Buying An iPhone Should Be Considered A Subscription, Not A Purchase

No operator wants to go near a model of the customer subscriber to the phone. And phone vendors understand, such as LG and Samsung cautious about app stores only in South Korea. The clout of operators like AT&T are branding and billing. The customer subscribes to one bill, and from the operator. For the U.S. market, the four largest operators need relief from the cost of subsidizing handset as the replacement cycle increases and prices rise. Notice that AT&T had no presence at WWDC while keynoting the Embedded Device Conference this week. The future of mobile data is to innovators like Apple and developers. AT&T's executive Glenn Lurie again emphasized the new billing opportunities of mobile data. However, Mr. Lurie was careful about committing AT&T to subsidizing embedded devices and hurting quarterly returns. But with prepaid still low traction in the U.S., the subsidy and subscription model continues under carrier control.