Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Exclusive Deals Are Anti Consumer

O2 looks certain to loose its exclusive iPhone deal in the UK on October 9th. Does this mean prices will drop? Well there may be some variance but it is hardly likely to be significant. What is more interesting is that it appears that O2 will retain an exclusive on the new 3GS so what you gain on the swings you loose on the roundabouts.

This obsession with exclusive deals is good for the winning network but bad for consumers. By restricting the iPhone to one network in countries such as the UK and US it can adversely suppress demand, force many into unwanted contracts and eventually, as others catch up create alternatives which are often more open. However, the Palm Pre has followed the exclusive approach and even been stupid enough to select the same network so creating little choice and marginalising the market further.

How are likely to be winners out of this madness? One sure winner is likely to be Google who have chosen a different and more inclusive approach and all the other manufacturers may lack apps but may not be that far behind , or even ahead on everything else.

Wake up Apple it time to exploit not restrict your asset.

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