Apple's partnership with US telecom giant AT&T on eagerly-awaited iPhone devices set to ship next month promises to be an industry-changing blissful union or a history-making horrid divorce. Industry insiders see AT&T as a clear winner from the union as Apple's iPod-driven cache' gives internet-age youthfulness to a company as old as the telephone itself.
AT&T has already received more than a million inquiries about iPhones, according to Mark Siegel, a spokesperson for the company's wireless business.
Interest in iPhones and Apple's historically deft marketing tactics will drive people to AT&T stores, where prices of $499 and $599 for iPhone models might result in customers opting for less expensive AT&T offerings.
"I am sceptical on price, but people are lined up to buy it," Jupiter Research analyst Neil Strother said of iPhones.
"The Apple nuts will buy it right off the bat. If you are with another carrier, that will hold you back. Buying a mobile telephone is a more complex decision than buying an MP3-player to listen to your music."
Wherever people buy iPhones, the US telecom company will be their service carrier thanks to an exclusive multi-year deal with Apple.
Neither company would reveal when the exclusivity expires, but it is believed to be five years or less.
Apple gets to learn the mobile industry from a veteran and keep tight control of the relationship between its iTunes online digital content store and iPhone handsets designed to innovatively handle calls, videos, music, and more.
"I think this partnership is going to redefine the mobile experience for people in the United States," Siegel said.
"It is one of these perfect marriages. We do wireless exceedingly well and Apple does a brilliant job of developing technology that is easy to use. This is a big opportunity for us. We get to attract new customers with the buzz."
A dangerous alliance?
A danger in the alliance is that Apple has a pattern of ending partnerships painfully for the other parties.
Apple's first venture into mobile telephones with Motorola's ROKR model and service by Cingular, which was recently taken over by AT&T, was abandoned by Apple almost as soon as it was unveiled.
"Apple has a history of leaving its partners bleeding or bloody in the dust," analyst Rob Enderle told AFP.
"You have the most power brand with the most powerful carrier. If it works out, you have a powerful partnership. But, this has all the earmarks of a really expensive divorce that will be historically memorable."
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