MacNN reports, “Each iPhone customer will need to sign a two-year contract with Cingular, regardless of which store they purchase the handset from, and another Piper Jaffray analyst for the Mobile space believes Cingular will not subsidize the iPhone… ‘We believe [that] Cingular will be aggressively attracting new subscribers during the launch of the iPhone by reducing service fees and announcing discounts to iPhone customers,’ Munster said.”
MacNN reports, “Apple and Cingular have signed a multi-year exclusive contract for the iPhone, but Munster says it is still unclear whether the deal applies to all iPhone models released throughout the duration of the contract. Cingular’s president of national distribution Glenn Lurie in mid-January, however, said that Apple’s contract with the cellular carrier covers ‘all models’ of the iPhone including several other devices in the works that could debut in the near future. ‘We believe Apple will release new iPhone models quickly (as the company has with the iPod) and these devices will eventually be open to other wireless carriers, possibly even before the Cingular contract expires.'”
“The analyst estimates that a 3G-based iPhone would cost an additional $100, but that Apple will eventually reap the benefits of economies of scale and favorable component markets, ultimately releasing a 3G model. Despite the current lack of 3G support, Apple’s iPhone offers WiFi support as part of its broad feature set,” MacNN reports.
Much more in the full article here.
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