08-06-2015, 05:38 PM
GuyGene wrote:
I look at Apple Pay as a free accessory to people who already have an iPhone. Not a $650 entrance fee. So many people already have iPhones, so Apple Pay is great! Forget skimmers. Our Visa card name was stolen tow times! Just the number, and used for over $2,500 800 miles away. That could not happen with Apple Pay. Try being overseas when your credit card number is stolen, like I was the first time. Whew, wha' a headache.
Just one person's opinion of course, but my main beef with Apple Pay is Apple's ridiculous rationale for not including NFC in older hardware. Apple knew Apple Pay was coming soon, so why not throw older iPhone users a bone and include NFC when they first started the initiative? I can recall when my iPod touch suddenly had access to Bluetooth after an iOS update and similarly my Core 2 Duo MacBook suddenly had 802.11n after a firmware update.
Then I remembered almost the entirety of Apple's profits come from iPhone sales, and frequent upgrades is their whole business model. Which makes their generally positive OS update support strange, but I think that has something to do with keeping people keyed into the iOS ecosystem for media/app purchases). The only way to get Apple Pay without an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus is to upgrade your phone ahead of your own personal schedule ($650 minimum) or buy an Apple Watch ($350 minimum). Going forward it won't be a big deal, but the iPhone 5, 5s, and 5c owners haven't been considered at all except as an Apple Watch or iPhone 6 upgrade revenue streams.
Bottom line, no matter however you slice it, Apple Pay is a $650 or $650+$350 proposition unless you only plan on single sourcing such consumer goods so the cost is sunk anyway. Then again, imagine the huge business Apple could have if they released Apple Pay for Android NFC phones? They would make good money doing nothing, but slowly iterating an app on Android while still selling high margin smartphones with a huge host of other benefits? Or even adding Apple Watch support for Android? The last bit would be too expensive for my tastes, but it would surely add at least some slice of the 85% of the world using Android?
Win-win?
P.s. I haven't been an enthusiastic Google NFC payment user either, but I would love to be able to choose payment options irrespective of my phone choices. That's the dream anyway.