Firstly this must be one of the most underwhelming Apple announcements with a general response of “Meh” to yesterday’s announcements- no-one overly surprised, angry or excited by anything announced. The primary reason is that Apples strategy is focused on profit margins and share prices rather than exciting the end-user. Good for Tim Cook, because this may be what he can best bring to the role of Apple CEO- the quicker he stops worrying about being Steve Jobs the better for Apple.

Apple announced two devices today, the iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 5C is essentially the iPhone 5 with a plastic shell that follows Apple’s historic pricing paradigm of taking $100 off the price of the latest model. The iPhone 5S is the classic step improvement of better processor, better camera and a new marquis feature (this time it is finger print scanning).

Today (Sept. 9, 2013) Sony unveiled a new smart STB/game console hybrid, named PS Vita TV.  The device is slated to launch on November 14^th and cost 9,480 Yen (~US$ 95.18) in Japan – the only confirmed market to date.  The device is billed as an entertainment solution to compete with other smart STBs, but at its heart is the PS Vita, less the touchscreen and controls – the device will be controlled with a DualShock 3 controller and includes a Vita card slot.  Beyond playing Vita games and OTT content the micro-console/STB will also allow users to play the upcoming PS4 via “Remote Play” (with an update expected to arrive after launch).

Alcatel-Lucent announced on Thursday Sep 5, that it had contracted with Telefónica to deploy 8,000 basestations as part of an LTE overlay network in Spain. In addition to the basestations Alcatel-Lucent will provide its 5620 Service Aware Manager (SAM) as well as system integration and management services. Alcatel-Lucent estimates that it has captured a majority share of 60% of this contract and according to the company this is its largest LTE contract in Western Europe to date. Although neither Telefónica nor Alcatel-Lucent has put a value on the contract the Wall Street Journal has estimated that it is worth €300 million ($396 million).

Now the word is out, and we see that things went pretty well for Vodafone.  Think about Verizon Wireless – what has happened, what changes?  From Day One there are no more subscribers, no new technologies, no new business plans, no acquisitions.  Nothing much changes for the daily operations of Verizon Wireless. 

In 2007 Nokia and Siemens kicked out their networks businesses into a Joint Venture, Nokia Siemens Networks.   And now with the return of Nokia Solutions and Networks, out goes the mobile business to Microsoft.   Something like Newton’s Cradle I suppose. 

Microsoft announced that it is acquiring Nokia’s handset and services business along with certain licenses to Nokia technologies for $7.1 billion.  The remaining business of Nokia will remain an infrastructure, navigation services, and IP vendor.  Here are some initial thoughts from the Mobile Devices team at ABI Research on the opportunities and obstacles ahead for the proposed acquisition.

News

It may be Labor Day long weekend in the US but the senior management of Verizon and Vodafone have potentially come to an agreement over Vodafone selling back its 45% share of Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications. Clearly Vodafone’s investors will come out smiling at the agreed sale price of US$ 130 billion.