*As published in Mobile Marketing Magazine
Absent the sensational sideshow that became of Mike Daisey’s play “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” there are real issues at stake. Poor working conditions at the Chinese factories that build and supply mobile equipment, electronics and gadgets to the masses have been well documented.

Following a couple years of growing interest and unfavorable media exposure, Apple became the first technology company to join the Fair Labor Association. Apple subsequently ordered its largest supplier, Foxconn, to submit to an independent audit by labor rights experts led by FLA president Auret van Heerden.

FLA’s investigation uncovered significant problems. “The nearly month-long investigation found excessive overtime and problems with overtime compensation; several health and safety risks; and crucial communication gaps that have led to a widespread sense of unsafe working conditions among workers,” FLA wrote in its report released Thursday. Read more

BARCELONA — The wireless industry was almost treated to news of another major carrier acquisition this week, but the would-be suitor’s board of directors walked away from the deal at the final hour, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse presented his board with a plan to acquire MetroPCS for up to $8 billion, but the board balked, ending a deal that had been in the works for several months.

Perhaps it was the fear of announcing a major deal during a mobile trade show — in retrospect, something that didn’t turn out so well for AT&T after it announced plans to acquire T-Mobile USA almost a year ago — but I think the board will eventually be vindicated for having avoided another catastrophe. Read more

During my hiatus from writing on this site, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I can add to the mobile conversation. The mobile industry and the billions of people it impacts don’t need another mouthpiece or outlet to rave about the shiniest new gadget, network upgrade or app release.

News matters, but who does it matter to? Surely it matters to the Apples, Ericssons and Qualcomms of the world, but what about the 99.9 percent of us who don’t own stock or collect a paycheck from those companies? We have no special interest in their success, and yet most of the news in this space is presented and viewed through the eyes of them — the empowered carriers, device and chipset makers, infrastructure vendors, app developers and venture capitalists.

It’s easy to overlook all the customers, employees and factory workers that make this an industry at all. But I would like to change that in my own little way. I have no illusions about how the media machine works, nor do I expect one of the most powerful and deep-pocketed industries on our planet to change its ways. But we can hope and try to make things better.

I won’t stop writing about major news from Apple, the big U.S. carriers or Google anytime soon. But I want to tell more stories — about how mobility is changing our culture, how people increasingly use mobile devices to do their job, and where and why mobile fails to connect the haves and the have-nots. Mobile is a game changer — it has enabled a global leveling effect and progress on many levels — but not for everyone.

One of the more positive developments to hit the mobile industry of late is the immense media exposure being placed on the working conditions of those who build the devices that delight us and infuriate us. Media interest in this topic has been gaining for years, but it seems to have hit a new crescendo in the last couple months.

Device makers of every kind operate with virtual impunity. And yet we hear stories of mass suicides, debilitating ailments and poisoning — all a direct result of building the products we can’t get enough of. Not only has it become more difficult for journalists and consumers to ignore this reality, but also Apple and hopefully many companies to come. We all know that buying products built in China and other countries that treat millions of workers like modern-day slaves comes at a price that lingers well beyond the cash register. We vote with our pocketbooks, the saying goes, and this is what our money supports. Read more

webOS has effectively been dead since mid August, but reports of its impending death continue to swirl. Hewlett-Packard Co. made a colossal error this past summer when it abandoned its webOS device business and shunned any ongoing commitment to the webOS platform. Such a move would instantly slash the value of any business and indeed it has. The HP-Palm deal is one of most botched marriages and subsequent business decisions to hit the wireless industry in years.

HP threw in the towel on its mobile plans way too early, and just as it was getting off the ground with new webOS devices and a tablet built primarily by the Palm team it acquired 18 months ago for $1.2 billion. Leo Apotheker was forced out of the top job at the company over that decision and newly installed CEO Meg Whitman has shifted gears on the mobile front, but only slightly. Read more

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion biffed its response to last week’s massive outage and worse yet, is coming up short at this week’s BlackBerry DevCon Americas conference. With every month that passes, the smartphone pioneer loses more runway, and with it the ability to carry the BlackBerry brand forward.

Last week’s major outage did no favors for BlackBerry’s already tarnished image. The company needed a strong response to the snafu and should feel tremendous pressure to deliver something meaningful in a few key areas.

Calling its half-hearted apology for last week’s outage a “Thank You Gift from BlackBerry” was poor form. First and foremost, BlackBerry users want their devices to work. A dozen free apps worth $100 will do nothing to keep customers happy. Rather than rewarding its dwindling base of loyal users with something meaningful, RIM is offering its customers apps like SIMS 3, Texas Hold’em Poker 2, Shazam Encore and iSpeech Translator Pro. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

When I think of Steve Jobs, feelings of wonder and absolute awe rush over me. Jobs is without a doubt, the most iconoclastic creative mind of the modern age. If that makes me a fanboy, so be it. If liking Apple Inc. products makes me a fanboy, I’m fine with that too.

Jobs is in a league of his own. No one has done more to disrupt mobile technology, consumer electronics and entertainment in such a short span of time. His personality, brilliant mind and business acumen commands respect, fear and unbridled attention. When Jobs says something or does something, it matters. People take note and react. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

Owners of the Motorola Xoom tablet on Verizon Wireless (VZ) will now have to wait until September to upgrade their devices to LTE. When or if the long-delayed upgrade comes, it will be nearly seven months after the device first launched with the carrier. And customers will still have to take the archaic step of mailing their device to Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) to receive the upgrade. Then wait around six business days to get it back. I wonder what could go wrong.

Since the Android-powered Xoom launched five months ago, it’s been hard to find any logic in Motorola’s LTE strategy for this device. Motorola originally said the upgrade would be available in the second quarter and since then CEO Sanjay Jha has blamed ongoing delays on software performance issues. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

The pain continues for Nokia Corp. (NOK). Device sales are down across the board and profits have fallen off a cliff, well into the red. Indeed, Nokia is bleeding red all over its balance sheet for the quarter.

The Finnish company shipped 88.5 million devices during the quarter, shedding 20% in volume from the year-ago period and 18% from the previous quarter. Over the past year, smartphone sales have slipped 34% to 16.7 million devices and feature phones have dropped 16% to 71.8 million units. Device volume is down to 2006 levels. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

Mobile has become the absolute fabric of Apple Inc. (AAPL). The business has changed so dramatically thanks to the iPhone (and increasingly the iPad) that it barely resembles itself from even four years ago.

During the just closed quarter, Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones and 9.25 million iPads. It has sold a cumulative 222 million iOS devices to date. The company now sells twice as many iPads as Macs. It’s an astonishing shift, considering the first Mac was introduced 27 years ago and the iPad’s been out for 15 months. Even the K-12 education market is buying more iPads than Macs. Read more