Reasons that Apple Wont End iPhone Exclusivity with AT&T

Apple and AT&T have an exclusive contract expiring in 2010, but will it really end? Despite the demands of other subscribers on other networks, we don't think it will.

Why bother? This partnership has been a boon for both AT&T and Apple, and has sold millions of phones for Apple, and converted millions of subscribers to AT&T Mobility. It doesn't make much sense to change what is already a successful partnership.

It's built on the GSM standard, which is used by most of the world. Even with LTE from Verizon coming, LTE will be primarily data only, and CDMA for voice. Apple is unlikely to build an iPhone with another chipset. AT&T will be moving over to LTE shortly, so from a backward compatibilty standpoint, it just makes sense to leave things where they lie.

There are more wireless devices than just the iPhone - LTE will be great initially for data, but voice calls are a few years off. In the meantime, data devices like mobile broadband cards, or tablet computing products - something Apple would be more interested in. Apple hasnt introduced any embedded mobile broadband products; LTE would give them a good opportunity to test the waters for a 4G iPhone before AT&T gets LTE technology.

While rumors abound about an iPhone 4g, we just don't see it happening - at least, not in a conventional sense, as iPhones nomenclature usually follows the network on which they operate: 2G for Edge network, 3G for AT&T's 3G network, and 3GS for AT&T's 7.2 Mbps network. You might see a refresh in June 2010, with a faster processor or more storage, but no matter what Apple decides, when it refreshes the iPhone, it'll be on AT&T.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a new software format coming to all carriers, take a look at Android - the HTC hero is right around the corner for Sprint, and Verizon will pick it up shortly.