Really? You still think AT&T is grabbing customers from other carriers just to get an iPhone? Most everyone that wants one and is willing to jump to AT&T for it have already done so. They have had three years. Their contracts with their carriers have already expired. They might have even renewed and gotten another phone. Quite possibly, an Android.
And if AT&T's iPhones sales aren't growing, and if they aren't still grabbing a ton of new customers from other carriers, then there's only one term to describe that.....flattening. Will they see a bump with the new version this summer? Sure. But it's doubtful that many customers have been sitting around on other carriers all this time waiting for a front facing camera and a higher resolution screen. Or a different look. So, for the most part AT&T will be selling these phones to existing customers upgrading. There's nothing wrong with that. And it's a good way to make money. But, that's not growing your market share either.
Which in this case may be a good thing. AT&T probably can't handle even MORE customers! They've had enough trouble as it is!
Someone else pointed out this is incorrect.
Anecdotally, I will note a good friend of mine switched. I remember when the iPhone came out, last time I knew he had AT&T. I had moved to AT&T from Verizon a couple of years or so before the iPhone came out because Verizon did not have coverage around my house. Anyways, I thought he might consider getting one at the time, but then I found out he had switched to Verizon because of signal problems with AT&T. He lives in a different part of the country from me.
Come to find out two weeks ago he now has a couple of iPhones and having no problems. So people are still switching. Think about all the iPad publicity, that was a huge amount of free publicity for the iPhone as well.
There are some negatives to being on more carriers. It changes the prestige of the product. It makes it a commidity it to an extent. Also I suspect one of the biggest stumbling blocks is that Apple is probably very specific how the phones are sold and for how much. So they would never let there be a price war between Verizon and AT&T using the iPhone and devaluing its value.
There is no doubt that with the iPhone on both carriers, one or both of them would love nothing more than to give away iPhones to get subs from the other. In fact I suspect AT&T would love nothing more than to give away free iPhones just to gain marketshare, and I suspect their contract with Apple forbids that. Same would be for Verizon.
I have stated this before but Verizon does not seem to do well when negotiating with Apple. They are used to bulldozing the handset providers and dictating the terms. With Apple it is the opposite, and I suspect Verizon has been less than gracious in managing it. Kudos to whomever at AT&T was able to negotiate the deal with Apple because clearly it was not easy.
I do believe Apple will exact its pound of flesh from Verizon going forward for past perceived transgressions.
Just think about it though. Imagine if AT&T offered Free top of the line 3gs iphones tomorrow, with 2 year service contract. They would be overloaded with new customers.
this is funny...Verizon users who want the iPhone soooo bad lol
I don't blame them, to be fair. I was on AT&T before the iPhone. If the iPhone went to Verizon instead of AT&T I would be feeling the exact same way now. I like to poke fun at the people dying for the iPhone on Verizon, but to be fair, it could have easily have been me as I would not be able to use an iPhone on Verizon.
