Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), though still a force as fierce as it used to be, has become a bit easier and flexible to deal with under Tim Cook, shares a CEO of a major European operator. France Telecom Orange CEO, Stephane Richard, said during a dinner with the reporters in Barcelona that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has become more flexible than before and also it heeds to everyone else, making itself a less supercilious it used to be. Richard further said, “I think they are probably a little more under pressure, and it is quite nice.”
Richard also said that there are many operating system providers stepping in the market like Mozilla, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Blackberry and Mobile Linux to compete with Apple iOS and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android, but there is not much space for the competition.
“There is probably not room for everyone,” Richard said. “But all of us hope that among those initiatives, at least one will be able to emerge as a third ecosystem.”
Richard said that there is an over-regulation in the telecommunication industry in the continent and other European wireless firms echo the same idea. He went on calling one particular regulator “dumb”. He said Europe has more than 100 wireless carriers and there is an incredible competition.
“We are living through incredible competition; they are not living through competition. That’s it,” he said. He entreated regulators to prevent further companies from entering the crowded market.
The CEO further shared that he along with other European operators are working on the same issue for many years now. “It is a little tiring to sing the same song,” he said.
Richard said the journey ahead is not smooth for Windows Phone, which competes with iOS and Android. He said that phones sitting on Microsoft operating system are neither cheap, nor do they provide any better applications than Android and iOs. These devices are also not designed better than devices running on Android and iOS.
“The Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) family in my opinion is nice, but there is no ‘wow’ effect,” Richard said. “When you have a market with very steady players like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930), you need to have a ‘wow’ effect.”
Commenting on the current plight for Blackberry and praising their CEO, Richard said “He is doing a great job, but I am not sure they will be successful,” Richard said. “At least they have a basis of very faithful users, which is not the case of Nokia.”
