"Open Studio 2006" is the name of Nokia's latest marketing campaign, accompanying the product launch of a new phone series. The company actively targets at mobile music users with these mobile devices. In my opinion, we might sooner or later see a shootout between Apple plus the smaller music player manufacturer and the major cell phone players.The new phones might make your iPod obsolete. Why? Isn't it an obious step to see the convergence between mobile phone and mp3-player? Why carry two devices: phone and player?
Nokia's strike comes only a few months after they acquired Loudeye, a digital music company. And this is most likely not the last thing to come. As Nokia already distributes its phones in some countries via wireless network providers, an alliance to distribute digital music with the help of the T-mobiles and Cingulars of this world is just a matter of time. Apple's iTunes business model will erode. And the cell phone players have the better position: First, it is easier to include mp3 player functions in a phone than vice versa. Second, they cover already a large part of the value chain: device, music & distribution.
Let's see if Apple can counter-strike.
Open Studio 2006
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