backtop

Print 73 comment(s) - last by plewis00.. on Jun 19 at 1:51 AM
The iPhone is helping AT&T while hurting the phone company's competition

Even though the iPhone does not launch for 11 days, the hype surrounding the latest Apple gadget continues to explode.  More than 64 percent of American users and 56 percent of British mobile phone users have at least heard of the iPhone. 

While the iPhone will be an expensive product -- priced at $499 and $599 for the 4GB and 8GB model respectively-- and users will have to sign an exclusive contract with AT&T, many consumers seem unfazed.  According to a study done by M:Metrics, almost 1 in 10 mobile phone users in the United States have "a strong interest" in purchasing an iPhone.  Of the 11,064 people polled for the study, 67 percent are subscribers of a service besides AT&T. 

Further research suggests that as many as 19 million Americans are interested in purchasing an iPhone.

"This is an early indication that AT&T's strategy to use the device to lure customers from competitors could play off," said Mark Donovan, M:Metrics senior analyst.

Analysts also expect AT&T iPhone users will spend an additional $20 per month on data service charges that average AT&T subscribers do not use.

Apple and AT&T have an exclusive agreement for at five years, meaning people wanting the iPhone will be forced to use AT&T.  Analysts expect T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel to be hurt most by the deal.

Apple plans to have up to 3 million iPhones for the scheduled launch on June 29.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: I dont know....
By plewis00 on 6/19/2007 1:51:23 AM , Rating: 2
The UK phone market is non-representative. It is one of the few sectors where the UK is one of the cheapest in the world. Because of the way we in the UK embraced phone technology, subsidies on the handsets are some of the largest anywhere (if not the largest) - dealers are paid huge commissions for connecting and keeping customers, networks pay lots of commission because there is loyalty and the additional features are used and manufacturers strike up dealer/network exclusivity deals all the time (but not for 5 years, about the largest one I've heard was 1 month for Carphonewarehouse on the new Nokia 8600 Luna before Phones4u and the rest get it). You can even get 12 month contracts with 12 months free cashback (what I suppose the American market would call, 100% free after rebates). I realised all this after reading about the iPhone, yes, it is expensive but you cannot compare the US phone market to the UK one.


"If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it." -- SCEA President Jack Tretton

Related Articles










botimage
Copyright 2013 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki