Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
But that's the whole point of it, isn't it? The fact that the phone only works through one provider is what makes it valuable to that provider - I'm sure that AT&T paid Apple a great deal of money for that "exclusive" contract. The same thing's true here in the UK - Apple have signed an exclusive deal with T-Mobile to sell it here which it's launched this autumn.
As a matter of interest, had the iPhone been, say, 50% more expensive, but "open", would you still have been willing to buy one?
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Yes, I agree that is why there are exclusive contracts... it just irritates me that they're applied as such. I think Apple really shot themselves in the foot by signing an exclusive contract; think of all the money they could have made through various providers by being open to any/all service providers. We're talking on the terms of hundreds of millions in the longrun, considering the fact that the device is not only useful as a phone, but a PMP as well. Look at how much money they've made with the iPod so far. While I'm sure the providers they filed contracts with probably paid them a hefty sum, it probably won't hold up to the number of *potential* sales missed by people unwilling to switch providers. On the other hand, without doing any indepth research, I'd say their exclusivity contract is probably only good for a year's worth of sales that way they can sign with other providers after the initial infiltration of the market.
Heheh, in regards to paying 50% more for an unlocked phone... I'm unwilling to pay the $500 (4GB model) or $600 (8GB model) for a regular version, let alone paying a premium over that for what amounts to a $180 iPod video with a phone attached; that's just crazy talk. I recently picked up a used 30GB iPod Video for $120, not that I'm poor... more like rational when it comes to spending my gadget funds. I'm curious as to why they limited the iPhones so much on internal memory? Ahh well.
