Where's the CDMA-love?

[Ashg]

Why is there so little CDMA love? We get an occasional bone thrown to us, an exclusive deal here and there, but I sit back and watch the dearth of new phones come out as GSM, GSM, GSM. Hell, even the 4.5 OS development is almost all GSM right now with reports of CDMA updates coming "when we get around to it." BAH!

It's not like I'm a CDMA fanboy. CDMA-based carriers works better where I live and work; the local iDen and GSM networks require me to go in my bathroom at home and lean into the windowsill to get a signal. I get reception in my school's sub-level classrooms where my fellow teachers get jack squat. I'd jump ship to a GSM carrier if I could, but since being able to actually use my phone is important to me I don't see that happenning.

Maybe the industry is punishing us for not having SIM cards? All the GSMites can go out, buy a new phone for full price from any of a number of shops, swap out a SIM card, and go on with life. CDMAers have to do the call in/EID request form dance and can generally only purchase phones from our carrier. Yeah, that's the ticket... Since it's harder for us to impulse buy, we're not valuable enough to get the new goods.

Back to my mantra of hope: Maybe LTE will level the field... Maybe LTE will level the field... Maybe LTE will level the field...

[d_fisher]

CDMA is big in the United States. But when you look at the global market CDMA has a significantly smaller market share. RIM produces the GSM devices first because there is larger market to sell them to.

I hate to say it, but we Americans need to stop thinking the world revolves around us. While the United States is still one of the most important world markets it is currently being surpassed or diluted by other emerging markets.

[Ashg]

While that may be the case, isn't it still considered bad mojo to ignore a userbase that has injected quite a bit of money into your coffers? It's not like I'm going to go off and buy an LG phone when my contract runs out, but I definitely am not feeling like a priority on RIM's radar. CDMA or GSM, creating stratified classes of users is not the best way to build or keep brand loyalty.

[rachamphetamine]

RIM doesn't seem to have many problems with brand loyalty overall...

But as you pointed out, the phones produced are GSM at first. More than likely they have to rebuild certain elements to work with CDMA, or at least my non-engineer-geared brain would imagine. I would think it's worth the wait to have the great phone that works properly!

[JGBerry]

There are many reasons why CDMA is better than GSM. Honestly, it's ashame that GSM has become the global standard when CDMA is a better technology...which can be seen when you look at the fundamental level of the technology. granted, GSM may have some positive qualities over CDMA, but fundamentally, CDMA is a much better way to go. signal strength wise, CDMA will work in more places and will work indoors more often than GSM will. also, by the nature of the technology, GSM networks will have more dropped calls than a CDMA network of equal size/quality. CDMA will adjust the bitrate of a voice call when the signal decreases, thus minimizing the chance of a dropped call. on the other hand, GSM will maintain the same bitrate and when the signal goes down to 1 bar, words begin to be dropped and eventually the call will be dropped. this issue is just scratching the surface of the many specifics of each technology, and why CDMA is better than GSM.

There are "SIM-card-like" CDMA phones in Korea...not sure if a CDMA phone in the USA will get a card like that...who knows. I don't plan on making this reply into an all out discussion of CDMA vs GSM...but if you want more information on it just google the topic.

as far as why carriers go with GSM...it's because of the global market share. companies can more quickly overcome the ramp up costs associated with launching a phone by selling it globally. the company doesn't start to make a profit on a product until a certain period into the selling of it...thus by selling a GSM version first you will start making a profit quicker. simple economics

[penguin3107]

Originally Posted by JGBerry

There are many reasons why CDMA is better than GSM.

And equally as many reasons for the reverse.

[JGBerry]

Originally Posted by penguin3107

And equally as many reasons for the reverse.

then we should use our technical knowledge and discuss the reasons. i said why CDMA was better and i gave a reason. if you feel otherwise, please share a counter reason for why GSM is better. i'd rather focus on the technology of each type, thus i would the reason "GSM is used all over the world" as a reason.

so yea, i'm definitely open to an active discussion contrasting the two. i'm also always up for learning knew things about each...you learn things ever day.

[penguin3107]

Originally Posted by JGBerry

I don't plan on making this reply into an all out discussion of CDMA vs GSM

You said you didn't want to spur a CDMA vs. GSM debate.... now you want one?

[JGBerry]

Originally Posted by penguin3107

You said you didn't want to spur a CDMA vs. GSM debate.... now you want one?

i wasn't expecting a direct reply. if you want to discuss the differences not in the forum, but over PM, that's fine with me. i just didn't want this thread to get out of control...b/c i've seen way too many threads digress into a carrier war or a CDMA vs GSM war

[penguin3107]

Honestly, I feel there's no need for a discussion at all.. whether in this forum or outside of it.
The CDMA vs. GSM debate has been done many times before, and the result is always the same. Each carrier has their distinct advantages and disadvantages. Neither is "better" than the other.
Your suggestion of searching Google for more info was right on.

[JGBerry]

Originally Posted by penguin3107

Honestly, I feel there's no need for a discussion at all.. whether in this forum or outside of it.
The CDMA vs. GSM debate has been done many times before, and the result is always the same. Each carrier has their distinct advantages and disadvantages. Neither is "better" than the other.
Your suggestion of searching Google for more info was right on.

i agree...that's why i didn't want this thread to go off topic and turn into one of those over-done debates.
we should all just "agree to disagree" hah

[Dawg]

to the OP I just look at it that you have to wait for the best.

"Good things come to those who wait."

[TBOLTRAM]

Originally Posted by Dawg

to the OP I just look at it that you have to wait for the best.

"Good things come to those who wait."

Thats how my wife got me!

[customshopkv1]

Verizon gives me the best coverage, so not having the latest devices is a secondary concern for me.

[CanadianCrack]

[quote=Ashg;946780]Why is there so little CDMA love? We get an occasional bone thrown to us, an exclusive deal here and there, but I sit back and watch the dearth of new phones come out as GSM, GSM, GSM. QUOTE]

Hey Ashg, I'm not feeling the love either.

I received a beautiful red BB pearl 8110 from AT&T
during WES and can't use it because I'm on a CDMA network

It looks beautiful sitting on my desk!

[JGBerry]

[quote=CanadianCrack;948423]

Originally Posted by Ashg

Why is there so little CDMA love? We get an occasional bone thrown to us, an exclusive deal here and there, but I sit back and watch the dearth of new phones come out as GSM, GSM, GSM. QUOTE]

Hey Ashg, I'm not feeling the love either.

I received a beautiful red BB pearl 8110 from AT&T
during WES and can't use it because I'm on a CDMA network

It looks beautiful sitting on my desk!

sell it on ebay hehe

[DallasFlier]

Originally Posted by Ashg

While that may be the case, isn't it still considered bad mojo to ignore a userbase that has injected quite a bit of money into your coffers? It's not like I'm going to go off and buy an LG phone when my contract runs out, but I definitely am not feeling like a priority on RIM's radar. CDMA or GSM, creating stratified classes of users is not the best way to build or keep brand loyalty.

No, its considered good mojo to develop first to the userbase who will in the future inject dramatically higher amounts of money into your coffers. I found subscriber stats for Q1 2007 from wirelessintelligence.com (posted on wiki) as follows:

Subscriber statistics end Q1 2007

World Totals:

2,831,345,390

GSM:

2,278,095,380 80.5%

3GSM (WCDMA):

114,664,827 4.0%

CDMA:

18,138,942 0.6%

CDMA 1X:

289,963,166 10.2%

CDMA 1X EV-DO:

57,376,347 2.0%

So as of over a year ago, GSM held an 84.5% marketshare to CDMA's 12.8%. The difference would be even more striking today, because CDMA's presence outside of the U.S. is miniscule, and the U.S. is nowhere in the list of the top 20 cell phone growth markets, so GSM is growing at a much faster rate than CDMA.

If you were in business to make money today, which market would you develop for first, and which would you put a lower priority on?

I understand your frustration, and I'm not arguing at all that GSM is better. If my reception wasn't good on GSM and there was much better reception from a CDMA carrier, I'd be using one myself.

[LunkHead]

What's a CDMA?

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by LunkHead

What's a CDMA?

thread crap police are gonna get you

[TBOLTRAM]

Originally Posted by LunkHead

What's a CDMA?

Something that will become obsolete the same time as GSM.