Move to Android: EU carriers pushing Apple to provide an app to help people leave iOS ecosystem

Move to iOS app teaser 001

Due to complaints by European mobile operators, Apple is reportedly under pressure to provide software that would permit iPhone owners to easily switch to Android, The Telegraph reported yesterday.

Carriers contend that Apple’s decision to only provide the ‘Move to iOS’ app but not a similar tool to shift user data over to an Android device is limiting competition while weakening their hand in negotiations with Apple over contractual terms.

Move to Android

“Major European telecoms operators are concerned that only a tiny fraction of customers ever move off the iPhone, in part because of the technical hassle of transferring data,” reads the report.

An industry source told the British newspaper that Apple’s agreed to develop “a simple tool” to help consumers move their contacts, music, photos and other data to Android.

“The operators fear that the lack of switching weakens their hand in commercial negotiations with Apple,” the story adds. To me, that says more about carriers’ fears over the iPhone’s dominance than anything else.

The most profitable smartphone brand in history

Indeed, it is no secret that the iPhone has stolen away almost all the available profits in smartphones. It is also no secret that carriers are dependent on those affluent iPhone consumers to drive most of their profits as Android isn’t very profitable.

That being said, I’m not so sure pressuring Apple to make such an app will yield desired results. But given the iPhone’s undiminished popularity and strong pull of the iOS ecosystem, Apple stands nothing to lose were it to provide a ‘Move to Android’ app of sorts to those who would decidedly drop their iPhone and switch over to Android.

Will Apple cave to the pressure, do you think? And should it be cooperative and make it easier for people to leave the iOS ecosystem, if they decide to do so?

Source: The Telegraph