At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a number of the world’s leading telecommunications operators and device manufacturers launched an open global alliance to compete with appstores like the Apple App Store and Google Android Market.
The alliance, consisting of 24 carriers, including large operators like Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and NTT DoCoMo while handset manufacturers LG, Sony Ericsson and Samsung also joined, aims to build an environment or ’wholesale applications community’ where applications can be developed irrespective of device or technology.
According to their website the alliance:
- Will establish a simple route to market for developers and provide them with access to a customer base of over 3 billion customers.
- The alliance aims to unite a fragmented marketplace by involving players from all related industries to create a community based on openness and transparency.
- We believe our model presents the most compelling format on the market where developers will thrive and customers will reap the benefits of greater choice.
Of course, the huge success of the Apple App Store made the carriers and manufacturers decide to step into this market, where Apple takes around 30% of every sale via its platform. Although no information is disclosed, it is likely the members will, just like Vodafone already does on its 360 platform, adopt a similar model.
Gert Jan Spriensma
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