How can Apple benefit the most...

[wchong]

everyone knows that apple gets a cut off the monthly ATT cell phone bills. That is the primary reason why they locked the iPhone.

However, if the iPhone was unlocked, then both the ATT customer base and the t-mobile customer base would have access and be able to buy the iPhone and thus increasing the number of iPhones sold.


So, what makes more money in the long run, apple getting a mini cut off the ATT customers, or amount of unlocked Iphones sold?

 

[Hudzilla]

Apple will have dedicated departments working on this kind of market research, im sure they will have carefully thought of the best way to optimize revenue from different marketing methods.

There will be a very good reason they decided to lock it to a network

 

[memesmith]

In the long run, Apple may benefit from unlocked phone sales but in the short term the only viable business case is for a lock. As a new player on the euipment market, and one which poses a significant threat to the established brands, Apple needed a sting ally among the services providers. Without one provider contractually committed to the iPhone project, it would have been too easy foe Nokia and Motarola to close ranks against the interloper by penalizing any provider who dared offering the services like visual voicemail abd unlimited data, that make make the iPhone experience so worthwhile. Also Apple needs access to the service provider retail network without which they'd would have no accessbto wehere most phones are bought. And without an exclusive deal they'd have to discount the phone orbeven worse, sell it to the providers so they could set their own prices. That would mean they retail prices of the iPhone is no longer in Apples control, which would devalue the brand, and make iphones cheaper to the end user than iPods. If the Apple strategy succeeds it may change the market entirely, breaking the providermsnufsctirsr cartel forever, but only when Apple (and/or other new players like google) has built up real demand for their phones. Way morebthan 1% market share.

 

[plumbingandtech]

Apple will have dedicated departments working on this kind of market research, im sure they will have carefully thought of the best way to optimize revenue from different marketing methods.

There will be a very good reason they decided to lock it to a network

Exactly. No more posts are needed after this answer.