Apple’s recently unveiled eSIM-only iPhone 14 models signal a turning point in the mobile carrier industry, according to GlobalData.
However, the eSIM-only models have many and varied consequences as these devices represent myriad challenges and opportunities for carrier differentiation in terms of digital customer experience, onboarding, roaming, privacy and security management and promotional switching.
Emma Mohr-McClune, Technology Service Director, GlobalData, said, “For carriers outside the US, the first eSIM-only iPhone launch in the US is a clear signal of what’s coming to carriers everywhere, and now sooner rather than later. US carriers no longer have the luxury of waiting out the eSIM market; they’ll have to deal with the eSIM-only iPhone 14, whether they like it or not. Some are arguably better prepared than others, but many of the smaller, local and prepaid carriers – including smaller players serving the business community – are facing a furious game of catch-up.”
According to GlobalData, while carriers might be able to catch-up fairly quickly, the inability to adequately support a new generation of iPhone 14 customers with a perfect-first-time eSIM onboarding and profile self-management experience is a business disaster waiting to happen.
Mohr-McClune noted that the analyst firm predicts the rise of eSIM Test Drive offers in the market. This allows users to compare the performance of the new network with that of their existing provider’s, and potentially switch to a new offer using their device’s eSIM.
GlobalData also anticipate that this first generation of eSIM-only iPhone users will create more familiarity and trust in the market for eSIM onboarding self-management, and this will open opportunities for local, roaming and even application-specific, specialists to appear in the market with low-cost, commitment-free ‘micro-offers’ for on/ off connectivity, wherever, and whenever the user requires it, self-managed by an app and the device’s inbuilt eSIM feature.
Since the eSIM provides carriers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with a far faster, easier software update path, we may see the launch of ultra-secure, cybersecurity mobile service providers, able to guarantee data privacy and user security at multiple levels, via eSIM onboarding, according to GlobalData.
“The eSIM-only smartphone is an invitation for much creativity in the mobile market, and we’ll be watching the competitive fallout carefully,” said Mohr-McClune. “The carriers best prepared for the arrival of eSIM-only devices, and able to think through not only the competitive threats, but the innovation opportunities, will be best poised to perform well in this new era of digital connectivity competition.”
