Analyst: Apple Likely to Stick with AT&T for its iPhone
AT&T’s exclusive deal to carry the iPhone has at times been a popular topic. Despite predictions by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster and statements by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson that would suggest AT&T’s exclusivity with the iPhone will come to an end with its contract in April 2010, an analyst from iSuppli suggests otherwise.
Francis Sideco, iSuppli principal analyst, had the following prediction:
The FCC investigation notwithstanding, Apple has no reason to move away from its highly successful exclusive deal with AT&T, which has already generated strong growth in iPhone sales and is expected to fuel a continued expansion in the coming years.
In addition, Sideco believes Apple won’t see a need to add support for an additional networking standard, reports Brighthand. The HSPA standard, which is used by AT&T, is expected to grow to 1.4 billion subscribers by 2012, while the EVDO standard, which is used by Verizon, is expected to reach 304.6 million subscribers by 2013, says eWeek.
While the exclusivity deal has been extremely beneficial to Apple, the same can’t be said for AT&T, says a report from research firm Strand Consult. According to the report, the iPhone has been anything but a money-maker for AT&T.