If its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission is anything to go by, it looks like Apple’s days of carrier revenue sharing are over thanks to the launch of the new 3G iPhone.
The filing says: “Apple will not receive follow-on revenue generating payments from carriers for the new iPhone 3G beyond the purchase of the device by carriers or a commission on sales of the device by Apple. Apple will continue to receive payments from cellular network providers related to first-generation iPhones as long as they remain active on authorized networks.”
The filing does say, however, that the end to revenue sharing is only “under the vast majority of these agreements” so there must be some carriers out there still getting milked by Apple. Rumour has it AT&T is no longer one of them – so who’s the unlucky operator still handing over bundles of cash?
The end of the revenue share agreement is being seen as a big victory for the mobile operators but I disagree. I can't believe a company as canny as Apple gave up a revenue share without major concessions being made by the other side and I wonder whether the “exclusivity” clause is really as rock solid as it seemed a year ago.
At the end of the day, the revenue share tied Apple to O2 and AT&T and now that it might have gone why on earth would Apple continue to promise exclusivity for ever more. I think this one might slip sooner than some people think.
Perhaps Apple don't need a slice of calls and texts if they're now making money selling software and access to MobileMe. Gives them an extra revenue stream and means they don;t need to be tied to an operator.
I'm surprised they haven't set up their own Visual Voicemail servers which customers could use even if they're not on the preferred network. Perhaps they'll buy SpinVox 😉
Perhaps Apple don't need a slice of calls and texts if they're now making money selling software and access to MobileMe. Gives them an extra revenue stream and means they don;t need to be tied to an operator.
I'm surprised they haven't set up their own Visual Voicemail servers which customers could use even if they're not on the preferred network. Perhaps they'll buy SpinVox 😉
Perhaps Apple don't need a slice of calls and texts if they're now making money selling software and access to MobileMe. Gives them an extra revenue stream and means they don;t need to be tied to an operator.
I'm surprised they haven't set up their own Visual Voicemail servers which customers could use even if they're not on the preferred network. Perhaps they'll buy SpinVox 😉