Apple continues to negotiate with NTT DoCoMo (Japan’s largest mobile carrier) over a possible iPhone 4S launch, reports The Wall Street Journal. The pivotal issue seems to be that the carrier wants some of its own apps pre-installed on iPhones offered by the carrier.
This practice has plagued a number of mobile devices in the past. These carrier apps are typically not especially well-made, and often cause frustrations for users. Pre-installing the apps on iOS would also likely make them more difficult to delete.
Some of the apps that DoCoMo would like pre-installed are an e-wallet app enabling to consumers to pay for products from their devices, and a dedicated app for the carrier’s mobile email service.
Forcing apps on consumes is never a wise practice, in my opinion, and pre-installing apps like these on iPhones is not something Apple is likely to agree to. Perhaps DoCoMo would be better served heavily promoting the apps on their website, and in promotional emails about them offering the iPhone?
I entirely fail to see the point of carriers including pre-installed apps on smartphones – I cannot conceive of a single way in which this is good for consumers. As such, if a lack of pre-installed apps on the iPhone is a deal-breaker for DoCoMo, I believe that Apple will simply walk away.
While Apple would certainly benefit from having DoCoMo as a carrier partner, as it would help accelerate their growth in Asia even further, its unlikely that Apple would compromise the user experience of their device in such a manner.
