We often bring news about Apple, not just about its products but also about the finances of the company. The company has seen phenomenal success and recently we wondered just how much further it could expand but how about providing its own wireless service? News today suggests there could be a chance that Apple could become a mobile operator.
At a recent industry summit in Barcelona a wireless industry analyst gave a presentation to international wireless operators and asserted that Apple iOS device owners could soon have wireless service provided directly by Apple. Whitey Bluestein further went on to say that Apple could become an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) ahead of Google. When you think of it this expansion could make perfect sense considering Apple’s widespread possible distribution and the fact that it already has 250 million iTunes account holders with details of their credit cards.
News of this industry expert’s claims comes to us from 9to5Mac and it seems that Bluestein further told how the biggest obstacle to this development would be the subsidies currently paid by carriers in order to offer the iPhone to consumers at present contract prices. 9to5Mac also tells how former Apple CEO Steve Jobs had expressed an interest in replacing carriers so it seems the idea was previously in Apple’s vision.
Some implications for this development would include the provision of cellular service, data, voice and roaming directly to Apple’s customers before too long. Apple mobile data plans could be offered bundled with devices to kickstart the initiative, following which Apple could then provide activation, data and international roaming to iPhone customers via the iTunes store. It was also suggested that Google, though not having the wide distribution of Apple, would also move to provide wireless data services to customers of its Google Tablet.
There’s certainly huge scope in this idea for Apple but there would undoubtedly be huge resistance from other wireless service providers. Another barrier could be that many customers who wanted to use Apple as a carrier would be left out initially as they would already be tied in to two-year contracts with other providers. It’s certainly an interesting claim though and one that we think will have many people thinking.
What do you imagine are the chances of Apple becoming a mobile operator? Do you think this would be a logical move from Apple and one that many Apple customers would like to see? Let us know with your comments.
