Does AT&T still have a stronghold on Apple’s iPhone in the U.S. or not? Despite old newspaper reports and newly revealed court documents, analysts still aren’t sure what the truth is.
As the story goes, on May 23, 2007, USA Today reported that AT&T had exclusive distribution rights on the iPhone for five years. The paper called that “an eternity in the go-go cell-phone world.” According to the USA Today article, Apple is barred until 2012 from developing a version of the iPhone for CDMA wireless networks. That effectively locks out Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel.
The latest revelation comes from court documents in a class-action lawsuit that alleges Apple is running a monopoly. Apple’s response seems to confirm its exclusive five-year iPhone deal with AT&T: “[T]here was widespread disclosure of [AT&T’s] five-year exclusivity and no suggestion by Apple or anyone else that iPhones would become unlocked after two years.”
A New iPhone Version?
According to Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group, the reason that confirmation of the five-year deal may be important is evident: An exclusive agreement would mean consumers looking for a Verizon iPhone this year or next shouldn’t hold their breath. The rumors of a Verizon or Sprint iPhone seem to go up in smoke based on these court documents — unless.
The unless is interesting. Gartenberg said the exclusive iPhone deal between AT&T and Apple was presumably put together about three years ago.
A lot can change in three years, especially given all the issues AT&T has had supporting iPhone customers on its network. A customer satisfaction survey from ChangeWave Research indicates AT&T has the lowest customer satisfaction rate and the most dropped calls among its carrier peers.
There’s yet another unless. AT&T has an exclusive deal for the iPhone — unless the terms of that deal changed since…