I just read a post at Apple 9 to 5 that made my heart skip a beat or 2: seems Apple's exclusive deal with AT&T as the sole carrier for iPhones may be coming to an end:
Speaking last night, Apple COO Tim Cook commented on exclusive
carrier relationships, saying, “There are three main countries where
iPhones have a contractual exclusive relationship. That is the United
States, Germany and Spain. There are a few smaller countries where we
have an exclusive or co-exclusive but those three are the ones that are
the major markets.
"Over the past year we have moved a number of markets from exclusive
to non-exclusive. In each case as we have done that we have seen our
unit growth accelerate and our market share improve. But that doesn’t
mean we view that formula works in every single case. I would just sort
of reiterate what I did last time that this is how we are learning so
far. That is the result we have seen so far. We think very carefully
about each of these at the country level to conclude what is in our
best interest.”
We believe the decision for the US market may already be made.
I so hope this is the case. I've not yet purchased an iPhone because I do not want to give any money to AT&T (not that I like giving money to Verizon but it seems the lesser of the two evils at the moment). If there will be options to use other carriers, I will be making a mad dash to my local Apple Store.
I've wanted an iPhone since they first became available, but the time I spent in CA without constant Internet access made me want one even more.
Come on Apple, give me the option to use other carriers, and I will buy yet another one of your products.
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