News
Analyst: AT&T paying Apple $18/month per iPhone
By Charles Starrett
Contributing Editor
Published: Wednesday, October 31, 2007
News Categories: iPhone
In a recent note, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said he estimates AT&T is paying Apple an average of $18/month for each iPhone subscriber, or $432 over the course of a two-year contract. Munster revised his previous estimate of $6.50/month based on iPhone sales and revenue figures disclosed in Apple’s fourth quarter earnings report. Munster explained that he was surprised by the higher estimate, and said that it showed the importance of Apple’s efforts to keep the iPhone out of unlockers’ hands. Apple recently instituted a new iPhone purchase policy, limiting sales to two per person and barring cash sales in an effort to reduce the threat of unlockers. Based on the estimate, Muenster boosted his Apple 2009 revenue estimate to $42.8 billion, and raised his price target on Apple from $220 to $250.
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1
Clearly, Apple couldn’t give a s__t about the realities of GSM-based mobile device. For example, selling it unlocked and keeping its OS general enough as to be independent of the operator.
Posted by The Doctor on October 31, 2007 at 9:59 AM (PST)
2
Doc ... so what? Apple is a business and the purpose of a business is to look after its bottom line and its shareholders. They’re a company I like, a company whose products I like and have bought for 22 years and a company that is at least dedicated to product quality, innovation and uniqueness. Again, I ask, so what?
Capitalism! Gotta love it, baby.
Posted by jla3bc on October 31, 2007 at 2:31 PM (PST)
3
The point is, it’s a ridiculous strategy relying on carrier kickbacks for a GSM phone. No other phone manufacturer does this; they don’t need to do so.
Case in point: Nokia has almost half the world’s marketshare of mobile devices. They’ve happily achieved this by selling their phones completely unlocked and unbranded - even in the US, now. (Just look at the N95.)
Posted by The Doctor on November 2, 2007 at 6:00 AM (PST)