Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 10th May 2010 14:55 UTC
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Member since:
2006-01-19
Well, your argument goes like "IF AT&T were not the only one who is allowed to sell the iPhone then ..."
It looks to me like the iPhone is contractually tied to AT&T, so if Apple wants to sell the iPhone with other carriers, my guess is that AT&T will wave some nasty contract.
Apple chose this path, because when the iPhone first appeared they were the only ones offering this kind of user experience, so they probably got the maximum money out of it with an exclusive contract. Nobody but Apple and AT&T knows when this contract (if ever) will terminate.
In the meantime Apple might actually be able to get more money with a more open business model, sacrificing margin for volume. Then on the other hand they may not.
However, the smartphone market is no market with a high probability of producing a monopoly like the desktop operating market, as the network effects are pretty slim. We will continue to see huge marketshare shifts within short periods of time, since changing your phone OS does not exclude you from making a phonecall.