(keitai-l) DoCoMo's reduced Symbian version on Fujitsu handsets ... open Nokia vision vs. controlled DoCoMo/Vodafone vision

Hi keitai-lovers,

during our past 3 Mobile Kaizen seminars Daniel Scuka 
and me identified the key mobile meta-competition between the 
2 major strategies of making money in our beloved Mobile Economy.
Most probably, many of you watch this meta-competition evolving, too.

Let's call this mobile meta-competition something like this: The fight 
between the closed MNO-controlled vs. the open PC-like mobile device 
environment ...

Vodafone by now globally adopted the DoCoMo strategy of tight 
MNO-control by giving 100%-specs to handset makers regarding 
device features and dos and don'ts of content distribution to 
mobile devices.

On the other hand, Nokia pushes Symbian and the vision of 
the open mobile online computer on which the user can run any app 
while moving any data to the PC or other keitai (over SD cards etc.).

In this context, a major question came up and I have a 
champagne-bottle-bet running with Daniel Scuka on the answer to
this question:

Can you confirm, that DoCoMo has trimmed some key data exchange 
functionality of the Symbian OS version on their 2 Fujitsu FOMA 
handsets? I especially refer to not allowing to exchange apps 
over the SD cards ... Because this would prove a key decision
of maintaing control over content distribution in the mobile 
meta-competition. Did anyone develop apps for the Symbian-powered 
Fujitsu devices?

So here are some scenarios of how this mobile meta-competition
of the open vs. closed mobile device (actually becoming a small 
online computer) may evolve in the (not too distant) future:

- Nokia first becomes MVNO and/or later buys MNOs. Maybe new
  players that bring Mobile Broadband to the market, such
  as German www.airdata.ag that is based on wireless Mobile Broadband 
  high-tech from www.ipwireless.com.

- Microsoft develops and sells (almost open) devices and
  becomes MVNO and/or buys MNOs. As pointed out above, the
  control over mobile data distribution is the key success
  factor and Microsoft has got lots of fixed experience through
  MSN.

- DoCoMo and Vodafone relax their tight control due to market
  pressure from Nokia and Microsoft.

- MNOs win and Nokia and Microsoft just have to adapt.
  But before they accept such a defeat they will spend many
  billions to change the rules of the game.

I am sure that ultimately the mass market demand represented by 
smart users will decide the outcome of this mobile meta-competition. 
People just want to have control THEMSELVES over the mobile online 
computing devices, like on the PC connected with a fixed flat rate. 
And I believe that in North America and Europe this open attitude is 
more widely spread in consumers' minds as compared to the Asian region.

What do you think?

Jan.

-----------------------------
Jan Michael Hess, CEO
Mobile Economy GmbH
Ahornallee 20, D-14050 Berlin
Web: www.mobileeconomy.de
Web: www.mobiliser.org
Ph:  +49.30.30107488
GSM: +49.178.3126098
ICQ: massai (ID #5239369)