iPhone makes the right connection with the Mac user community

After a somewhat tumultuous launch fraught with the threat of trademark infringement lawsuits, Apple Inc.’s iPhone appears to be on a relatively smooth course for deployment later this year.According to Decima Research, Canadian NEW MEDIA’s parent company, awareness of the new device is very high among Canadians. A poll of nearly 1,500 Canadians, conducted between January 12 and 17 this year, found that 83% of respondents had some awareness of the iPhone, with 29% of total respondents saying they’d heard quite a bit about the new device. Not surprisingly, recognition was highest among existing users of Apple products – namely, Mac computers (52% of whom had heard a lot about the iPhone) and iPods (45% of whom had heard a lot).Demand among Canadians for the iPhone appears to be strong. Slightly more than one in 10 of those interviewed said they would either definitely buy or seriously consider buying an iPhone (2% definitely and 11% seriously consider) – significant numbers, considering the device has yet to be made available in Canada. As well, 37% said there was a chance they would buy it. However, there was some sensitivity to price built into the responses: while buying signals remained constant for respondents at price tags of $400 and $500, interest in purchasing the iPhone dropped when the cost climbed to $600 and higher.The iPhone’s launch at Apple’s Macworld conference on January 9 took the wraps off a long-running battle to use the name. Networking equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. has owned a US trademark for "iPhone" in connection with Internet telephony since 2000; since 2003, according to Cisco, Apple has tried several times to licence the name from them. Meanwhile, Toronto telecom provider Comwave has the trademark registered in Canada for its VoIP product, now also available in a wireless version. While the Cisco-Apple showdown was settled amicably on February 22, the Mac maker could still run into some trouble here from Comwave.Trademark issues aside, other stumbling blocks are looming – the least of which is Apple’s notoriously guarded approach to third-party developers. With a client roster including Verizon Wireless, the National Hockey League, men’s magazine Maxim, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s Dualstar Entertainment Group, Montreal’s Airborne Entertainment is one of the leading names in custom-built promotional and advergaming titles. It was also named the fourth fastest-growing high-tech company in North America last October by Deloitte & Touche LLP. In short, it should be a model candidate for early development on the iPhone platforms.So far, however, participation in an iPhone developer program has been a non-starter for the company. "We’ve definitely tried to get information, reaching out to Apple and Cingular , and it doesn’t seem that right now we’re able to participate," says Kim Senn, VP of product at Airborne. She adds that she assumes such a program is available and underway, but she has no first-hand knowledge of it.And having as many applications available to iPhone users as possible might be critical to the device’s adoption rate: according to respondents of the Decima Research survey, the most important factors influencing the iPhone’s desirability are the convenience of housing a number of applications in one single device (53%), combined with the Apple reputation for quality (21%). Presumably, then, the longer the list of available applications, the broader the device’s appeal.Airborne’s Senn believes that given that pressure, offering a software development kit to third-party developers is an inevitable move for Apple. "Consumer demand will most likely force them to open up," she says. "It could be that they’re limiting things initially so the products that they’re going out of the gates with a certain type of look-and-feel or…quality. I can appreciate that, but it’s something that we definitely do want to work with."So far, Senn says, Airborne’s customers haven’t been clamouring for iPhone versions of their content. "I think the brands and the partners that we work with are more concerned about the overall content that we’re creating, rather than what particular end device it is going on," she says. "Maybe I just haven’t heard of it yet, but I think there will be a fair amount of interest to make sure that that device is included the popularity of iPods and just Macs in general. That’s something that we’re very keen on as well, ultimately we want to build the best product for a brand or for a partner, regardless of what the end device will be."And the iPhone promises to have a profound effect on mobile content for one big reason: its operating system – a derivative of the full-sized OSX powering Mac desktops and laptops – will allow users to browse the Web in all its glory, rather than a dumbed-down-for-mobile version as is the case with some of the other smartphones’ WAP browsers. Airborne hasn’t worked formally with developing for OSX in the past, and "we actually have a fair amount of WAP content," Senn says. However, she adds, her team would welcome the challenge of porting content, as well as developing new content from the ground-up, for the device: "I don’t think it’s going to be really that difficult, and it’s something that we’re very much interested in."Given Apple’s strong brand presence, unique design philosophy and the loyalty of its existing customer base, the phone will undoubtedly make a splash when it becomes available here through Rogers Wireless sometime near the end of the year. "The success of the iPod is reason enough to take this new product seriously," says Decima Research CEO Bruce Anderson. "iPod and Apple are a powerful branding force and the idea of using one device for multiple functions is a proposition which has clear appeal."And like 2% of the Decima survey’s respondents, Senn says she’s got her mind made up already about the iPhone: "I happen to be a Mac user and an iPod user and a smartphone user…so, I’m very anxiously awaiting the device as well. I’m definitely looking to pick one up myself."

iPhone makes the right connection with the Mac user community

Broadcast | March 9, 2007

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