InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[jimmylee]

From Davos Conference

Davos Diary - Jan. 23-27, 2008 | World Economic Forum
Davos and the iPhone Effect
January 23, 2008, 12:31 pm

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o Davos 2008
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o Telecommunications

[Davos 2008 - Day 1 - Dealbook]

In Silicon Valley, it may be all-iPhone-all-the-time, but here among the world’s business elites in Davos, it’s still very much a RIM Blackberry world. Indeed, if you pull an iPhone out of your pocket, it still creates a mild sensation here, because unlike in the United States, most Europeans have yet to touch Apple’s six-month-old handheld phenomenon.

That said, at a technology update session I moderated this afternoon, the iPhone was very much on the radar for the panelists, who included Randall Stephenson, the chief executive of Apple’s partner, AT&T, but also competitors such Cher Wang, the chief executive of High Tech Computer, and William Amelio, the chief executive of computer maker Lenovo, as well as Silver Lake technology buyout specialist Glenn Hutchins.

The consensus was that the iPhone is a boon to the industry as a whole because, by raising the bar in user interface design, it has not only created new opportunities for competitors but has demonstrated a path for attracting a new class of consumers who have shied away from complex handhelds in the past.

The panel also offered a striking contrast to the general sense of foreboding in Davos — the feeling that there is an impending financial crisis hanging over the conference.

While Davos rules prohibit direct quotations from panelists at many of the events, including this one, the general sense of the panel was that no information technology crisis is imminent and that the industry would be able to grow through any severe economic downturn. - John Markoff