05-15-2008, 04:11 PM

Anyone know if apple is talking about the iphone for other service providers??

I would make the switch but I am on verizon because it gets the best service in my area....anyone think I'll be able to get an iphone at some point?

05-15-2008, 04:50 PM

AT&T has an exclusive five year contract with the iPhone. That would leave over four years left before anyone else can get the iPhone.

05-15-2008, 04:55 PM

June 2012

05-15-2008, 05:19 PM

Yeah that kinda sucks. AT&T are the only ones who offer the iPhone.

05-15-2008, 05:22 PM

I read somewhere that APPL and VZ had early talks but VZ didn't want the business. Go figure!!?? To illustrate what a bonehead move this was, check the stock performance of the two provider companies over the past year. Then, equate this with APPL.

05-15-2008, 05:48 PM

Actually, Verizon wouldn't agree with the terms Apple wanted, especially the revenue sharing. Which is why Apple went with the next largest cellular provider.

Though to be honest, going with AT&T was probably a better idea only because it keeps costs down for Apple as it wouldn't have to produce both CDMA and GSM versions of the iPhone, the former for the US market, the latter for foreign markets.

05-17-2008, 10:36 PM

Apple has said if an At&t user finished its two year contract witht the iPhone they would unlock it for a different service provider.

05-17-2008, 10:37 PM

That still doesn't make Verizon an option, however. You'd be better off sticking AT&T than going with the only other GSM provider in the United States, T-Mobile

05-19-2008, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by jrichard012

I read somewhere that APPL and VZ had early talks but VZ didn't want the business. Go figure!!?? To illustrate what a bonehead move this was, check the stock performance of the two provider companies over the past year. Then, equate this with APPL.

Here's your comparison...

http://finance.google.com/finance?ch...q=NASDAQ:AAPL&

Verdict: the stock prices between AT&T and Verizon move like they're joined at the hip, despite one of them having the iPhone deal and the other not.

It wasn't like Apple said, "Hey guys, I'm going to allow you to make a ton of revenue in the coming years. Who wants it?!" Apple isn't stupid; I've never known them to leave money on the table. That deal caused AT&T to give up control over its customers, accept thin margins, and probably pay a staggering amount at the inception of the deal. I don't think Verizon was stupid to pass on that. (However, I am a Verizon customer and I wish I could get an iPhone!)

05-19-2008, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by Kash

That still doesn't make Verizon an option, however. You'd be better off sticking AT&T than going with the only other GSM provider in the United States, T-Mobile

thats right, it ATT works off GSM and the only other carrier that does that is t-mobile (not in my area (NC), nor does it have a big presence on the east coast)

05-19-2008, 11:13 PM

I'm pretty sure Alltel is GSM as well.

05-23-2008, 11:55 AM

The reason Verizon does not carry the iPhone is the two companies could not come to an agreement on application support as well as revenue as previously stated.

Verizon wanted to put their Vcast application on the phone and have all the the Verizon exclusive applications on it. Apple said no. Apple wanted full control over advertising rights (if you notice you have never seen an ATT commercial for the iPhone, only an Apple commercial that mentions its on the ATT network) and a larger revenue share, Verizon said no, thus, no deal.

05-23-2008, 12:35 PM

I actually suspect that Apple are much happier going with AT&T as it simplified the whole first gen rollout for them:

One single hardware platform for europe and north america, one bit of software = lower overall production costs = more profit.

But they had to at least appear to be willing to go with Verizon in order to have some bargaining chips with AT&T. I'd guess Verizon claiming to have turned Apple down might have just been them trying to save face and dampen the iPhone launch hysteria: Them turning down the deal makes the iPhone look bad compared to the awesome phones they're offering.