Nokia denied yesterday, the recent news reports of its plans for a phone that plays music from Apple’s online music store, even as speculation had suggested that Nokia’s upcoming N91 music phone would be one such model. After the No. 2 cell phone maker, Motorola, announced its partnership with Apple to make its first iTunes phone that is expected any day, Nokia had indicated that it was open to a similar partnership.
But the Finnish daily Taloussanomat’s claim of Nokia bringing the iTunes music service on its new phone, was totally way out as Kari Tuuti, a Nokia spokesman confirmed that in the absence of any commercial arrangement between Nokia and Apple it would be impossible integrate the support software for iTunes even if it were created in the new models. Currently there is very little to go for such a partnership, with Nokia making music phones that are clearly seen by Apple as competition to its iPod digital players designed for the iTunes service. Also as Tuuttiput it, "We (Nokia) are not making any exclusive arrangements with any music store, but believe that we want to give the consumer the choice of where they want to purchase their music."
The iTunes compatible phones that signify a new possibility and direction for growth of Apple’s iTunes service, which so far seemed to favor only the iPods for storage. However, Apple’s own infamous policy of controlling both the hardware as well as software side of its products and technology, has been a stumbling block, attributed for the over-a-year-gestation of the jointly developed Motorola iTunes phone. With Motorola’s Ed Zander’s recent promise of release by September end this year, analysts speculate that the ideal platform could be the weekend’s V Festival concert in UK, that is sponsored partly by the giants of the wireless and music realms - Vodafone and Virgin.
With the success of iTunes phones being hugely dependent on supportive wireless carriers for the iTunes service, Vodafone is seen as a strong candidate given its willingness to “to try new things”. Many wireless carriers see the Motorola-Apple phone with their $0.99 priced audio downloads as a threat to their own money spinning download service that collect $2 to $3 per download with a $1 per transaction spread. Clearly iTunes’ song downloads would result in far lesser profits besides fragmenting profits three ways between Apple, the music rights holder and the wireless carrier.
For those who nursed hopes of listening to affordable music from iTunes on the more popular Nokia handsets, the options are an additional investment in an iPod or a wait to change to the Motorola iTunes phone that most probably will offer a limited area coverage for the iTunes service. For now Nokia will watch the way Motorola’s iTunes phones go before thinking of shipping its own such phones, like it did to adopt the clamshell phones and high-resolution picture and camera phones.
