Posts tagged AT&T

According to Gene Munster, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, Apple’s exclusive deal with AT&T might not last even a year.

Do I hear cheers? oh…yes I do. This is a great news for customers as well as Apple. This would result in further increase in iPhone sales and maybe less jailbreakig. In other countries Apple has already ended this exclusive thingy.

Speculation is that the exclusivity contract with AT&T would last at most five years from when the first iPhone hit the market in 2009. This would mean that AT&T would have exclusive rights to the iPhone until around 2012. But ending it’s exclusive deal with Apple could spell big trouble for AT&T.  People are not happy with the poor service AT&T is providing. AT&T also gets blamed for problems in iPhone . iPhone users download 2-4 times more data than other Smartphone users and AT&T finds it difficult to keep up with the demand.

Customers have been staying with AT&T  whether they are satisfied or not because it is the only option they have (Jailbreaking aside). But if other carriers starts offering iPhone, it will be bad for AT&T.

AT&T executives have said they realize that the iPhone exclusivity  deal won’t last forever, and they say that they are prepared for that day. But the longer AT&T can keep the iPhone exclusive to it’s network, the better off it’ll be.

However the chances of AT&T holding onto the iPhone looks slim.