Carrier carnage?
Apple is rumoured to have buddied up with SIM-card maker Gemalto to create a card that could allow European iPhone wannabes to buy a phone directly from Apple and get it working straight away though its App Store.
Anonymous sources inside European carriers believe the two firms have created a SIM card that will come inside the iPhone so customers can choose their carrier when buying the handset on Apple's website or at an Apple store, effectively cutting out the middle-man so users won't have to visit phone shops or sites, Gigaom reported.
It would appear the rumoured plan would greatly decrease the role of the carrier in the iPhone purchase and would seem to demonstrate how much clout Apple has in the phone world. If the rumour proves true, it would seem that Apple can impose rules on operators that have to go along with the computer giant's ideas as the risk of losing the iPhone from their handset range is too great.
If Apple does pull off the move, it could arguabley achieve what Google could not which its Nexus One phone- a simple way to shift handsets online without carrier complications.
Gigaom said French operators have been talking with Apple about the proposal in recent weeks, probably concerned about losing out in the retail stakes, as Apple has already pushed operators out with its App Store.
The Gemalto SIM is reportedly embedded in a chip that has upgradeable flash component and a ROM area, which contains data from the SIM maker including data related to IT and network security but not carrier-specific information.
Sources are believed to have told the website that the flash component will get the operator data via a local connection from a PC and be activated too, possibly doing away with phone calls or visits to shops.
It is thought such a change in the way iPhones are sold could make it easier for users to roam in Europe, potentially swapping carriers more easily, but will add to the headache for operators, which have mostly lost exclusivity of the iPhone.
In many ways it would be a departure from the early days of the iPhone when operators had a lot of influence of how and where the new handset was sold.
However, even at the time of launch, commentators noted the phone would shift control to the customers, as one journalist wrote: "Search engines to web sites - nothing will be determined by the wireless carriers who have thus far done nothing but create barriers between what we want, and giving us what they want to sell."
He also predicted the ‘demise of subsidised, boring phones filled with bloat ware' and said consumers would get used to buying unlocked phones in the post iPhone era.
