AT&T Confirms the 3G iPhone For 2008, Kills Apple's Christmas
Right in the middle of the busiest shopping time of the year it looks as if AT&T may have just dampened Apple's holiday spirit with the simple mention of one number and one letter: 3G.
Ever since the release of the iPhone there's been a not-so-quiet whisper of plenty of folks who think the device is great but would wait for the second iteration - one that works on the 3G network. Well today we finally have proof of the device straight from a well-placed source, that being AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson who told a group in California yesterday:
"You'll have it next year"As unsurprising as that may be to a lot of people, you've got to think Apple can't be too happy with Stephenson officially letting the cat out of the bag as it were. Even though "next year" could technically mean December 31, 2008, how many people are going to want to lay down $400 AND sign a two-year contract on a device that is going to be obsolete in possibly just a few months time? A rumor just last week put a date of May 2008 out there.
Apple has just spent the past several months downplaying talk of a 3G iPhone as they point out all the great upgrades they still plan on rolling out to this iPhone - namely the development kit in February. AT&T has now basically gone out and said: "screw that, wait for the 3G".
Way to stab your partner in the back while shooting yourself in the foot AT&T - who says these telecom companies just don't get it? Stephenson likely saw all the headlines Verizon was getting with their open network announcement this week, panicked and decided to throw something out there.
Then as a parting gift, when asked how much the 3G iPhone would cost, Stephenson replied that Steve Jobs "will dictate what the price of the phone is" - as if to say "well we'd love to give it to you for free, but you never know what that money-loving Apple company will decide". Someone is getting coal in their stocking.
[via Mashable]
[photo under CC by flickr user Jacob Botter]
7 comments:
Talk about a ridiculous post -- Steve Jobs himself has said that a 3G iPhone is coming in 2008. The AT&T statement contains NOTHING new, and your headline couldn't be any more divorced from reality.
"...AND sign a two year contract on a device"
That's a non-issue there, lemon, as any clear-headed person knows AT&T will let you transfer your contract to another iPhone, especially one with a bigger feature set.
Jobs has previously said that Apple is waiting for low-power-consumption 3G chips so iPhone can have at least 5 hours talk time. He said those chips are expected by "later next year". So it's reasonable for everyone to expect a 3G iPhone by Sept 2008.
Thus, I don't think the AT&T statement changes anything.
@ted t - jobs comments explicitly stating the 3G iPhone was coming next year which were reported on the UK website PocketLint (not exactly Bloomberg) have never been verified as far as I know. I direct you to this post (there are many others in the same vein):
ZDNet in September:
If true, Jobs quote of "A 3G iPhone later next year" should kill demand for iPhone 1.0
"If the report is true, this could be worse news for Apple given that the price drop had to have come so soon to stimulate demand... Jobs had been quoted as saying that “The trade off with 3G [in battery life] is too bad right now."
To be more exact, a quote that is attributed to Jobs at around the exact same time (and possibly the same event) is:
"The 3G chip sets are real power hogs," Jobs said at the U.K. rollout of the iPhone two months ago. "Our phone has a talk time of eight hours, and that's really important when you want to use [it] for Internet and music. 3G needs to get back up to five-plus hours, something we think we'll see later next year."
Wording is important here. If a company rep says 'something we THINK we'll see later next year' that could just as easily mean we won't see it next year.
That is quite a bit different from "you'll have it next year".
Moreover, if this is such a non-story than why is nearly even major publication in the world running it?
@jeff - that's a good point, one I meant to make in the post, that since the iPhone costs are made any sweeter when you sign a contract, i would have to imagine Apple and AT&T will have to let you buy a newer version of the iPhone and transfer it to your old contract - BUT you never know.
Maybe AT&T will be greedy and force you to sign a new 2-year deal to get the 3G plan. The plans for a 3G iPhone could be entirely different, hopefully you can switch over without penalty, but who knows. I doubt this will be an issue, but I wouldn't put it past them...
The fear is enough that I think people will be wary of signing anything locking them in for 2 years with a new product right around the corner.
@mark - i point you to my comments to ted t. True, Jobs did say that he thought we'd see a 3G iPhone next year, but that is not nearly the definitive confirmation of AT&T CEO yesterday.
I understand where you guys are coming from as I said in the post "As unsurprising as that may be to a lot of people" - but I again point to the fact that nearly even major publication in the world is now on this story so I hardly think I'm the only one who thinks that it is a pretty big deal for the CEO of AT&T to say a newer version of the iPhone is coming next year in the middle of holiday shopping season.
Anybody who cares about 3G wasn't going to buy the iPhone before Christmas anyway. Anyone who buys a phone or computer is aware that they are obsolete when purchased.
My only question is whether a new iPhone with 3G will also have some of my other requirements:
16-32 GB of flash memory
Blue Tooth Stereo Headphones
GBS + Google maps
Voice Dialing
Built-in iSight Video Camera and
5 Megapixel still cam camera
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