"John Navas" <spamfilter1@navasgroup.com> wrote in message
news2k1f5duv9p0lc05qvt6jjqdqoutvoaha8@4ax.com...
> <http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/11/apple_iphones_c.html>
>
> --
> Best regards,
> John <http:/navasgroup.com>
>
> If the iPhone is really so impressive,
> why do iFans keep making excuses for it?
Our own Dennis Ferguson predicted this a few weeks ago. He's too much of a
class act to point this out, so I will:
"Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:slrnhdq39m.4h.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com...
> On 2009-10-19, David Moyer <davmoy@world.com> wrote:
>> china iphones go on sale at 1000 outlets in a few weeks.
>
> I don't think that's going to make much difference. This
> morning's South China Morning Post says that Unicom will be
> selling the 16 GB phone for as high as RMB6,999, and the 32 GB
> phone for as high as RMB7,000, with a 24 month contract. A 16 GB
> phone smuggled in from Hong Kong, however, sells for only
> RMB5,500 and requires no service commitment. I think that
> market was already well taken care of.
>
> Dennis Ferguson
On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 20:36:28 -0700, "Todd Allcock"
<elecconnec@AnoOspamL.com> wrote:
>
>"John Navas" <spamfilter1@navasgroup.com> wrote in message
>news2k1f5duv9p0lc05qvt6jjqdqoutvoaha8@4ax.com.. .
>> <http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/11/apple_iphones_c.html>
>>
>> --
>> Best regards,
>> John <http:/navasgroup.com>
>>
>> If the iPhone is really so impressive,
>> why do iFans keep making excuses for it?
>
>Our own Dennis Ferguson predicted this a few weeks ago. He's too much of a
>class act to point this out, so I will:
>
>
>"Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
>news:slrnhdq39m.4h.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com...
>> On 2009-10-19, David Moyer <davmoy@world.com> wrote:
>>> china iphones go on sale at 1000 outlets in a few weeks.
>>
>> I don't think that's going to make much difference. This
>> morning's South China Morning Post says that Unicom will be
>> selling the 16 GB phone for as high as RMB6,999, and the 32 GB
>> phone for as high as RMB7,000, with a 24 month contract. A 16 GB
>> phone smuggled in from Hong Kong, however, sells for only
>> RMB5,500 and requires no service commitment. I think that
>> market was already well taken care of.
>>
>> Dennis Ferguson
>
>Apparently he was right...
>
It also probably didn't help sales any when it became known that WiFi
is disabled on the domestic units, but enabled on the gray market
units.
On 2009-11-04, Paul Miner <pminer@elrancho.invalid> wrote:
> It also probably didn't help sales any when it became known that WiFi
> is disabled on the domestic units, but enabled on the gray market
> units.
Even that part is screwed up. I heard the China government
removed the ban on WiFi in May, so the grey market devices don't
even have to be smuggled any more (the devices comply with the
regulations even if the distribution channel isn't Apple-approved).
It is guessed, however, that Apple's manufacturing pipeline is so
long that they couldn't stop producing an initial batch without the
WiFi anyway, so it is widely expected that Unicom will be selling
WiFi-equipped phones as soon as they get rid of the ones they've
got now.
Even worse, while the Unicom iPhone has only been on sale in China
for a week or so I've already seen them being sold in a small Hong Kong
shop at a nice discount (if I understood the lady correctly) to the
Hong Kong WiFi-equipped models. It seems like Unicom may be moving
the phones by dumping them into the grey market channels themselves.
"Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:slrnhf28o2.bl.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com...
> On 2009-11-04, Paul Miner <pminer@elrancho.invalid> wrote:
>> It also probably didn't help sales any when it became known that WiFi
>> is disabled on the domestic units, but enabled on the gray market
>> units.
>
> Even that part is screwed up. I heard the China government
> removed the ban on WiFi in May, so the grey market devices don't
> even have to be smuggled any more (the devices comply with the
> regulations even if the distribution channel isn't Apple-approved).
> It is guessed, however, that Apple's manufacturing pipeline is so
> long that they couldn't stop producing an initial batch without the
> WiFi anyway, so it is widely expected that Unicom will be selling
> WiFi-equipped phones as soon as they get rid of the ones they've
> got now.
Do you think it's possible the Wifi was simply disabled in software, and CU
can "reenable" it with a firmware update? That'd at least add a little
value to the existing inventory.
> Do you think it's possible the Wifi was simply disabled in software, and
> CU can "reenable" it with a firmware update? That'd at least add a
> little value to the existing inventory.
Not likely. Removing the WiFi capability by depopulating the components
off the board probably saved enough money to make it worthwhile to go
beyond a firmware fix.
When I worked for a very large motherboard company they'd remove
picofuses on the +5V line to the keyboard and mouse that were needed
only on boards sold to OEMs that required that their systems pass
UL/CSA/TUV, etc. This depopulating could not have saved more than a few
cents per board (especially since the fuse was replaced with a zero ohm
resistor) but in the volumes they were dealing with it was worth it.
Personally, to me, WiFi is one of the big attractions of the iPhone, and
it also has the potential to help AT&T with some of their network
issues. I can't imagine anyone buying an iPhone without WiFi, and
apparently this is the case in China as well.
On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:22:17 -0800, SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com>
wrote in <4af1d468$0$1642$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>:
>Todd Allcock wrote:
>
>> Do you think it's possible the Wifi was simply disabled in software, and
>> CU can "reenable" it with a firmware update? That'd at least add a
>> little value to the existing inventory.
>
>Not likely. Removing the WiFi capability by depopulating the components
>off the board probably saved enough money to make it worthwhile to go
>beyond a firmware fix.
>
>When I worked for a very large motherboard company they'd remove
>picofuses on the +5V line to the keyboard and mouse that were needed
>only on boards sold to OEMs that required that their systems pass
>UL/CSA/TUV, etc. This depopulating could not have saved more than a few
>cents per board (especially since the fuse was replaced with a zero ohm
>resistor) but in the volumes they were dealing with it was worth it.
Illogical for cell phones, because it would require additional
certifications and approvals, a big, time-consuming, expensive hassle
(as you would know if you had any real cell phone experience).
>Personally, to me, WiFi is one of the big attractions of the iPhone, and
>it also has the potential to help AT&T with some of their network
>issues. ...
Likewise makes no sense. If there actually were "network issues", some
Wi-Fi use wouldn't have a material affect.
--
Best regards,
John <http:/navasgroup.com>
If the iPhone is really so impressive,
why do iFans keep making excuses for it?
"the iPhone has to contend with a number of competitors. These range from
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) phones, which dominate the market, to iPhone knockoffs to
Android phones."
Nokia? I heard from the Crapple fanbois they were bankrupt and going out
of business....??
At 04 Nov 2009 11:22:17 -0800 SMS wrote:
> Todd Allcock wrote:
>
> > Do you think it's possible the Wifi was simply disabled in software,
> > and CU can "reenable" it with a firmware update? That'd at least add
> > a little value to the existing inventory.
>
> Not likely. Removing the WiFi capability by depopulating the components
> off the board probably saved enough money to make it worthwhile to go
> beyond a firmware fix.
I may be wrong, but I think the WiFi radio is part of an "all in one"
radio chip, so the savngs would have to be in the removal of support
circuitry, which I'd have to think is pretty negligible.
> When I worked for a very large motherboard company they'd remove
> picofuses on the +5V line to the keyboard and mouse that were needed
> only on boards sold to OEMs that required that their systems pass
> UL/CSA/TUV, etc. This depopulating could not have saved more than a few
> cents per board (especially since the fuse was replaced with a zero ohm
> resistor) but in the volumes they were dealing with it was worth it.
Makes sense, I guess, but I wonder what that volume cutoff is- how many
units did CU initially order?.
> Personally, to me, WiFi is one of the big attractions of the iPhone,
> and it also has the potential to help AT&T with some of their network
> issues. I can't imagine anyone buying an iPhone without WiFi, and
> apparently this is the case in China as well.
While WiFi is certainly useful, and I wouldn't buy a phone without it
either, I suspect the absolute need for it is market specific. Take here
in the US- assuming you're forced to buy an unlimited data plan anyway,
and that your coverage is fairly ubiquitous, how imporant is WiFi? I
know I rarely turn mine on except at home, a hotel, or if I intend to
download a comparitively huge file. Why mess with finding available
hotspots and dealing with login pages if my cellular data is already
standing by at the ready? (And I'm actually limited to ~150kb EDGE!)
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