| Todd Allcock 2007-07-17, 3:33 pm |
| At 16 Jul 2007 18:58:47 -0700 Randall Ainsworth wrote:
> My guess is that Verizon wanted to cripple the thing like they do the
> rest of their hardware - so you have to pay them to do simple things
> like transfer wallpaper and ringtones.
I doubt it was the CDMA technology, since Apple surely knew the
technology Verizon used when they talked, I don't think "crippling" was a
factor either- Verizon tends not to cripple their higher-end phones (like
the VX-6700, for example.)
My guess is that Verizon didn't like Apple's distribution and commission
ideas- Apple is handling support and exchange, and reportedly gets a
monthly commission on AT&T's revenues from iPhone customers.
Thae monthly commission is probably why distribution of the iPhone is
currently from Apple and AT&T corporate stores only- way back when I was
a Cingular dealer, Cingular paid the dealer a monthly commission on that
dealer's customer's payments- I assume they still do. I also assume
Cingular doesn't want to pay two commissions, so they left the dealers
out of the iPhone business, paying Apple as if they were the "dealer" of
all iPhone customers. If I was still a Cingular dealer, I'd be pretty
P.O.'ed right now being left out of benefitting from the best selling
phone they've ever had. The lost sales opportunities of Cingular's
dealer base is two fold- they don't just miss out on iPhone sales, but
any sales that AT&T will make from customers who come in to look at the
iPhone, then opt for a cheaper music phone like a Sync.
Perhaps Verizon didn't want to lose any distribution control of "their"
handsets, or perhaps they valued their dealers enough not to give them
the middle finger with respect to opportunity or commissions.
--
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