iPhone as Also-Ran?

In the Economist’s wrap-up coverage of CTIA conference of Florida, the publication came out swinging against the much hyped Apple iPhone:

But though not available until June, the $500 iPhone is as
mouth-watering today as yesterday’s cold pizza. The phone that stole
the show at CTIA Wireless 2007 was the “Ocean” from Helio, a
youth-oriented newcomer to the cellular business.

In addition to giving high praise for the Ocean’s interface and design, as well as noting the disparity in price ($295 for the Helio vs. $500 for the iPhone) the article continued,

But it is the Helio Ocean’s EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimised) wireless
technology that renders Apple’s iPhone an also-ran. Mobile experts have
been mystified by Apple’s decision to use Cingular’s EDGE (Enhanced
Data rates for GSM Evolution) network when far better wireless
communications methods abound…Cingular’s version
of it provides data speeds of between 75 kilobits per second (kbps) and
135 kbps—not that much better than a dial-up internet connection, and
often much worse…

By contrast, the EV-DO networks used by Helio (as well as Verizon
and Sprint in America and KDDI in Japan) offer 450 kbps to 800 kbps,
rates similar to those of DSL broadband connections. EDGE’s slower data
speeds mean that iPhone users must rely on Wi-Fi to do anything more
than make phone calls or send the odd e-mail…

So, there appears to be yet another consideration for consumers on top of high price point, concerns about battery life, exclusive availability through Cingular, etc. Will heavy data users be deterred by an antiquated network? Likely.

Economist