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No surprises on Monday night then, as Apple unveiled the iPhone 3G. The new handset will do everything we'd expected, at a lower price than before, and so on and so forth, but unfortunately, unless you are in Egypt, Jordan or Qatar - sometime in the next year or so - then most Middle East users aren't going to get their hands on one.
Apple's lack of interest in bringing the iPhone to the Middle East is a source of considerable annoyance to many in the region, and not just to the die-hard Apple fans. While unlocked iPhone handsets are likely to make an appearance here soon enough, having a grey market handset is not ideal, given the possibility that an Apple software update might ‘brick' your handset.
So why isn't Apple interested in bringing iPhone here - especially given the insane mobile penetration rates and high disposable incomes of the Gulf?
For starters, Apple is working with existing partners global partners, most likely to preserve the quality of the user experience around iPhone - meaning if you buy it, that its supported, can access content, and so on - and of course to create that buzz of exclusivity around the device.
With thousands of mobile operators worldwide, Apple simply can't build relationships with all of them over night, and particularly for the Gulf, the subscriber numbers for operators only rank in the low single-digit millions at best, a drop in the ocean compared to most European or South American countries, and nothing when compared to India or China.
Apple also seems to be very keen to stick to selling the iPhone as part of a contract, not the model that's predominant here. While the handset was unlocked fairly easily, leading to millions of handsets reaching countries outside of the official territories, there is a difference between selling a device that can be unlocked by some warranty-voiding tinkering and selling one that is intended to be unlocked.
On top of that, Apple seems to have scant regard for the Middle East anyway, working exclusively through partners across the region, with no investment of its own in marketing or support, so its not really surprising that the company isn't rushing to push out a flagship product into a market where the company itself isn't around to support it.
All of which means that I don't think we will see an iPhone launch in the UAE or Oman or Saudi any time soon.
Which I think is the Gulf's loss. The figures for iPhone usage quoted by Apple CEO Steve Jobs are very interesting - 98% of iPhone users are using it for browsing, 94% are using email, 90% are using SMS and 80% are using ten or more features. While these figures are based on existing Apple fans, and also I suspect US Apple fans, they would suggest a massive uptake of mobile features such as browsing and email that can't, so far, be matched in this region.
The mobile web landscape in the US and Europe is different to the Middle East, and although services are coming through, they have tended to be fairly narrow focused, and confined to sports, but there are quite a few young mobile web companies out there that are full of ideas, that just need a push to get going.
There are also plenty of smartphones in the market already, Nokia in particular stands out has having the same understanding as Apple of how to create a good user experience, but there just doesn't seem to be the same buzz around mobile web. In a chicken or egg situation, lack of content will put off some consumers, but I think that with the hype of a local iPhone launch, service providers would get the shot in the arm they need to ‘build-it-and-they-will-come' and finally get the Middle East mobile internet off the ground.
