How Apple Is Quietly Crushing the
Retail SIM Business
Millions
of iPhone users worldwide will now have to use eSIMs and download SIM profiles
digitally.
EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V
AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @HOWARDTULLMAN1
Sep 16, 2025
I’ve always resented
Apple’s consistent strategy of screwing millions of consumers from time to time
when a new Apple product requires the abandonment of prior Apple products and
the purchase of new accessories for no good reason other than to squeeze out
extra profits. This started way back when in 1984 when the Macintosh was
introduced and every Apple II gamer in the world quickly discovered that their
entire library of games was useless because they wouldn’t run on the Mac. Apple
decided to simply kiss off those dedicated users and didn’t build any backward
compatibility or emulation of any kind for the Apple II in the new
machine.
Even if you weren’t
around back then or playing games, you haven’t escaped the doctrine of
“douching the dumbbells” because you’ve discovered that power cords, headphone
jacks, USB connectors, cases, and other accessories (including all those made
by Apple itself) have, over the years, been superseded or outmoded and, as a
result, consigned to the junk heap or abandoned in some drawer and retained for
no good reason.
And the upgrade and
decommissioning process has never stopped—all allegedly in the name of progress
and new technology—but ultimately in the service of the almighty dollar. Just
as an example, in the newest wave of iPhones that are just about to be released,
the power cord that’s included won’t actually plug into any electrical outlet
in the world. Surprised? If you want to charge your phone, you’ll have to
supply or purchase an adapter with the appropriate openings and prongs and, by
the way, all your old USB adapters won’t work.
I’m not sure about the
charging cords for the new Apple watches (the early pictures look similar to
the old units), but Apple certainly wouldn’t be above requiring a new charging
cord for the new watches as well. Shameless doesn’t begin to describe these
guys, although watching Tim Cook say “thank you” eight different times to the
Orange Monster in the recent techbros White House meeting was certainly an
indication.
But, as always, there’s
another surprise around the corner—the infamous Steve Jobs’ “one more
thing”—and this time the guys getting gored aren’t just the consumers and end
users. The new iPhone Air has quietly disappeared the SIM card tray and gone
all digital globally which means that millions of iPhone users worldwide will
now be forced to use eSIMs and download SIM profiles digitally rather than
buying physical SIM cards. Could this be the beginning of the end of “burner
phones” for drug dealers and other criminals? If so, it’s another stake in the
heart of online and digital anonymity.
This new “mandatory”
approach (the technology has been around since 2018 and U.S. iPhones
became eSIM only in 2022) will prove to be easier, safer and far more
convenient for consumers in buying and managing their connectivity, but it’s
likely to kill the entire retail-driven channel that sold physical SIMs. We
won’t see airport kiosks, 7-11 card displays next to the lottery tickets, or
nearly as many other counters in retail outlets for much longer. Consumers
won’t have any reason or incentive to leave home. They’ll welcome the
digital-first online experience, and will be happy to avoid the unnecessary
travel, pushy middlemen, and, of course, the extra fees. More importantly, this
approach will make it much easier for users to switch carriers, change their
plans without visiting a phone store, and acquire service and connectivity when
travelling outside of the U.S. far more easily.
Although this new
digital-first solution is going to completely change the way cellular service
plans and connectivity in general are sold, we can expect that the telephone
companies themselves will take their sweet time in reacting and adapting their
approaches and offerings and moving from a retail emphasis to digital
distribution. And the pressure on them is likely to increase as the other phone
manufacturers like Google and Samsung quickly follow Apple in offering
eSIM-only models.
But a far better bet for
a near-term solution are young players and first movers in the space like Saily which is
creating one-stop apps that permit consumers to effectively and instantly
access a connectivity marketplace and choose their plans and solutions right on
their phones and on the fly from wherever they may be. Saily is a
travel-focused eSIM app founded in 2024 that allows users to purchase and
activate local data plans instantly via eSIM, eliminating the need for a
physical SIM card. The founders had a lot of prior experience with VPNs and
made sure to incorporate security features that are implemented on a network
level (rather than on each device) in order to deliver maximum protection and
secure connectivity. The primary initial targets were international travelers
who no longer needed to find and purchase local physical SIM cards as they
moved from country to country.
It will take a while,
but the die is cast, and, thanks to Apple’s aggressive move, the retail SIM
business is dying right before our eyes. More importantly, if the telco
providers don’t move quickly to reconfigure their offerings and their marketing
strategies, the little guys like Saily will take over and control the
direct-to-consumer channels. The one thing we have all learned about the
Internet is that it absolutely hates and ultimately destroys every
middleman.
