Did FMC phones make $27 billion in 2007?

Our friends at Infonetics Research put out a press release last week that states that FMC phones made $27 billion in 2007. It is not a typo. So a bit of correction is in order.

I think Infonetics is referring to dual mode GSM/WiFi phones in general. Having a WiFi radio in a GSM phone does not make it a FMC phone. You would require a VCC or a UMA client to turn such a phone into a FMC phone. That is a requirement for a single number service. If you are content with two numbers on the same dual mode WiFi/GSM phone you would still be required to use some sort of a VoIP client for voice usage over WiFi. The two-number service is not really true FMC by the way.

A third possibility (also a single number service) would be bridging GGSN and VoIP server which is what MNOs in Europe are doing … essentially mapping MSISDN and IMSI numbers (3G phones can work here. You do not necessarily need a WiFi radio). It is a single number service but – again - as you walk away from WiFi into GSM cloud you will not have the active-session-handover capability. This again is not technically an FMC service.

I would categorize an FMC phone as the one that carries the active-session-handover-softclient on it: whether VCC or UMA. But then again, it would be just another application on the phone. It is like having a VoIP app on laptop. You can’t say we sold $100 billion VoIP laptops in 2007. Just a friendly clarification. Say hello to Michael. Regards. JR