Are we on the eve of the end of an era? Released in 1991, the SIM card has not finished since it was reduced. In small jumps, with the Mini-Sim (1996), the Micro-Sim (2003) and finally the Nano-Sim (2012). Apple has greatly presided over the size of this sesame. Now he could lead to his disappearance.
By revealing the air of his iPhone, thin and light, the Cupertino giant has not only made heavy decisions and some technical sacrifices, especially in the battery. He also had to make a definitive cross on the physical SIM card site. To identify and connect to an operator’s network, it will be necessary to use an ESIM, a virtual SIM card.
Esim in France is not a novelty. French operators have already done so for some years. Orange, who was the first to adopt it, provided a connection through ESIM to the Samsung Galaxy Gear in 2016, then to Apple Watch in 2017, before opening this service to smartphones in 2019. Since then, the operator has joined its competitors in this type of offer.
Sim, an “object of the past” that has a hard life
However, the arrival of a smartphone only ESIM in Europe is a small revolution. “It could be the year I of Esim,” even the judge of Bona Ung, mobile marketing director of the general public for Orange France. Until now, only the United States had been entitled to iPhone Esim only since 2022. In the old continent, this year again, we keep the small drawer on the “Classic” iPhone (iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro Max). The rumors suggested a massive rocking chair, but Apple finally had caution.
Caution that could be linked to the fact that all operators are not delighted to see ESIM. Even if this corridor seems inevitable. In fact, according to the counterpoint, the number of devices that support ESIM will be 9 billion in 2030. In addition, for Jacques Bonifay, co -founder of Transatel and president of Mvno Europe, “ESIM will be established as the new standard (…). The physical SIM card is called to become an object of the past.”
However, the SIM card still has a brilliant future ahead. In the first place, because “all European operators have not yet made the necessary investments to offer ESIM,” Orange’s representative puts in perspective. If the transition to ESIM is relatively transparent for users, it requires upstream of large investments for operators. Not on the side of the networks, but in their computer system, which allows the management of customer accounts. The fragmentation of the European territory explains that the change to Esim is more difficult in the old continent than in the United States.
However, operators are not the only ones responsible. Mobile subscribers, at least French, seem to attach to their physical sim card. Therefore, Bona Ung tells us that “among all orange mobile subscribers equipped with a smart phone compatible with ESIM, only 5% have chosen this technology.”
Greater flexibility
As expected, the population related to Esim is, in orange, quite young, active, connected, also travels a lot and can juggled between two Sims, a professional number and a personal number that cohabit on the same device. It should be said that Esim offers so far flexibility seen in the world of telecommunications. Judge rather.
When taking the subscription, it is not necessary to wait until the card arrives home, with the risk of loss or having to look for it in the store. Simply scan a QR code from smartphone configuration or follow a quick procedure to add it automatically.
Use several telephone lines at the same time? There is no need to croke the pockets. The smartphones of medium and high -level range allow the lines to multiply in a single device.
On vacation, in countries not backed by your package, it is possible to take a subscription of your smartphone, it hardly arrived, and activate the ESIM card a few seconds later. “As of 2017, with our Ubigo brand, we were among the first to offer World Esim connectivity available in a few clicks on more than 200 destinations,” recalls Jacques Bonifay, for whom Esim’s management made it possible to “open in large” the doors of the competition against historical players. “This is necessarily bad news for the historical operators called, because ESIM promotes change,” said the representative of Mvno Europe.
“An evolution, synonym for opportunities” for operators
The historical operators who had the kindness of responding, whether they are Bouygues Telecom or Orange are not recognized in this vision a bit … historical. “The arrival of ESIM is rather an evolution, synonymous with opportunities, for the simplification of the customer experience that brings this new technology,” explains a spokesman for Bouygues Telecom. A speech we found in Orange.
During this period after school when the recruitment of new clients is in full swing, Esim looks at a good eye to accelerate the acquisition of newcomers, so far not motivated to wait to receive their physical SIM card.
Thanks to Esim, Bouygues Telecom was able to simplify the balancing towards its mobile subscriptions. “For any subscription to a packet with commitment, the ESIM is automatically discharged to the phone’s ignition when the Wi -Fi network is the first connection,” explains the operator.
While orange should not be overcome. The historical operator has recently launched an offer of discovery of its free 5G network for a month to which we access thanks … to an ESIM. “To be able to compare the performance of the different networks,” said a little mockery, Bona Ung.
Another new opportunity is “incoming roaming,” explains mobile marketing director for Orange’s general public. Without providing figures, without a doubt too strategic, the operator indicated a substantial increase in the number of packages punctually signed by tourists. Instead of paying any roaming fee to their national operator, these visitors take a package or a temporary pass, thanks to Esim …
In summary, Bouygues Telecom and Orange could no longer take their distance from the statement of Jacques Bonifay. Bouygues Telecom, therefore, sees in the democratization of Esim “a true growth lever.” The operator also highlights the growing need of its customers, professionals or not, to benefit from several packages in a single device. The operator does not communicate any figure on the number of subscribers in question by ESIM, but the trend is growth: “We see an increase in the use of ESIM in hybrid mode (multi-Sim use), with a phone with a single-physical card drawer and that can also admit a virtual SIM.
Also in Free, we understood the evolution of uses, especially among young people. If ESIM adoption has been a bit complicated, it is now completely managed for new and old subscribers. In April 2025, the operator made available the “Quick ESIM” option, proposed by Apple, and that allows its ESIM to transfer in seconds without any loss by gathering two iPhone.
The risk of losing the link with the client?
The fact is that with the democratization of ESIM, it is likely that operators become simple connectivity suppliers and lose their hands a little more in the management of customer relationships. The physical SIM card was and is somehow the last segment of the historical umbilical cable that connects the client and the operator.
On the contrary, Esim is synonym for consumer freedom: “Previously, the client interacted with the operator for everything that referred to the administration of his SIM card. With ESIM, the manufacturer (of the smartphone) takes charge. The connectivity is now fully integrated into the operating system,” Florian Jefowicz, consultant in the strategic marketing in Sofrecom, the 2019 blog, evolved.
Because both Bouygues Telecom and Orange assume this role of the service provider, its role is to provide the best possible connections, without obviously forgetting their commercial commitments. In Orange, we even hope to see customers who “win autonomy” thanks to ESIM and in terms of the link, the historical operator has a fully found response: “They named us the best mobile network during the 14th consecutive time,” releases a good AG with a smile. As if people understand that customers are not stupid and know where their interest is. Ultimately, Orange’s representative easily recognizes that Esim changes the situation and “forces us to be more imaginative”, but the general balance seems quite positive for the moment.
If it is not the iPhone air, Apple, however, seems to give a little more respite to operators and users, who do not seem completely ready to sacrifice this small piece of plastic that has been following us for almost 35 years … However, analysis of good Ung, if an actor can cause the European year Esim, it is Apple “, actor of cuts and dominican effects.” With iPhone air, the first dominoes fell …
What is hidden behind the ESIM denomination:
To get a little more in detail, what is commonly called Esim is based on three pillars:
– A small physical module installed on the phone in its manufacture;
– The EUICC software, which allows the supply, the creation of the user profile that the operator emits on the march when configuring the mobile connection;
– Finally, the platform for the supply and remote management of network profiles.
As explained to us, Bona Ung, director of mobile marketing for the general public for Orange, with ESIMS, the operators no longer need to buy CLOSURE PARTNERS SIM cards. However, they must always buy dematerialized profiles. It is this cost that some operators sometimes report their customers.
In Orange, for example, the transfer to Esim is offered if the new phone has been bought from the operator, but is paid differently.
Source: BFM TV
