At some point Apple will have to offer a pre-pay smart phone. That has to be a huge market. I wonder how long it will be before the whole contract thing goes away anyhow.
but according to this article:
Check the dates. That one was before the Verizon announcment.
My article (and many others) that said there was no exclusive, came after the announcement.
Yes, they are no longer "exclusive to AT&T" or "a single carrier" but may have made it so that in the USA, they are dual, and being kept off of all others...
Again, as far as Verizon goes, there is no exclusive.
This was also pointed out by Verizon when the Rural Cellular Association asked Verizon to help them get the iPhone after six months of exclusivity, which is Verizon's new policy. The reply:
Verizon issued a statement saying that because they don’t have an exclusivity deal with Apple regarding the iPhone (like AT&T did), they aren’t held responsible to the commitment Verizon made back in 2009. More or less, Verizon said, “Talk to Apple.”
And after that, the iPhone shuffle. You shake it and it calls a random person.