(Published July 2020)
The debate around whether Apple will, or will not, support Rich Communication Services (RCS) on its iPhones has been raging for almost as long as Google jumped in to kick-start RCS from its Jibe-induced torpor at the end of 2015.
Since then, there have been numerous meeting between Apple and the large mobile operator groups, and Apple and the GSM Association, where the Cupertino, CA-based company has either reportedly agreed to support RCS, denitely not agreed to support RCS or, possibly, tentatively agreed to support the Universal Prole 1.0 standard – that is to say a P2P version of RCS rather than the UP 2.0 standard which allows for RCS Business Messaging (RBM).
Whichever side you come down on, Apple has remained pretty silent – publicly at least. This report explores the market scenario if Apple did RCS, looking at the Apple uplift to global RCS business forecasts 2018-2023.