The AT&T CEO Interview - Symbian devices... talk to Nokia, why Europe first, and devices with flaws
Written by LBSzone
Thursday, 29 November 2007
Engadget has a fantastic interview with AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega.
Ryan Block drills him, of interest, the interview asks why the hold up
with Nokia (Symbian S60) devices coming to the US and why the lack of
marketshare. The response... in a nutshell it's Nokia, it's the lag
time after Euro release, and also devices shipping "full of flaws" ...
ouch!
The interview
touches on such topics as selling unlocked devices, symbian devices
coming to market, pet peves, and Symbian devices specific to the US
market - for fun read Darla's take on the interview... which apparently
came close to making her puke - a great read Darla.. thanks!
Some comments I like:
We have always been very open in terms of working with manufacturers.
If you want Symbian operating system we have phones that are Symbian-based
What about unlocked phones:
Just tell them that you want a "no-commitment price" and that
phone can be sold. No body wants to buy it because you, in fact, are
paying a premium for the phone. Ask them for the "no-commitment price"
so that you don't have to sign a contract, one or two year. And I think
they will be able to say, ok fine you can buy that phone, there is no
contractual requirement for that.
and my favorite - Symbian has had a really
difficult time making its way into America. Especially on AT&T...
Why is it that the process that's in place right now for releasing
advanced devices is so effective at keeping us behind in the wireless world
... In the case of Nokia, you can talk to their executives...
And so my biggest pet peeve with Nokia in particular, and you can talk
to them -- because I've certainly talked to them on this -- is, why are
you releasing that device in Europe first, and then letting us having
it device 6 months or even later in the US? And their reason is that's
their core market. So they release and develop everything to work in
Europe first. Now as a result of our complaining they have built a
development lab in San Diego to begin to develop devices for the US.
They are still not on par with other companies, but that is my biggest
pet peeve... They have not been giving it to us at the same time that
they have been giving them to European operators.
so what about the N75... The N75 is a device that Nokia developed specifically for AT&T, for US spectrum and with your 3G network
He couldn't speak to the N75 and the resulting delays in coming to
market in the US, however, WRT the E62... I can speak to the E62
because I was there when that device was launched, and it was full of
flaws.
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