AT&T's 1 million iPhone inquiries are famous by now and have been cited more than any other piece of information about the device. Now, the phone company's Chief Executive Randall Stephenson has shed more light on the numbers, hinting that the device could be responsible for market share gains.

It seems that of the people who have shown early interest in the iPhone, approximately 40 percent are not AT&T Inc.'s wireless customers. This information is closely related to the surveys that showed a willingness to change network if it was the only way to acquire an iPhone.
"Of the one million plus (people), research is showing that 40 percent are not AT&T wireless customers today. That speaks volumes to us," Stephenson said in a speech at the NXTcomm communications conference in Chicago. "I really believe this is going to be a game changer. Not only for us but the industry at large," he said.

Time will tell just how much of a game changer the iPhone is, but judging from the anticipation that has been building up for some time now, AT&T competitors are not happy. This is especially true of Verizon Wireless, which was the first carrier to be approached by Apple, but balked at Apple's financial terms and other demands. Amongst other things, Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, a say over how and where iPhones could be sold, and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, none of which stood too well with Verizon who passed up on the deal.

Apple's forecast for the iPhone - which was initially received as being optimistic - looks downright negative when compared to some of the predictions made by analysts today. Much still depends on how the little device behaves in the hands of customers. Doubts about the virtual keyboard and other aspects of the phone still remain until people can start using one for themselves.