Analyst: AT&T iPhone deal extended through end of 2010 in exchange for low iPad data rates

38 Comments

invisibleSHIELD case for iPad“AT&T and Apple probably have a quid pro quo in place that has extended the mobile carrier’s exclusive deal with the iPhone in exchange for heavily-discounted data plan pricing for the iPad, an analyst said [yesterday],” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld. “‘AT&T had to do something dramatic to get the iPad,’ said Brian Marshall, a Wall Street analyst at BroadPoint AmTech. AT&T’s move was to discount their normal wireless data plans by 50% to iPad customers.”

“As part of the tit-for-tat, AT&T got what it wanted. ‘For that pricing [on the iPad], AT&T was able to negotiate a six-month extension on the iPhone exclusive,’ Marshall said,” Keizer reports.

“Most analysts had expected the AT&T-Apple deal to expire this summer, three years after the two companies first partnered on the iPhone. At one time, Marshall was among those who figured that the expiration meant Verizon, the country’s largest mobile provider, would also sell the iPhone this year,” Keizer reports. “He’s changed his mind. Marshall now believes that Verizon won’t have the iPhone until the first quarter of 2011.”

Full article here.

38 Comments

  7. The chip that Apple wanted to use that would have allowed the iPhone to run on both cell standards, GSM and CDMA, may not have yet been ready for prime time. So this may have been a win for Apple.
    Assuming this is all true.

    Reply

  10. Big Al provided you with the HTML special character code for ampersand. The approach that MDN uses for adding forum inputs to its pages apparently leads to your browser interpreting it as HTML. So when it hits an & it attempts to convert it to the special character.

    You can find lists of the codes in many locations on the web.

    Reply

  11. “…in exchange for heavily-discounted data plan pricing for the iPad.”

    Are you F’ing nuts. There is NO DISCOUNT plan for the iPad. AT&T;Verizon and Sprint all charge the same ridiculous amounts for data. I’ve seen the $15/250MB deal before of course that only works for email only users and the cost is $60 a Gig. Or the industry standard 5GB for $60 or $12 per GB.

    Lets say it this way on the “discount” iPad plan you pay $3.36 per hour to listen to pandora.

    Reply

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