The Google phone, perhaps “G-phone” is another transformational innovation in this industry driven by the most consistent innovator of the last decade.
The standard business model in the mobile phone industry has been to effectively give the phones away in return for a contracted monthly fee for a period. Consumers have got used to this model, but generally dislike the opaque pricing.
The “G-phone” will be sold from the Google website, without a carrier, each consumer will be able to make their own arrangements. This will change the base of the business model if the Gphone reaches any sort of scale, particularly when a carrier in a market does a deal for Gphone owners based on the opportunity offered by a potentially large group of consumers .
Googles “Kindle” reader is rapidly building penetration, and has recently gone international, and is a huge threat to the existing institutions that inhabit all stages of the book industry. The phone has a similar disruptive potential.
