AT&T-iPhone: Five Year Exclusive Confirmed
By Harry McCracken | Monday, May 10, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Sitting around waiting for a Verizon iPhone and checking the Web every five minutes to see if it’s here yet? You might want to chill. Engadget’s Nilay Patel is reporting about a 2008 legal document that confirms that Apple’s original 2007 agreement with AT&T involved five years of iPhone exclusivity. Contracts, of course, are fungible things. So it’s not inconceivable that we’ll see a Verizon iPhone of some sort before 2012. But if it takes another couple of years–or more–before the iPhone lands on Verizon, now we know why…
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Legal Documents Reveal AT&T Has Exclusive IPhone Rights Until 2012 | DailyTech : Legal Technology Today Says:
May 11th, 2010 at 4:44 am[…] AT&T-iPhone: Five Year Exclusive Confirmed (technologizer.com) […]
May 10th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
The other reason why: there will NEVER be a CDMA iPhone. Ever. EV-DO is a battery-drain, not to mention no simultaneous talk and data. Apple would have to seriously redesign the iPhone, and they’re just not going to, especially when 4G is right around the corner. This has always been the case, in addition to the AT&T exclusivity.
When 2012 rolls around and Verizon’s LTE network is ready, maybe then we’ll see an iPhone on Verizon.
May 10th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
I stopped waiting for the iPhone on Verizon a long time ago. With the HTC Droid Incredible out now for Verizon, I’ve decided that will be my next cell phone.
May 10th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
I heard today the HTC Droid Incredible just passed the iPhone in sales (not sure of the exact metric). I have a loaner from Verizon and after using for past 10 days, I don’t care if Verizon ever gets the iPhone.
Apple and AT&T can eat the iPhone.
May 11th, 2010 at 4:34 am
Apple makes 1 product for the world and they stick to open standards. That means no Verizon. The US has 1 carrier. With Verizon moving to LTE then in 2012 the US will have 2 carriers who compete with the same iPhone. Competition in the US! Radical.
> I heard today the HTC Droid Incredible just passed the iPhone in sales
> (not sure of the exact metric)
Hardly. iPhone outsells Droid phones 10:1. If you include all iPhone OS devices and all Android devices, it’s still more than 2:1 in Apple’s favor.
You’re probably thinking of the NPD survey, which included all Android but excluded many iPhone OS, and included US but not international, and included retail carriers but not Apple Stores and sales to businesses. Not really an accurate picture, but maybe it makes you feel good.
May 11th, 2010 at 7:52 am
“Apple makes 1 product for the world and they stick to open standards.”
Funniest thing I’ve heard all day. Just because Apple is a member of a consortium that creates a standard does not make it open. Perhaps you need to educate your self on what exactly an open standard is. Webkit is the closest Apple comes. Don’t even bring up h.264, either. It is not licensed under any open agreement, and Apple is even asserting that all other video codecs infringe on h.264. Open my rear end. Just because Steve Jobs SAYS they stick to open standards doesn’t make it true. Maybe you need to take a break from the Apple kool-aid.
Signing on with AT&T for so long was a dumb move too. Apple could have been the microsoft of the mobile market if they were smart enough to learn from previous mistakes in regards to licensing their software, but they didn’t, and will pay for it just as they have in the past.
I’m sorry if this hurts your little fanboy feelings, but it’s the truth. Those that don’t understand history are doomed to repeat it.
May 11th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Probably one of the best kept tech-secret yet, however to think that for all these years potential consumers/costumers have been lead on… it somehow makes me wonder if that is a smart business practice?