Should Apple be defending AT&T?
Today I was browsing my RSS feeds, getting notes together for this week’s IMP Live when I came across this story from iPhone Alley and it got me thinking about the relationship between Apple and AT&T.
The basic gist of the story is that Apple have released two new iPhone ads in the US, both of which highlight the fact that the iPhone (and subsequently AT&T’s 3G network) can handle voice and data at the same time, and giving real world examples of how this benefits iPhone users. What Apple does though, is to bring up the whole which 3G network is better ‘battle’ in the ad, is this right, is Apple being paid off by AT&T?
Now, I’m not disputing the facts here, the truth is Verizon’s EVDO network can’t handle voice and data at the same time, whereas AT&T’s HSDPA network can. What I’m questioning is whether Apple should have left it at ‘Can your phone do that?’ rather than rallying to AT&T’s side in this, as I called it earlier, battle of the 3G networks.
I have to wonder if Apple have indeed been asked, and possibly paid, by AT&T to create this ad, it’s certainly not the first time AT&T have had a hand in the iPhone. We all know that AT&T have on many occasion asked Apple to reject apps from the App Store because of concerns over their 3G network, which I’m sure most AT&T users will confirm is not exactly in a great state right now.
I guess that’s my thoughts on the subject, but I’d love to hear yours, so use the comments below to let me know your views!
Apple doesn’t need to be paid off by AT&T to benefit from advertising for them. Right now the only ad campaign attacking the iPhone directly is the Droid ads, the rest (There’s a map for that, Sprint’s Now campaign, etc) are attacking the network the iPhone is locked to. Right now AT&T is probably the main reason people choose not to go with iPhones, so it would be silly to continue advertising apps when people are being turned off before they even consider the hardware.
From what I understand Apple is locked in an exclusive contract with AT&T for at least another year or so (It’s unclear exactly what contracts they have), so it’s not like they can just ditch them and start over, and of course Apple wouldn’t leave advertising to AT&T because their recent combat-ads are awful.
A little off topic, I admit… But I’ll rant all the same. I don’t know about AT&T, but someone should be slapping O2 around with a wet kipper… In the UK everything is fantastic if you have a 3G connection, voice and data at the same time is marvellous… What annoys the heck out of me is the way in which O2 deal with voice and data when you’re stuck with an Edge, or even worse GPRS connection (Which is the case for a surprisingly large portion of the UK). On O2, if your phone is using the ‘data channel’ and a phone call comes in, the call is automatically routed to your voicemail. In effect data connections take priority over voice. This isn’t so bad if you don’t use push services on your device, but if you do use push, it is alarming just how much time your phone spends to-ing and fro-ing across the data network. It’s not uncommon for me to get four or five direct-to-voicemail calls per day if I have push services turned on… If I were wearing my tin foil hat, I might suspect that this is a revenue generating tactic by O2… I guess what I’m saying is that when Apple talk about the iPhone being capable of voice and data at the same time, it is not just about the capabilities of the device. Much of the ability comes from the way in which the network service providers configure their equipment, and if they are being greedy then their configuration choices severely undermine the points that Apple are making….. Rant over
I agree 100% with you Keaton. Apple doesn’t have to be paid. Yes, AT&T is weak (and Stu’s right, that’s why I’m not getting and iPhone myself), but what else can Apple do? Say the Verizon is better? Sure, it can’t handle voice and data at the same time, but that’s not the point. The point is, you’re stuck with who you’re stuck with. I’m sure if the iPhone was exclusively on Verizon Apple would defend it despite the no data/voice issue. Its all about keeping a good relationship between the 2 companies, at least while they’re stuck together.