In 2006, a nascent marketplace for music-enabled mobile phones was emerging as a challenge to Apple Computer's dominant position in the digital music business. With the help of its iTunes Music Store and its iPod line of portable digital music devices, Apple controlled more than half of the marketplace for on-line music sales and both music player hardware. However,the increasing skill to blend those devices with mobile phones, and to deliver music to cellular handsets (via streaming, side-loading content from a PC or downloading it wirelessly over the air), created a potentially market-altering chance for players in several sectors.
This article analyzes the crucial players, including Apple; the leading wireless service providers, like Cingular, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon Wireless; service and technology vendors, like Microsoft and Real Networks; and mobile virtual network operators, like Virgin Mobile. Moreover, it also covers the sources of the mobile music company, projections on its possible size, its technological building blocks (including file formats, digital rights management systems, wireless network infrastructure, and handset capacity), and the essential dynamics--music delivery system, pricing, cellular telephone-PC integration--that define mobile music business models.
PUBLICATION DATE: August 02, 2006 PRODUCT #: 707S12-PDF-SPA
This is just an excerpt. This case is about STRATEGY & EXECUTION
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