14 DAY TRIAL // Wireless carrier AT&T is predicted to lose the exclusivity deal on the Apple iPhone in mid-2010, according to analyst Brian Marshall. This is not the first time the carrier has been forecast to lose the right to exclusively distribute the Apple iPhone device in the United States during the next year, and even AT&T itself stated at a certain point that the deal wouldn't last forever. Even so, during an interview with Bloomberg TV, Marshall has provided a more solid window to expect for an exclusivity ending announcement, it seems.
Apple's iPhone is, undoubtedly, one of the most popular mobile phones available on the market at the moment. Given the fact that a wide range of users are attracted to it, it is understandable that carriers are also trying to have it available in their offering. The iPhone can prove a very strong source of revenues, yet the exclusivity deals Apple signed with various carriers around the world limit both operators' and users' access to it.
However, Apple has recently begun to offer a wider range of carriers in various markets around the world the possibility to sell the iPhone, and most of you might already know that O2 UK is no longer the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the country. Based on this move, it might be only a matter of time before we learn that AT&T has also lost the exclusivity rights on Apple's device in the US.
“Marshall has been pushing heavily for Apple to begin selling the iPhone through Verizon Wireless, which has been floated for months as a possible partner. During the interview, Marshall also made a few other assertions. He said that Apple gets a $450 subsidy from AT&T for each iPhone it sells, but that after June the subsidy will drop to $300 for all carriers. However, he said expanding the number of carriers selling the iPhone would ultimately result in more sales and more revenues for Apple,” a recent post on fiercewireless states.
It seems that Apple is currently considering the transition to a new approach when it comes to the availability of its iPhone on various markets, namely to have it at more than one carrier, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has reportedly stated. This is something that should boost Apple's market share a lot, and the idea is already proven by the performance of the handset in France, where it is available at the moment via three carriers, and the UK, where it can be purchased from two operators.