Apple Extends Exclusivity Contract With AT&T Until 2010?
We’ve had our fair share of gripes and complaints about AT&T here at TiPb but we don’t give them enough credit for trusting Apple and letting them go wild with the iPhone. Sure, they may be out to squeeze every dollar from their customers, but few carriers would even imagine giving Apple the freedom to create the. best. gadget. ever.
Plus, AT&T is well aware of the attention and added dollars they get by having an exclusivity agreement for the iPhone, so it comes to no surprise to us that one of those old, reputable, print companies is reporting that AT&T has added another year of exclusivity (until 2010 now). If AT&T were to lose the iPhone now, it’d be a complete disaster since the iPhone is starting to entrench itself in the market.
So I guess since AT&T will never give up on the iPhone, it’s on Apple to make every customers dream come true and deliver a fully unlocked iPhone. Maybe then, carriers will begin to lower their prices and the power will come back to the consumers.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:59 pm
OK this ins not the best device out there ever. come on, it has a kool interface, yes. but no mms unless you pay the bis data plan? does not qualify for insurance, yet i understand that if it reported to apple as a lost/stolen product it cant be activated on another account. can’t personalize ring tones, warranty is through apple not ATT, does not do stereo blue tooth, wow, all those itunes and i have to used a wired head set or the phone speaker. the the glass screen breaks and that’s it. a dead phone, won’t work. No html support. Due to the 3g chipset batter life is now shorter, forcing you to buy a car charger, or have a charger at home, the office, car. they gave it a plastic back side. i will stick with htc the only bennefit it did was make other manufacturers stand up and hear as to what people want, and how many sheeple are brain washed to buying this thing.
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Well said. I agree.
February 6th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
A fully unlocked phone is not the only thing needed; a CDMA version of the phone is needed! Locked or unlocked, GSM phones will not operate on CDMA networks.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:01 am
Just like all other electronic gadgets from memory chips to computer and TV, prices will eventually go down as demands saturate. Being said so, it may take as short as months or long as years, and accessories will be better designed, etc. Phone is just a phone, but Apple (and its partners) will definitely continue to improve from 3G to better b/c it’s their bread and butter.
While it may have problems, as a new user, I find it worth every penny of the hardware even though I’ve been getting only free phones in the past (and was still not satisfied). In additions, at&t does a great job of data speed, at least in my locale, with ~3-5MB/sec data speed (yes upload too!!!). That is equivalent or better than Comcast cable or my speed at work!!!
Activation is simple. Applications are intuitive and very cheap (0.99-$6/ea). You will have so much fun using it, and for me, very productive. That’s why I like it, a fast “mini computer” with high speed Internet. Once you own it, you won’t want to give it up… until 4G!
March 9th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Buy a blackberry they are better!
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I will get one as soon as they are not tied to AT&T and available on Sprint.
April 5th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Iphone Kicks all other PHones A** Bottom Line… Who cares everything has to mature with time and thats what Apple is doing.. So id advise you to get with the program and ditch your blackberry because its going to be like landline phones in 2020.. APPLE A DAY KEEPS EVERYTHING ELSE AWAY..
May 21st, 2009 at 11:56 am
At&t is the worst service I have ever had! I love my i-phone, but would give anything to switch servers and keep all my apps! I have two phones just because the reception is so bad on my i-phone that I can’t rely on it to have a conversation!!
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
The iPhone like many apple products doesn’t necessarily have anything that other phones don’t have they just seem to do all the things they do just a little better. The web browser being the main thing for me seems to work just a little better being useable on almost all websites wnd the interface seems a bit more seamless. Apple also has a plethora of applications some extremely usefull and some less so. Anyone who doesnt give this phone the credit it is due is due is blind. It is currently rewriting the rules for smartphones and if it were available on every carrier almost everyone would have one. The thing is even affordable if you get it apon activation of your contract. AT&T is the problem with this phone. They have terrible service and a whole list of rules that make working with their company more difficult, expensive and inconvenient for their users. They expect things like a five hundred dollar deposit for people that can activate a phone with Verizon for free and they will not let you purchase an iPhone through an authorized dealer it has to be AT&T directly or the apple store. When they lose this contract they will be losing the only reason people use AT&T and the only reason they don’t have to lower their prices to where Sprint is now. Sprint seems to me to be the best value, atleaast in my market, they offer an un limited plan for $100 that actually is all inclusive and they roam on verizon towers so if Verizon has service, so will Sprint. The only thing I don’t like about sprint is their lack of the iPhone. Pleeeease Apple, sell that phone to all providers.
June 27th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
good luck waiting for it to be on sprints network and they also have some of the worse coverage and data speed out there