More than anything else, Apple is a hardware manufacturer and it relies upon the sales of its core businesses: Computers, iPods and multimedia equipment. The iPhone is just another piece of the Apple domination puzzle.
Much like the revenue generated from iTunes purchases, the revenue gained from AT&T service plans is a nominal amount when compared to the future benefits of iPhone (and Apple) saturation.
Prior to its release, the iPhone was being hailed as a landmark device which, unlike most other GSM phones, was locked down to one carrier. After all, it made sense: Apple entered into an exclusivity deal with AT&T (albeit begrudgingly) and was forced to make the device as “unhackable” as possible. But as we all know, nothing is unhackable.
Steve Jobs did his part–he locked the iPhone down quite well and kept saying that he was all for AT&T. He even talked up the fact that the BlackBerry does quite well on AT&T’s service just to maintain the iPhone’s significant buzz.
But Steve Jobs is not a dumb man. He knew that by making the iPhone exclusive, he was losing out on a significant market of people both home and abroad and his vision for the future of Apple included those that were left out.
But alas, the exclusivity deal wasn’t that hard to swallow. He, like all of us, knew that people would immediately start to hack the iPhone and unlock it for use on T-Mobile and other services abroad. And once that happened, the benefits could far outweigh the costs of such a hack.
Unlocking a cell phone is neither illegal nor in any direct violation of laws. Apple can’t stop anyone from unlocking a cell phone, and to be honest, I don’t think it really cares. Apple is playing this recent iPhone unlocking news perfectly.
If it overreacted and stopped the hack, it could stymie its future revenue gains, but if it endorses such a maneuver, it effectively leaves AT&T out to dry. Isn’t it ironic that AT&T lawyers went knocking on the doors of the hackers while Apple lawyers sipped tea at home?
With a new unlocking procedure in place, the iPhone will become as ubiquitous overseas as it is in the US. In a matter of days after the best iPhone unlock is released, we will witness a flurry of sales that will create a watershed moment for Apple.
Read more at CnetAsia – The Steve Jobs master plan: iPhone hacking
UPDATE, August 31st 2007
Apple Fights Back With Exploding iPhones?
“We were so happy, all the software part was done, so we started opening the iphone. The antenna cover was a bit tricky but eventually it came off. Then we started to open the metal cover (after taking out the 3 screws) and PUFF, up it went in smoke, I think my collegue must have touched something.
It literally went up in black smoke. I was so hot that when I tried to pick it up I burnt my fingers. So, this is for sure the most difficult part of the whole process. I don’t know what he did, as I had just stepped out of the room to fetch something when I heard a scream…they got such a fright.”
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