AT&T Exclusivity Ending..

[kdarling]

Originally Posted by mr.reggaeton72

So about the topic, what other stranger things have happened ?

Companies bash each other in public all the time, yet work together when money is involved.

Apple disses Microsoft heavily in their ads, yet Microsoft still sells Mac software and licenses Exchange to Apple so the iPhone isn't crippled.

Apple and ATT have several times gone at each other, then made up.

Adobe still wants to get Flash on the iPhone, no matter how much Apple speaks poorly of it.

Apple made fun of Intel chips for years... and we know what happened there.

[Londonrockz568]

How funny would it be if when the Alliance with AT&T is over everyone who bought subsidized from AT&T has to pay the remaining price or return the phone. To add to that, the only way to get an iphone would be from the Apple Store, and to add to that at full retail.

Exclusivity would go up, idk about sales. On the brighter side Apple may just sell the No sim version of the iPhone since there is no need to tie it down to AT&T anymore.

This would be highly plausible because there are many countries where Apple just sells the iphone without a carrier.

I do not see a CDMA version of the iphone coming anytime soon. The next carrier in line could more than likely be T-mobile. Apple already has relations with them in various countries.

Anyway i think there is a rather large assumption that Apple will be jumping to another carrier. What are the odds of If they dont? They still have the rest of the world...and its not like need a carrier as many know the iPhone still sells well in some countries where it is not sold with a carrier sim, or has the option not to be have a carrier sim.

[Eragon]

Originally Posted by Londonrockz568

I do not see a CDMA version of the iphone coming anytime soon. The next carrier in line could more than likely be T-mobile. Apple already has relations with them in various countries.

Anyway i think there is a rather large assumption that Apple will be jumping to another carrier. What are the odds of If they dont? They still have the rest of the world...and its not like need a carrier as many know the iPhone still sells well in some countries where it is not sold with a carrier sim, or has the option not to be have a carrier sim.

This says it all. The GSM market potential, on the order of a billion subscribers across the globe, already exists and can be tapped using the existing hardware. Although T-Mo's 3G in the US is on the 1700 mHz frequency, not sure how big a hardware change would be required to tap into that user base.

[kdarling]

Originally Posted by Eragon

This says it all. The GSM market potential, on the order of a billion subscribers across the globe, already exists and can be tapped using the existing hardware.

Some of it can. But the myth of billions of customers doesn't stand up to reality.

First, there are still large chunks of the GSM world without 3G, home computers, and/or the money to spend on data plans.

On other forums it's been calculated that only about 0.1% of the GSM world with access to the iPhone already (and those are the richest countries) has bought one. (Figures could be slightly out of date, but the ratios remain.)

Whereas, in just the USA, over 10% of ATT users have bought one. Clearly the US market is a prime one. If Verizon were added, their sales alone could soon eclipse all ATT (or overseas) sales since the first iPhone model came out.

A question is: will Apple come too late to the Verizon party, if at all?

[Eragon]

Originally Posted by kdarling

On other forums it's been calculated that only about 0.1% of the GSM world with access to the iPhone already (and those are the richest countries) has bought one.

If Verizon were added, their sales alone could soon eclipse all ATT (or overseas) sales since the first iPhone model came out.

To ask the question another way, does Apple need Verizon more than Verizon needs Apple? Is the US market clearly the so called silver tuna? If the answer is yes, what is Apple's basis for not developing a CDMA compatible device? The cost of engineering and building such a device could be more than offset by the additional market share.

[impaler]

I see Apple next releasing a iPhone 4G, using LTE technology, along with CDMA, that will work with Verizon....then later, possibly Sprint. Then when LTE is rolled out by AT&T, they'll get one.

[Watcher]

But does Verizon really need the iPhone with the Droid coming out and all?