Over one third of iPhone inquirers not AT&T subscribers

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
About 40 percent of people seeking information on Apple's overly hyped iPhone handset are not presently AT&T wireless customers, the mobile carrier's chief executive Randall Stephenson said Tuesday.



AT&T, which has an exclusive agreement to sell the Apple handset in the U.S., has received over 1 million inquiries from people seeking more information on the combined cellphone, iPod and Internet device.



Since the carrier's deal with Apple will reportedly span 5 years, people planning to purchase an iPhone will need to join AT&T's wireless network. In some cases, that will mean jumping ship from their existing wireless providers.



The unusually large number of non-AT&T customers expressing interest in purchasing the Apple device "speaks volumes," Stephenson said during a speech at the NXTcomm communications conference in Chicago.



"I really believe this is going to be game changer," he added. "Not only for us but the industry at large."



While it's too early to tell how many of those consumers expressing interest in iPhone will actually go out and purchase one, a recent analysis by investment bankers at Bear Stearns estimates the Apple device will add nearly 1 million new subscribers to AT&T's wireless network during the second half of 2007.



An additional 3.5 million are likely to follow next year, the firm said.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    The sad thing is....a lot of these folks don't even care about the iPhone. They are just going to buy the phone and sell it on ebay.
  • Reply 2 of 47
    physguyphysguy Posts: 920member
    What's most fascinating to me is the phrase "... on Apple's overly hyped iPhone handset ...". I've tried to to a quick review of what Apple has put out, and overall, it very little. They do use the words "revolutionary mobile phone" occasionally but overall their direct efforts on this seems to have been minimal. The "... on Apple's overly hyped iPhone handset ..." seems to be due entirely to the people saying " ...on Apple's overly hyped iPhone handset ..." (not just referring to Appleinsider, but the press)
  • Reply 3 of 47
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    About 40 percent of people seeking information on Apple's overly hyped iPhone handset are not presently AT&T wireless customers,



    That doesn't surprise me since many Apple users are generally willing to spend a bit more to get better quality. Likewise potential iPhone buyers are likely to be using a premium phone service - not AT&T. Cingular/AT&T is not my phone service provider but they will now get some of my business.
  • Reply 4 of 47
    jwdawsojwdawso Posts: 389member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    About 40 percent of people seeking information on Apple's overly hyped iPhone handset are not presently AT&T wireless customers, the mobile carrier's chief executive Randall Stephenson said Tuesday.



    Even AT&T's chief thinks it's overly hyped!
  • Reply 5 of 47
    meelashmeelash Posts: 1,045member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by willgonz View Post


    The sad thing is....a lot of these folks don't even care about the iPhone. They are just going to buy the phone and sell it on ebay.



    What is the situation with phones with SIM cards? Is it simply a matter of switching the SIM card to switch to a different provider? Verizon doesn't have 'em so I don't have a clue.



    Is there any precedence for phones being locked so that they will only accept SIM cards from a certain provider?
  • Reply 6 of 47
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    I thought one in four US mobile phone subscribers are with AT&T. I don't think a third is a very interesting number. If three fourths of the inquiries were with competitors, then that might be interesting.
  • Reply 7 of 47
    I live in Iowa City,IA and at one of our local ATT stores the manager said apple may be making the shipment ON the 29th, thus not being able to sell till the next morning (saturday). This seems a little odd, but it's what he is telling visitors at this point. I grabbed his card so I can call in the days leading up to the 29th.
  • Reply 8 of 47
    elixirelixir Posts: 782member
    honestly, what are the plans gonna look like? this is what i'm concerned about.



    i dont want to get killed on charges every month. i hope apple realizes this business, people cant afford 90 dollars a month on a phone service.



    my service with Sprint right now is killer at 60 dollars a month, i have to see what AT&T wil give me before i get this phone.
  • Reply 9 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by meelash View Post


    What is the situation with phones with SIM cards? Is it simply a matter of switching the SIM card to switch to a different provider? Verizon doesn't have 'em so I don't have a clue.



    Is there any precedence for phones being locked so that they will only accept SIM cards from a certain provider?



    SIM cards are awesome. For example I have 5 phones. I kept every phone I had when I started with my provider. Whenever I want to use one of the other phones I just pop the sim card in the other phone and use it. Why would anyone want to do this? Well let's say you are going camping, you want to take a phone but not your nicest one. So you grab one of your not so nice phones and take that instead. You don't have to call anyone when you switch phones, you just do it.



    So unlocked phones allow you to use a phone from Cingular with an T-Mobile SIM Card. So if someone hacks the iPhone and unlocks it then you could use it with T-Mobile. You might not be able to use Visual Voicemail. But I am sure everything else could be used. I think the iPhone will be Unlocked, it's only a matter of time. The Nintendo DS was thought do be unhackable and it has been hacked. So has the Sony PSP.



    Also, if your phone is triband, you can go to Europe and buy a prepaid sim card. Use your phone for calls around Europe for a lot less than using say Cingular.
  • Reply 10 of 47
    It's a shame that Apple's Iphone will frustrate anyone who tries to use it in NYC. I've worked in NY all my life and you can ask anyone who has ATT's service just how bad it is. People are going to have to join ATT so they can buy this phone and soon realize that the phone part of it is useless.

    When I was an ATT customer I asked them why service was almost non existent in every building I walked into, their answer was "well if your inside you should use a landline phone".

    Apple has traded quality of service for quantity. They went with ATT because they have the biggest customer base and they were willing to bend over and let Apple have their way with them as far as dictating the rules of the game. Everyone I talk to here says the same thing I do, the Iphone looks like one of the best products to come out of Apple but I'll never buy one. Buying a phone that you can't use as a phone makes no sense.

    Apple should have just sold them at Apple stores and let the people who buy them decide what service they want to use.

    If your thinking of buying an Iphone and live in NYC do some research and you'll see I'm right.



    R
  • Reply 11 of 47
    donlphidonlphi Posts: 214member
    Apples are RED

    IBM'S BLUE

    if I want a functional Mobile Service

    I'll need all of you...



    GACK... Such an embarrassing moment for all of them back in the 80's



    I'm keeping my Sprint EV-DO rev. A card for my Macbook Pro and then depending on the service options, I'll drop my Sprint voice and get the iPHONE



    I can't give up the high speed internet.



    Why can't Cingular/AT&T just come out with their next generation mobile broadband? Isn't it already in place?
  • Reply 12 of 47
    cpt kcpt k Posts: 33member
    Its real simple. I am currently with T-mobile (happily for 5 yrs). I currently have a iMate Jam running WM2003se. Does everything iPhone does (movies, music, maps, etc).



    However I am a Mac fanboy all the way and VERY interested in purchasing iPhone. That means dropping T-Mobile at a cost of $200 plus cost of new plan with AT&T plus $600 for iPhone.



    I fit the target audience to a tee. However almost a thousand bucks is unfortunatly going to force me to continue lusting for the foreseeable future.



    There has to be some other insentive offered by AT&T otherwise many of these 1/3 are facing the same situation above.
  • Reply 13 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Stageron View Post


    It's a shame that Apple's Iphone will frustrate anyone who tries to use it in NYC. I've worked in NY all my life and you can ask anyone who has ATT's service just how bad it is.



    With the growing numbers of accounts just for the iPhone. You can just about bet they will need to be uping the coverage in your area. Otherwise they might get some daily callers.
  • Reply 14 of 47
    porchlandporchland Posts: 478member
    I'm eagerly awaiting the Shaw Wu report stating the survey indicates that some current non-AT&T subscribers will eventually become AT&T subscribers and the iPhone will be one of the significant factors affecting their decision. Target price: $160.
  • Reply 15 of 47
    domerdeldomerdel Posts: 78member
    Love the iPhone, but i'm not sure about AT&T... although AT&T has more customers, verizon seems to have more coverage (in Northern California)... However, if AT&T expands their GSM network, I might consider it in 1.5-2 yrs.
  • Reply 16 of 47
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by willgonz View Post


    The sad thing is....a lot of these folks don't even care about the iPhone. They are just going to buy the phone and sell it on ebay.



    Who'd sell it, and who'd buy it? You're going to spend $1000 on a phone and service, then try hawking the whole thing on ebay hoping there's enough apple-zealot-idiots out there willing to spend that kind of money for a phone with a web browser on it? Oh, wait, we are talking apple-zealots, aren't we. Never mind, they'd spend big $$$ for anything Jobs threw their way...
  • Reply 17 of 47
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by physguy View Post


    What's most fascinating to me is the phrase "... on Apple's overly hyped iPhone handset ...". I've tried to to a quick review of what Apple has put out, and overall, it very little. They do use the words "revolutionary mobile phone" occasionally but overall their direct efforts on this seems to have been minimal. The "... on Apple's overly hyped iPhone handset ..." seems to be due entirely to the people saying " ...on Apple's overly hyped iPhone handset ..." (not just referring to Appleinsider, but the press)



    The phone is over-hyped. Perhaps not by apple and AT&T, but why should they waste their money when they've got the blogosphere and the mac-sites all agog over this thing.
  • Reply 18 of 47
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Louzer View Post


    The phone is over-hyped. Perhaps not by apple and AT&T, but why should they waste their money when they've got the blogosphere and the mac-sites all agog over this thing.



    For overly hyped, kindly search the term "Segway"
  • Reply 19 of 47
    solsunsolsun Posts: 763member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Elixir View Post


    honestly, what are the plans gonna look like? this is what i'm concerned about.



    i dont want to get killed on charges every month. i hope apple realizes this business, people cant afford 90 dollars a month on a phone service.



    my service with Sprint right now is killer at 60 dollars a month, i have to see what AT&T wil give me before i get this phone.



    My guess is that there is only going to be one iPhone plan..



    If there were to be multiple plans, they would need to be announced ahead of time to give people time to choose.. With people camping out in front of Apple stores, they are not going to want them holding up the lines while they look over the different voice and data plans..



    Steve Jobs is very much into the "one price for all" method.. And since iPhone is such an internet-centric device, it makes sense to make it an unlimited plan.. People are not going to want to worry about being nickel and dimed for every text message, email received or web page visited..



    I think the price will be $99 for unlimited voice and data. Unlimited voice minutes, unlimited internet, and unlimited mail and texting.



    A revolutionary phone needs a revolutionary plan.
  • Reply 20 of 47
    jwdawsojwdawso Posts: 389member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solsun View Post


    My guess is that there is only going to be one iPhone plan..



    If there were to be multiple plans, they would need to be announced ahead of time to give people time to choose.. With people camping out in front of Apple stores, they are not going to want them holding up the lines while they look over the different voice and data plans..



    Steve Jobs is very much into the "one price for all" method.. And since iPhone is such an internet-centric device, it makes sense to make it an unlimited plan.. People are not going to want to worry about being nickel and dimed for every text message, email received or web page visited..



    I think the price will be $99 for unlimited voice and data. Unlimited voice minutes, unlimited internet, and unlimited mail and texting.



    A revolutionary phone needs a revolutionary plan.



    I agree - simple pricing would be different than the typical ala carte confusion.
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