Apple's iPhone predicted to find home at T-Mobile U.S. in 2010

[quailallstar]

Read

While rumors of a possible Verizon-compatible iPhone in 2010 persist, one analyst has predicted that Apple will instead bring the iPhone to another GSM-based carrier in the U.S.: T-Mobile.

In a note to investors released this week, Doug Reid of Thomas Weisel Partners said his firm believes that T-Mobile, and not Verizon, will be the beneficiary when Apple's exclusive agreement with AT&T expires next year. AT&T has likely realized this, he said, and has changed its advertising focus accordingly to be less focused on the iPhone.

"AT&T advertising in the United States has in recent weeks clearly shifted away from iPhone as the carrier likely readies itself to lose exclusivity in the United States (to T-Mobile and not to VZ, we believe) while VZ ads promoting Droid and other anti-iPhone devices appear to have intensified markedly," Reid said.

AT&T's exclusive contract with Apple for the iPhone is due to expire in 2010. While earlier this year there were reports that the wireless carrier was pushing to extend the agreement through 2011, those rumors have since cooled.

While the iPhone in its current iteration is compatible with T-Mobile's network, it is not capable of connecting to its high-speed 3G network, which operates on a unique 1700MHz spectrum. The iPhone is currently compatible with UMTS/HSDPA 3G connections at the frequencies 850MHz, 1900MHz and 2100MHz. It would be necessary, therefore, for Apple to build a new hardware model that supports T-Mobile's 3G frequency.

Those changes, though, are relatively minor compared to what would be necessary to make the iPhone compatible with Verizon's CDMA network -- a technology that, unlike the GSM network of AT&T and T-Mobile, is not widely used abroad. Recent rumors have suggested Apple could enter a deal with chip maker Qualcomm. While Qualcomm plans to have a dual-mode chip that would allow connection to both AT&T and Verizon available in 2010, some have said the new chip would be too cost prohibitive for Apple to adopt so soon.

AT&T's advertisements featuring actor Luke Wilson have focused on coverage area and network performance, rather than handsets. Apple recently, however, did join the discussion with a pair of ads that highlight the ability of the iPhone to handle calls and data at the same time -- a capability available on AT&T's network, but not from competitor Verizon.

Thomas Weisel Partners have set a price target of $245 for AAPL stock. They expect that 8.2 million iPhones will be sold in the December quarter, along with 20.45 million iPods and 3.06 million Macs. If those numbers prove accurate, it would top Apple's September 2009 quarter -- its best ever -- when the company sold 3 million Macs and 7.4 million iPhones to earn $1.67 billion in profit.

Source: AppleInsider | Apple's iPhone predicted to find home at T-Mobile U.S. in 2010

[xTemptati0n]

That would be pretty profitable for T-Mobile. I can't tell you how many people we sign up for service that have an unlocked iPhone.

[i_have_a_berry]

Noooooo. Sorry. Although I like the phone I don't want it on t-mobile.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[AaronWasHere]

My main concern with the iPhone being on T-Mo would be network congestion with so much activity on those phones going through. There was a reason something as simple as MMS was delayed so long initially as it was.

[Artemis68]

Remember, AT&T was the official carrier for a long time so pretty much all the iPhoners were over there. Now that the iPhone will be available on more networks, the users will be more "dispersed" and we may not see as much network congestion.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Armando175]

If the iPhone does indeed come to TMO, I could already see people dropping their BBs and run to the iPhone then to realize it was a mistake. I wouldn't switch to an iPhone. I'm happy with my Crackberry.

[K Bear]

I highly doubt it. T-Mobile is heavily pushing Android phones. Why take a step back with iPhone?

[berryite]

Originally Posted by K Bear

I highly doubt it. T-Mobile is heavily pushing Android phones. Why take a step back with iPhone?

Excellent point. And if you're T-Mobile and looking for a long-term technology partner, Google wins that contest hands down over Apple.

[RWWackoStu]

God help us. The Iphone is evil.

[NorrisCell]

I don't doubt that a T-Mobile sanctioned iPhone would make a splash, but there have been a lot of people turned off to it since launch and Google has made some major advances.

Plenty of people would buy it, but not as many as a lot of people might think.

[BlkBear]

Don't see it as being a bad thing, T-mobile will just have another phone to sell to the people that want it. So all the folks that don't want Blackberries, Win Mobile or Android phones will have another choice as well.

As far a network congestion, it would happen if there were a sudden influx of several thousand/million new data using devices on TMO, no matter what they were, smartphones, netbooks, tablets or iPhones.

[BlkBear]

Originally Posted by K Bear

I highly doubt it. T-Mobile is heavily pushing Android phones. Why take a step back with iPhone?

Not really a step back, allows the consumer more choices. Allows multi-line customers the ability to have each line user to have the phone of their choice, without having to buy it elsewhere, unlock it and then drag it over to TMO.

I think most consumer care about variety when they walk into a carrier store and see all those phone they see their friends using and are lusting after. They pause when they find out phone X is not sold here, but I have an account here, I'll just move to where the phone is.

And yes TMO is selling Android phones, but not enough variety of them yet. I like the HTC Pro2, but alas it's not Android.

[pApAsBoi]

i dont think it's happening...

[SwitchediPhone-to-Storm]

Originally Posted by berryite

Excellent point. And if you're T-Mobile and looking for a long-term technology partner, Google wins that contest hands down over Apple.

Gotta agree with you on that one. I would be willing to bet the farm that Google has a lot of interesting things up their sleeves. It was a smart move on Tmobile' part to partner up with Google early on.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[CrackberryBrandon]

"well this was a good story, and thanks for posting it"

The Iphone on T-Mobile brings a lot of questions for me and hopefully someone can anser them for me.

1. how will this affect the T-Mobile Network traffic? (will the IPhone bog down the network as it has done on AT&T, and is T-Mobile ready for this challenge or are they just thinking profit.

2. Will my beloved blackberries suffer from the IPhone coming, meaning will less blackberries go to T-mobile with the IPhone coming there?

3. and finally will the IPhone get the awesome UMA function that comes with the T-Mobile devices.