AT&T sends $1 billion msg to Apple - Cringley
updated 11:40 am EST, Mon December 3, 2007
AT&T warning Apple?
The official revelation of a 3G iPhone may have been a deliberate and expensive message to Apple, says tech columnist Robert Cringely. By letting the public know a 3G iPhone was coming in 2008, says Cringely, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has deprived both Apple and AT&T of important revenue, since media-savvy shoppers may delay their spending not only on the iPhone itself, but also on the requisite two-year AT&T contract. This could be equivalent to a loss of one million customers for AT&T, a market cap of approximately $1 billion.
Cringely suggests that AT&T is upset with Apple, which is rumored to be joining Google in bidding for the 700MHz wireless spectrum. A network based on the spectrum could be used to create a pure data service meant for computers, but it is argued that it would also be logical for Apple to encourage VoIP, which could even be installed on the iPhone. This would undercut the need for AT&T, with which Apple has a five-year exclusivity deal. The carrier has been resistant to VoIP on its own networks, since unlimited data plans could effectively allow unlimited calling.
AT&T has announced no plans to enter the 700MHz auction, Cringely notes, and if it did it could have to pay $10 billion or more to compete against a juggernaut comprised of Apple, Google and even third or fourth partners.
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Or Not
Or maybe he just didn't realize the impact of his statement on sales, or how much Steve Jobs hates it when someone steals his thunder by announcing an Apple product ahead of him.