While Apple followers feverishly speculate about release dates and form factors for the new 3-G iPhone, the Cupertino company continues to quietly add to its confirmed stable of international iPhone carriers.
Over the past two weeks alone, Apple has inked new deals with wireless carriers in Asia, India, Italy, Australia, Singapore and Canada. What's truly interesting, however, is that some of these agreements are non-exclusive, meaning the iPhone will soon be available through multiple carriers in countries such as Italy and Australia.
That's a profound shift from Apple's standard MO, which generally entails selecting the largest provider in a given country and then selling the iPhone exclusively through that one channel -- and of course demanding a cut of the profits along the way. But with these new non-exclusive deals, some analysts say Apple is finally realizing its traditional business model just won't work on a global scale. Moreover, there are actually benefits to being doing away with exclusively.
By opening up to the idea of working with multiple carriers in a given country, Apple could actually do much more to squelch the international iPhone unlocking business, says IDC senior mobile analyst Chris Hazelton, and at at the same time ensure it meets (and even exceeds) its well-established goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of the year.
The fact that these carriers will now undoubtedly be selling a 3-G iPhone also doesn't hurt.
"It may be that these agreements are now coming so fast and furious because Apple wasn't really in a position to demand revenue share in the past," says IDC senior mobile analyst Chris Hazelton.
Aside from the fact the revenue sharing is not a custom many international carriers are used to, Hazelton notes some of the original delay to such international iPhone agreements may have come down to the device's distinct lack of 3-G.
"The original launch of the iPhone here in the U.S. was amazing," Hazelton says. "It was much less than amazing in Europe; and that's largely because of the device wasn't 3-G capable."
With a new speedier version of the phone on the horizon both here in the U.S. and abroad, Apple is likely finding it much easier to deal with international carriers based on the fact that they can now sell a device that consumers want and expect.
In an investor note on Monday, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu even said these new deals could end more than tripling Apple's wireless subscriber opportunity from about 150 million potential customers today to approximately 470 million by the time the handset maker unveils its 3-G iPhone.
Wu says the cumulative effect on iPhone shipments by the end of 2008 will be an increase of more than 4.5 million to 14.6 million.
