<Now mobile handsets shold be price at rock bottom prices. Like Casio watches. Perhaps a price level that even the beggars could afford or that people could buy per Kg.>
That's what people thought, but as with computers, the price never dropped, the quality just kept improving and people upgraded to get the latest goodies. Their new computer was no cheaper than their previous one.
Now people are not buying really cheap 1990s style cellphones for $10 a kilogram. They are buying swanky 2005 cyberphones, with WiFi, Bluetooth, 1xEV-DO, BREW and all sorts of goodies and paying $500 a unit.
That means royalties are booming, new ASIC designs are going UP in price and QUALCOMM profits and dividends are booming too. And the fun has just begun. Even on Freedom Rock, Jay is using anachronistic GPRS and in 1xEV-DO Auckland, I still have an old 1xRTT phone with pathetic WAP cyberspace access. There are 2 billion people who will buy CDMA, and upgrade every year or two, and pay their dues to Mighty Q!
People are noticing that even in the poorest places, people are prepared to spend a LOT of their income to get mobile cyberspace. That's because these are not toys - they are extensions of our eyes and ears to anywhere on Earth. Our horizons are no longer limited to the edge of the village, how far we can shout, or see. Not having one is like choosing to be deaf and blind = not a good choice. Even poor people want eyes and ears and to know where they are and to have access to a huge memory [Google] and to communicate.
Mqurice |
