Apple SIM Included With iPad for Customer Convenience, but iPhone Not Likely to Join In

Apple had the consumer in mind when it added a multi-carrier SIM card to its new iPads, said Apple vice president of iPhone, iPod and iOS product marketing Greg Joswiak in a recent Re/code interview (via Fierce Wireless ). But that motivation does not mean the Apple SIM will be making its way to the iPhone any time soon, as Joswiak noted most consumers go directly to their carriers to buy iPhones, while the iPad more often is sold through Apple's retail channels.

"It's about the customer experience," he said during an appearance here at Re/code's Code/Mobile conference. "We ultimately don't know who you are going to use as the carrier, [and] we want to make it as easy as possible."



Joswiak said Apple has not discussed putting the Apple SIM into iPhones, but said that because of the way most customers buy an iPhone--through a carrier directly--the Apple SIM is not as well suited. "I don't think you're going to go to the Verizon store and say, 'Can you hook me up with AT&T?,'" he said.

With most iPhone customers committed to their carriers for a significant period of time, either through contracts subsidizing the phone cost or through payment plans, multi-carrier SIM cards make less sense for iPhones.



Apple's new universal SIM in theory allows customers to activate with one carrier and then switch to another carrier as needed, but there are some limitations. The Apple SIM is currently only compatible with AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and UK carrier EE. Verizon confirmed that is not adopting Apple's new SIM, instead requiring customers to activate with a Verizon-specific SIM.





In addition, while AT&T is listed as a compatible carrier, the provider is not fully supporting all the features of the SIM. Apple and AT&T have confirmed the carrier is not allowing its customers to switch once the Apple SIM has been activated on AT&T's network, instead opting to lock the SIM to its network following activation. Customers who activate service on AT&T will thus have to purchase a new SIM if they want to use their tablet with another carrier.



Apple introduced the new iPad Air 2 and Retina iPad mini 3 earlier this month with sales beginning last week. Both tablets feature a universal SIM, Touch ID, and storage options of 16, 64 and 128GB. The iPad Air 2 also includes a new A8X processor, antireflective display and 2GB of RAM. The iPad Air 2 retails at a starting price of $499, while the iPad mini 3 costs $399 for the base model.

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Posted in 2014 at 03:03PM, October 29

Intel Seeking to Woo Apple Away From Qualcomm for Cellular Baseband Chips

Intel is hoping Apple will turn to the California company for the cellular baseband hardware in future mobile products, says Intel Korea President Lee Hee-sung in a statement reported by the Korea Herald . The baseband manages the radio functions of an iPhone or cellular-capable iPad, allowing the device to communicate with the carrier's mobile network.

"Chances are high that global smartphone makers such as Apple and LG Electronics will use Intel’s baseband chips in their products down the road,” said Lee Hee-sung, the president of Intel Korea, at a press meeting on Thursday.



Such collaborations are highly likely given that the world’s largest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics, has recently announced its midrange premium handset the Galaxy Alpha, which contains Intel’s XMM7260 baseband modem."

Apple had originally used Infineon baseband hardware in early models of the iPhone, but after Infineon was purchased by Intel in 2010 Apple shifted to using communication chips from market leader Qualcomm. Intel has, however, been hard at work at improving its baseband chips, as evidenced by the design win in the new Galaxy Alpha.



Apple and Intel are of course already partners for the complete line of Mac processors, but Apple will undoubtedly focus on technology and pricing considerations in weighing any potential switch for its mobile products.

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Posted in 2014 at 03:03PM, September 11

Ouch: Eight-month-old iPhone 5s outsold the Galaxy S5 in its first full month of sales

As Samsung's recent second-quarter earnings pre-announcement made clear, the company's smartphone business is facing some trouble right now. At the low end, Samsung is getting squeezed by several aggressive budget vendors selling dirt cheap phones in emerging markets. At the top, Samsung is still facing intense competition from Apple and its insanely popular iPhone lineup. In fact, demand for Apple's flagship iPhone 5s is still so huge that sales of Samsung's latest hero phone, the Galaxy S5, couldn't even top iPhone 5s sales in the Galaxy phone's first full month on store shelves.

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Posted in 2014 at 03:03PM, July 16

One chart shows how much of a killing Apple will make with the iPhone 6

Apple is expected to launch not one but two completely redesigned iPhone models in 2014. According to a number of solid reports, the first will be a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 model and the second will be an even larger iPhone with a 5.5-inch display. In 2013, Apple smashed its earlier records by selling a staggering 9 million new iPhone handsets through their first weekend of availability alone. And that was with a relatively minor "S" upgrade leading the way — imagine how much damage Apple can do with two brand new iPhone models.

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Posted in 2014 at 03:03PM, June 17

Samsung's Goals for 2012: 'Beating Apple is #1 Priority'

Internal documents included in the second patent trial between Samsung and Apple last week revealed how Apple viewed Android, calling for a "Holy War" against Google and expressing concern about competition from larger-screened, lower-priced Android phones. A new set of documents reported by Re/code and AppleInsider reverses this perspective, showing how Samsung was laser-focused on Apple with the objective of beating the Cupertino company as its "#1 priority" in 2012.





The internal document outlines the lessons Samsung learned in 2011 as it continued development on its Galaxy line of phones and faced a patent infringement lawsuit from Apple. Samsung considered the threat from Apple to be "extremely real and urgent" and communicated to employees that "everything must be [in the] context of beating Apple" in 2012.



Samsung listed the expected features of the upcoming iPhone 5 and predicted how Apple's iPhone would perform in the marketplace. The Korean company also detailed how it would boost its own Galaxy branding and work with both carriers and retailers to expand its retail presence to combat growing consumer interest in the iPhone.

Samsung also detailed a strategy of "continuous" branding campaigns where "Galaxy Nexus rolls into Galaxy Note into GSIII," playing upon Apple's consistent branding of iPhone across generations of its products.



"Drive consumer pull," Samsung's Galaxy branding document strategized, hoping that "customers walk into stores asking for Samsung." To get there, Samsung said it needed to "understand why customers buy Apple," and then "develop countermeasures by carrier/retail."

The documents reveal that Samsung shifted its product lineup to serve carriers with 80% of the company's product roadmap supporting carrier demands for joint projects, exclusive offers and low-cost handsets for entry-level consumers. Only 20% of its product lineup focused on high-end handsets like the Galaxy S3 and the Note II.



Samsung also spent billions on advertising to support its Galaxy phones with Apple-targeted ads that focused on iPhone line-waiters, Apple's Genius Bar and more. Samsung credits the company's 2012 "Next Big Thing" advertisements as "a tipping point" for the company's branding and claimed in its opening arguments last week that Apple was taken aback by the edgy marketing campaign.

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Posted in 2014 at 03:03PM, April 07