The Italy iPhone launch might signal a change in policy at Apple. As of now, Apple chose one carrier per country to which it gave exclusive rights to commercialize the iPhone. The view is that carriers enter a bidding process during which they bid more royalties to Apple to get the coveted contract. Of course, there are many variables like the customer base and so on. So far AT&T has been fairly happy with the deal.

The Italian “La Repubblica” believes that that will come to an end soon and that Apple will switch to a more open model that

involves several (or all) carriers. We can only speculate on that and our opinion is that the exclusivity tactic is a effective demonstration for all carriers: they can produce more money, even after sharing the subscription fees with Apple. However, that tactic has the drawback of locking out legions of customers trapped in their current contracts.

By becoming less exclusive, Apple will likely increase their total available market – which they need to continue to grow quickly.

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Orginal post by Tom Krazit