In the discussion aftermath of Steve Job's announcement of the new iPhone from Apple, several people have complained about the exclusivity of using Cingular as the wireless provider. Apple is locked into a "multi-year" contract with Cingular and thus it would seem users are going to be stuck either in their present provider contracts with no iPhone or to make possibly expensive switches to the different provider.
Yet, I reviewed the keynote address and noticed something interesting. Jobs announced the phone would not be available until June, giving Apple enough time to get FCC approval. Knowing Apple as we all do, what's the likelihood of the company simply resting on its laurels until the first roll-out of iPhone, nearly 6 months from now?
Not likely at all.
In fact, Jobs gave us a clue as to the future of the iPhone, which will incorporate 3G standards and different features. This leaves open the possibility that the contract with Cingular is exclusive ONLY to this model of iPhone and not necessarily for other variants Apple develops in the meantime or shortly after launch.
Given the lead-time on this product's ship date, anything should still be considered possible and I fully expect more details to emerge following Leopard's launch in April.
In the meantime, here is a clip from the keynote in which Jobs blurbs his plans for iPhone to include 3G and "all sorts of other amazing things in the future".
Watch:
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3 comments:
I'm sorry to say that I think you are reading too much into Jobs' brief comment on more to come. I would be quite happy to see the iPhone come to Verizon and creating different versions for different carriers sounds exactly like something Jobs would do, so I will wait and see.
What?!?! ME read too much into something??? ;)
Seriously, I can't see how Apple would hope to do a market capture of even 1% without investing in other carriers at some point down the road. With Cingular and AT&T's combined new customer growth only barely exceeding the projected 10 million phones Apple would need to sell for that market share, the demographics of who is purchasing a high-end smartphone would have to change dramatically or Apple has something up their sleeve with another carrier.
Like you, however, I will wait and see and...eventually buy wherever I can get the best deal.
Here's Conan O'Brien's take on the iPhone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xXNoB3t8vM
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