ON POINT: "LOCKED VS. UNLOCKED PHONES"

CNET has a good overview article on how closed our wireless market is vs. the rest of the world.  Here's the crux of the matter:

"Worldwide, the cell phone market is split about 50-50 between phones sold through carriers and phones sold through other channels directly to consumers, says Lin.

In Asia, about 80 percent of cell phones are sold independently of a carrier. And in Europe, roughly 70 percent of cell phones are sold unlocked.

But in the U.S., between 90 percent and 95 percent of cell phones are sold through a mobile service provider" (image source).

This of course has resulted in a market that offers far greater array of wireless software and services in overseas wireless markets as compared to ours.

Of course the recent Apple iPhone multi-year exclusive deal with AT&T (the wireless carrier formerly known as Cingular) perpetuates the culture of locked phones in the U.S. market in 2007 and beyond.  Therein lies the rub for many folks.

P.S.  I'm using a new service called Cite Bite in the "crux" link above that takes you directly to the quote in question in the two page article on CNET, and highlights it in yellow. 

Hat-tip to Fred Wilson for pointing out the cool, new service.

Comments

[Lucky]

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