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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

Collateral Damage

Collateral Damage

While there's been speculation about how Apple will discourage customers elsewhere in Europe using the single market to overcome the differential feature availability they intend to impose on the iPhone, it was clear what one of the mechanisms will be.

The sign in Regent Street yesterday says (among other things) "Your iPhone can only be serviced in the country in which it was purchased". Now, that may seem fair enough if you are a Sony-minded consumer who never travels, but one of the big benefits of being an Apple customer is that their warranty works everywhere in the world (usually). This sign says that doesn't apply to iPhones.

In an attempt to stop customers working around their anti-customer lock-in policy they are adopting another anti-customer policy that will make global travellers find the iPhone less attractive. They are already in a pitched battle with eager enthusiasts who want to make their device more useful. How far will Apple go down the path that led Sony to ruin in their music player business?

Labels: Apple

posted at 11:48 AM (UK) | |