3G iPhone to be in-store activated; free upgrade for recent buyers

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  • Reply 21 of 127
    balsibalsi Posts: 2member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by samab View Post


    AT&T remains the exclusive iphone provider in the US.



    http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pi...rticleid=25791



    The original agreement was a 5 year exclusive with ATT which included revenue sharing. The question is whether that has been revised along with the revenue sharing amendment. I would think it isn't. In my mind, the point of the five year contract as apple saw it was to get to LTE, the CDMA chipset is more expensive and doesn't cross national borders well since a majority of the rest of the world is on GSM. With LTE Verizon and ATT are on the same platform as is the rest of the world, and I'd bet they go carrier-agnostic at that point. LTE is supposed to be 2012, probably more like 2013-2014 from what I'm hearing.



    With the emergence of Android as what looks to be a decent operating system the world has changed a little bit from when the iPhone was launched. Now Apple needs to get as many phones into as many hands as possible, which means they need ATT to be incentivized to sell as many of the phones as possible to establish dominance as a platform which also entails developing the iPhone ecosystem etc.



    Looking at the math, rumor was that Apple took $10 in ARPU for each iPhone customer, so in essence they took $240 over the contract of a customer. I'd assume that the subsidy that ATT gives is about that much now, and if I made a bet, contractually they have to give that much because Apple wants the guarantee that the iPhone would be competitive with every other smartphone that comes out. ATT is making the bet that iPhone customers won't by a new iPhone every 2 years and that even if they do they'll stay with ATT service (the cost to retain a customer is less than the cost to acquire a new customer to your service) and therefore they come out ahead.



    Apple was really challenging the status quo with the revenue sharing deal before, now they've fallen in line with the rest of the industry which in my mind is not unexpected. There's more to this than I've outlined where the handset manufacturers are likely to have more power in the future years, but I'll save that for another diatribe.



    I wrote this quickly, I apologize if there are non-sequiters (sp) or gaps that I don't fully explain
  • Reply 22 of 127
    WTF! Apple, I been waiting a year to get an iphone, so now I have to stand in line for 8 hours hoping when I get to the counter that they are not sold out or the store is closing, I dont think so, what were you thinging when dropping sales from the Apple online store? that is the worst idea ever.



    so what is the next best phone out there since it looks like i can not get an iphone.
  • Reply 23 of 127
    polvadispolvadis Posts: 87member
    I just really want Verizon to stop making its users buy their "iPhone killers" and start simply supporting the iPhone. I really don't like AT&T's service and it doesn't get any reception in my apartment while my Verizon phone gets full bars.



    I know that Verizon is on a different network so it's not that easy to get iPhone to play nice with it, but can anyone imagine the millions of $$$ it would pay off if Verizon would get the iPhone already? I know it would have my $199...
  • Reply 24 of 127
    dunksdunks Posts: 1,254member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by davidwisconsin View Post


    WTF! Apple, I been waiting a year to get an iphone, so now I have to stand in line for 8 hours hoping when I get to the counter that they are not sold out or the store is closing, I dont think so, what were you thinging when dropping sales from the Apple online store? that is the worst idea ever.



    so what is the next best phone out there since it looks like i can not get an iphone.



    would it kill you to wait a week or so before buying one?
  • Reply 25 of 127
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dunks View Post


    would it kill you to wait a week or so before buying one?



    and you think the lines are going to be down in a week? We only have two Apple store in wisconsinand very few at&crap stores. the closest apple store or at&crap store is over an hour away
  • Reply 26 of 127
    djames42djames42 Posts: 298member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Infinitywraith View Post


    Do you realize that the reason they're restricting purchasing is because otherwise you'd be able to get a $200 iPod Touch by jailbreaking it?



    No. The $199 subsidized price is had with a two-year contract. You either get the privilege of paying $60/month (which turns your "iPod Touch" into a $919 device), or you break the contract (which then means you've paid about $400-500). The other two alternatives are paying the non-contract price of $399 and jailbreaking it, or simply buying the touch
  • Reply 27 of 127
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    In other significant news... Cisco, Intel, Alcatel-Lucent, Clearwire, Samsung and Sprint have formed a WiMax patent pool.



    http://www.networkworld.com/news/200...orm-wimax.html



    This will speed WiMax development and could potentially provide some competition for 4G (LTE). The window will be closing, so it'll be interesting to see how this goes.



    I hope Wimax can get up and running. It will provide some healthy competition in the market place. But they need to get moving and get established well before LTE gets rolled out because it looks to be the stronger technology.
  • Reply 28 of 127
    I think they'll have online sales after the launch on July 11...they did the same thing at the original launch last year.



    No initial online sales means camping out, big lines and extra media attention......
  • Reply 29 of 127
    dmgceodmgceo Posts: 11member
    If it has to be activated in the store then how do you buy a 3G iPhone from the apple ONLINE store ????
  • Reply 30 of 127
    akhomerunakhomerun Posts: 386member
    this is a no brainer. i don't know why some of you are complaining.



    the edge iphone wasnt subsidized. that's why you could activate at home.



    the $199 3G iphone is subsidized. therefore you have to activate it upon purchase just like every other subsidized phone in the US.
  • Reply 31 of 127
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by balsi View Post


    The original agreement was a 5 year exclusive with ATT which included revenue sharing. The question is whether that has been revised along with the revenue sharing amendment. I would think it isn't.



    Did you even read the AT&T press release that I cited?



    It specifically said that AT&T is the exclusive provider of the 3G iphone in the US.



    AT&T said that it will take a hit on earnings for the next 2 years by about 10-12 cents a share.



    AT&T also said that they won't be making money of this deal until 2010 --- so at the very least the exclusive agreement goes beyond 2010 to make any sense for them.
  • Reply 32 of 127
    stepstep Posts: 11member
    "There's more to this than I've outlined where the handset manufacturers are likely to have more power in the future years, but I'll save that for another diatribe.".



    Balsi, could you elaborate? I'm definitely interested in seeing the telecom companies lose some power here so we can see more competitive markets. But what points in that direction? Apple, for all it's market-shaking brilliance, still has to cave to the "status-quo" - at least that's what it looks like to me. Of course they're ruled (as any public company) by the almighty dollar, and they have to go where the money leads. That doesn't mean I have to agree or like it though.
  • Reply 33 of 127
    jensonbjensonb Posts: 532member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aplnub View Post


    I would think at the very least Apple will stay tied to AT&T for a minimum of 12 months. After 12 months rolls by, I wouldn't be surprised if Verizon got friendly with Apple. 24 months after the release of the 3G iPhone would seem more practical for a cut in one carrier only practice.



    At this point, I am not sure what Apple is thinking about having their phone tied to one carrier. I don't see the value added in doing this, even if it means no visual voice mail.



    Let's address this one more time:



    CDMA is a dead in the water system which has very little usage outside the US. Furthermore, it's usage is shrinking. Apple are extremely unlikely to ship a CDMA iPhone and by extension a VeriZon one.
  • Reply 34 of 127
    dagamer34dagamer34 Posts: 494member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tjp091 View Post


    Since ATT just anounced that Apple will no longer have revenue sharing with ATT, and will be just like any other equipment providor, I don't see how ATT can keep Apple from selling the iPhone to other carriers.



    Oh, I guarantee you revenue sharing is going on. The iPhone did not just suddenly shed $200 of its price from nowhere, making it cheaper than even the iPod Touch. The key is in that $10 increase. Because $10 over 24 months = $240, add that to the $199-$299 you'll pay for an iPhone 3G and you'll see that they've actually managed to INCREASE the price by $40! But for those that don't do the math, you'll get roped in!



    And when I saw the cheaper price and noticed that the iPod Touch hadn't decreased in price when the Apple Store went back up, I knew something was off.



    The other thing is with activations now in the store, does this mean that iTunes will be pulling activation records from the web if you ever have to restore the iPhone OS firmware? Because that would royally suck if you have to go to the store every freaking time just to activate the phone.
  • Reply 35 of 127
    cory bauercory bauer Posts: 1,286member
    I imagine by July 11th or shortly after you'll be able to purchase an iPhone 3G from the online Apple Store, but activating the phone will be part of the ordering process. If you can't buy the iPhone anywhere without signing a 2-year contract, then that'll certainly put an end to jailbreaking.
  • Reply 36 of 127
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jensonb View Post


    Let's address this one more time:



    CDMA is a dead in the water system which has very little usage outside the US. Furthermore, it's usage is shrinking.



    There are more CDMA subscribers outside the US than inside. Despite your contention, its usage is growing.
  • Reply 37 of 127
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dagamer34 View Post


    Oh, I guarantee you revenue sharing is going on.



    It's in the Apple's SEC filings --- no revenue sharing.
  • Reply 38 of 127
    mimicmimic Posts: 72member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dagamer34 View Post




    The other thing is with activations now in the store, does this mean that iTunes will be pulling activation records from the web if you ever have to restore the iPhone OS firmware? Because that would royally suck if you have to go to the store every freaking time just to activate the phone.



    Yeah, because i totally restore my iPhone a couple time a week.
  • Reply 39 of 127
    mimicmimic Posts: 72member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cory Bauer View Post


    I imagine by July 11th or shortly after you'll be able to purchase an iPhone 3G from the online Apple Store, but activating the phone will be part of the ordering process. If you can't buy the iPhone anywhere without signing a 2-year contract, then that'll certainly put an end to jailbreaking.



    I'm more concerned about my current iPhone and how easily it will be to pass onto mom on July 12.
  • Reply 40 of 127
    ytvytv Posts: 109member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jensonb View Post


    Let's address this one more time:



    CDMA is a dead in the water system which has very little usage outside the US. Furthermore, it's usage is shrinking. Apple are extremely unlikely to ship a CDMA iPhone and by extension a VeriZon one.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    There are more CDMA subscribers outside the US than inside. Despite your contention, its usage is growing.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jensonb View Post


    Let's address this one more time:



    CDMA is a dead in the water system which has very little usage outside the US. Furthermore, it's usage is shrinking. Apple are extremely unlikely to ship a CDMA iPhone and by extension a VeriZon one.



    To expound on what JeffDM said, there are also more CDMA users than GSM users INSIDE the US too.



    Also Sprint and Verizon turned down the iphone before Apple turned to ATT. Not everyone wants Apple dictating how they run their businesses.
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