What Impact Will The 3G iPhone Have On The Mobile TV Industry?

As you probably know by now, Steve Jobs unveiled the 3G iPhone at the Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco yesterday. The new phone has some pretty awesome specs, and with its built-in GPS should spawn some hot location-based applications. But what affect will the new phone have on the mobile TV industry?

According to Analysys Mason, the new iPhone "could become the mobile video delivery device of choice for many consumers, by providing a compelling mobile TV and video proposition before mobile broadcasting networks, such as DVB-H become widely available". And although 3G video streaming has some drawbacks, it has enough going for it to push the mobile TV market forward with the help of the video-friendly 2nd-generation iPhone.

Not only does the iPhone has a large, high-quality display, but it has a suitable amount of internal memory and a bunch of energy saving features that drastically reduce the battery drain typical of mobile TV playback. Apple is also plowing content optimized for the iPhone into its iTunes platform like crazy-as of May, iTunes had a catalog of over 600 TV programs and 1500 full-length movies. Plus the iPhone supports a bunch of different methods of video content delivery including sideloading, indoor WLAN and of course high-speed 3G data access over cellular networks worldwide. One of the drawbacks of 3G video streaming is that it can only support a minimal amount of mobile TV users, but with sideloading and WLAN support, the strain put on 3G networks is greatly reduced.

With the first generation iPhone, Apple put a strangehold on its worldwide availability, but the new 3G iPhone will be available in 22 countries July 11, another 24 countries by the end of the summer and eventually available in 70 countries. Says Dr. Alastair Brydon of Analysys Mason, "If the iPhone is able to achieve significant worldwide market share, it will be well-positioned to have a significant impact on the way mobile subscribers purchase and watch mobile TV and video content".

Via LBSZone

June 10, 2008

What Impact Will The 3G iPhone Have On The Mobile TV Industry?