New SDK Stokes Potential i-Phone Sales Growth
In the same way
the i-Phone challenged the marketplace to innovate phone design and UI, the
recently-released software development kit (SDK) and it’s surrounding ecosystem
will challenge Microsoft, RIM, and Nokia (the principle owners of Symbian)
to match the kind of access developers need to make their work worthwhile. Most notably, that would include access to
potential customers.As with all the mobile operating systems (OS) owners, there’s a co-dependent relationship between them and the developers who create applications (apps) which enhance or extend the OS and the device which runs it. In the case of the i-Phone, Apple had to provide the tools to let developers create certified apps for the i-Phone in order to capture revenue for distributing those software products (it’s another revenue stream for them). The happy by-product will be more-contented users, a more powerful phone, and increased future sales.
Now, $99/year (and a mandatory purchase of an Apple computer) will get a developer access to i-Tunes and a software store presence on the phone itself, provided they don’t mind waiting for their app to be certified. Apple’s success in engaging the developer community with this SDK will depend on how smoothly the certification program runs, and just how long smaller developers will have to wait while Apple services their preferred “partners”.
Also, we know about Apple’s aspirations for making the i-Phone a viable business phone. At first blush, this seems ridiculous, but then when you think about small businesses (doctors, lawyers, or anytime an executive’s image is important...) it makes sense. In fact, IT support or not, there is much pleasure for users in any organization to be able to just pick up and intuitively use a communications device, rather than to struggle with a learning curve and software glitches.
Since Apple has licensed Microsoft’s Active Synch with Exchange servers, they’ve broken down another enterprise mass-deployment barrier.
The i-Phone SDK is most important to Apple’s ability to offer a business phone-solution, since they more lack applications there. This is strategically what the SDK is all about.
How successful the i-Phone can be in the business market will also depend on how primarily RIM and Microsoft respond with product innovation and better developer access to the retail channel.
Well, you don't need to buy an Apple if you already have one! But, yeah, most developers who are new to the Apple world will have to invest...
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