AT&T Looking to Extend iPhone Deal With Apple to 2011?
By James Falconer on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 at 6:28 AM PST In AT&T, Apple, Rumors, iPhone
Rumors have it that AT&T (NYSE: T) is currently in talks with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) to extend their exclusive US agreement to sell the iPhone. No doubt AT&T views the iPhone as a cash cow, and rightly so, as the iPhone has sold more than 17 million units worldwide to date. Maintaining an exclusivity deal with Apple will be critical for AT&T in the months ahead.
AT&T has declined to comment on any of these rumors, instead they simply chose to re-iterate a previous statement that they had a multi-year agreement with the good folks at Cupertino.
Perhaps AT&T knows something we don’t about the next-gen iPhones? If the next batch of iPhone goodness is a success this summer, no doubt AT&T will want that exclusivity deal running through 2011, 2012… or longer!
[Via: Reuters]
I think that would be a stupid move for apple. AT&T is not the only carrier in the US. Its all about selling as many phones as possible. This an apple shareholders nightmare.
AT&T would be wise to pay Apple whatever it would take for them to secure the sole rights for another 2 years—even if that means the company takes a loss on the deal. Consider how many subscribers with 2 year contracts will switch to AT&T at the end of their contract, just to be able to have an iPhone. No other phone or product on the market comes close to being such an industry changer.