Rest easy, iPad roamers: O2 and Orange have micro SIM orders, too
Steve mentioned in his iPad preso yesterday that he was pretty confident the company would have international data deals locked up by June or July of this year — but since the thing uses some wacky new micro SIM standard …
Context & Ripple Effects
The iPad launched yesterday on a micro SIM standard that no shipping device uses, which makes carrier readiness a genuine launch constraint rather than a formality. Steve Jobs told the audience Apple expects international data deals locked up by June or July — confirmed in the coverage — so European operators positioning themselves early have a narrow ordering window.
For the three carriers that split the original Europe iPhone deal, this is familiar terrain with the stakes shifted: O2 has watched Orange and T-Mobile break its UK iPhone exclusivity since mid-2009, and it still carries an unresolved question about imposing lock-in on out-of-contract iPhones. Securing micro SIM supply now lets O2 and Orange compete for iPad data revenue from day one instead of ceding the launch.
First-order effects
- O2 and Orange gain the ability to sell iPad data plans at or near launch, ahead of rivals that have not yet placed micro SIM orders.
- Apple gets two anchor carriers for its June-or-July international data timeline, reducing the risk that micro SIM scarcity delays overseas rollout.
Second-order effects
- Competing European carriers face pressure to place their own micro SIM orders quickly or concede the initial iPad data market to O2 and Orange.
- With UK iPhone exclusivity already broken, iPad data plans become a fresh arena where O2 can rebuild differentiation against Orange and T-Mobile.
Third-order effects
- If Apple's hardware choices keep dictating carrier procurement cycles — exclusivity for the iPhone, a new SIM form factor for the iPad — bargaining power in European mobile keeps shifting toward the device maker.
- A successful multi-carrier iPad data model would normalize shorter, device-led carrier deals rather than years-long handset exclusivity contracts.
The trend: European carriers are being forced to organize around Apple's product cadence — competing for data-plan share on each new device rather than resting on handset exclusivity.