dollar signs in their eyes right now with the money to be made. So no, I don’t think anyone’s going to be driven to anyone else this year. As the App Store ages it’s possible some disillusionment will set in, but for this year it’s like Christmas every day with new apps appearing all the time.
Aug 8, 2008 1:39 PM
“...may lead consumers looking for smartphones without the restrictions”—I think Apple has proven that consumers like easy. Think DRM on iTunes. Any company that aims to compete with Apple on this has to be ‘easier’. I hope Nokia can get it right.
Choice will always impose complexity, the trick is to find the balance. Even selling apps on the app store is easy. How restrictive could it be when the two examples above were even allowed in first place.
Aug 8, 2008 2:02 PM
Karla—yes you’re absolutely right about choice imposing complexity. But I also think as people get used to downloading apps on their phone, they’ll get smarter about the apps they want, and what’s available. It will be interesting then to see if Apple can balance between what consumers want (BoxOffice was getting good reviews, while NetShare was certainly an interesting idea) and the business interests of their partners.
Aug 8, 2008 2:18 PM
Dianne,
My comment relates to Nokia, and how they may be able to compete with the apple app store. The battle is for consumers, developers will follow consumers. Developers will want to push, while apple and att will try to protect their interest. There will always be tension there. I like nokia and own and have owned several older models of their phones. They already have an application store of their own. It’s just not easy—in fact I have not purchased an app for my current phone. I own stock in AAPL, so I guess that tells you something about what I think of apple.
Aug 8, 2008 6:01 PM
Oh, yeh. Nokia is just going to walk right in and steal the iPhone’s market share because of a few pulled apps. Meanwhile, probably a hundred apps have taken their place. Someone must be forgetting that Nokia had a clear shot with N-Gage a couple of years back and it didn’t do a damn thing with it.
Everytime Apple attempts to keep reign on something, it’s called an anal attempt to control everything. Why not just call it a safety net. Or maybe disciplinary action so things don’t get too far out of control.