Discount retailer Aldi launched a no-frills prepaid MVNO service in Germany called Aldi Talk. For those unfamiliar with Aldi it attempts to knock a few cents off the price of toilet paper and canned goods by eliminating frivolous things in its stores, like shelves, and making all the aisles narrow and one-way (I only shopped there once). The mobile service is pretty much the same, from what I can tell… there’s not much scope for mobile content.
Russell Beattie has written about a similar situation in the US, where Wal-Mart accounts for 32% of handset sales. This is from an eMarketer report on where people buy handsets in the US. Russell’s not happy with the development, writing: “Consumers always want inexpensive or free phones, that’s for sure. But Wal-Mart I’m sure is pushing it to extremes, with the cheapest phones and most basic plans. Not good for mobility in general, the mobile market or anyone in particular except maybe Chinese sweat shop owners who have deals with them.” He’s more happy with Radio Shack which came in second place with 28% of the market, claiming this is due to the great customer service provided by Radio Shack.
All in all it seems the market for mobile handsets is spreading thin, ranging from the disturbingly cheap that just covers voice calls to the ridiculously expensive that includes ruby bearings and other jewels. From these reports it seems like an increasing number of people will have handsets incapable of running mobile content, but there is some good news — a report by NPD Group found the most popular handset in the US was the Razr V3followed by the Nokia 6010, showing that many people want phones with added capabilities…

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