“What happen to Apple iPhone sales if AT&T subsidizes the cost of the phone for subscribers? The answer, says Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, is that they would sell a lot more phones, to the benefit of both companies,” Eric Savitz blogs for Barron’s.
MacDailyNews Take: Eric and Toni obviously have each other #1 in their Fave Fives. Get iPhones, guys.
Savitz reports, “As Sacconaghi notes, there has been recent speculation that AT&T will provide a $200 subsidy for the pending-but-unannounced 3G iPhone, bringing the phone’s cost for consumers down to about $200. (Current models are priced at $399 and $499.) In a research note this morning, Sacconaghi took a look at what would happen if AT&T does choose to subsidize the next generation iPhone – and why it makes sense for both sides.”
Savitz reports that Sacconaghi “thinks that it is realistic to think AT&T’s iPhone sales could easily double with a $200 subsidy.”
“Sacconaghi says a jump in iPhone sales would likely cannibalize sales of the iPod Touch [sic], which is sold at price points of $299, $399 and $499. But he adds that the overall impact would be positive, since the iPhone is more profitable for Apple than the Touch given the fees the carrier pays back to Apple,” Savitz reports.
More in the full article here.
“Research note?” Give us a break. Wherever the wind blows, Toni goes. And Eric just can’t wait to blog it. This “AT&T subsidizing iPhones” is currently just a rumor. That, and a bunch of idle speculation, will get you an analyst job and an article on the Barron’s blog site, but it certainly won’t give you any meaningful investment advice.
