Wasn't so long ago that $500 was a good price for any phone, and it's
still a good price for a high-end smart phone.

On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:36:05 GMT, "Cubit" <no@not.not> wrote in
<pP1wh.67341$qO4.6627@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net >:

>Silly me, but the idea of a $500 phone seems absurd.
>
>
>"Billybobh3" <billybobh3@comcast.net> wrote in message
>news:hqGdndPE0O7qByPYnZ2dnUVZ_tOmnZ2d@comcast.com ...
>> Verizon rejected Apple iPhone deal
>> Updated 1/29/2007 9:50 AM ET
>>
>>
>>
>> By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY
>> NEW YORK - Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. cellphone carrier, passed
>> on the chance to be the exclusive distributor of the iPhone almost two
>> years ago, balking at Apple's rich financial terms and other demands.
>> Among other things, Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly
>> cellphone fees, say over how and where iPhones could be sold and control
>> of the relationship with iPhone customers, said Jim Gerace, a Verizon
>> Wireless vice president. "We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the
>> Apple iPhone. We just couldn't reach a deal that was mutually beneficial."
>>
>> Verizon's decision to pull the plug on talks sent Apple into the
>> waiting arms of Cingular, which will be the exclusive U.S. carrier for the
>> iPhone. The multifunction device is expected to ship in June and cost
>> about $500.
>>
>> Apple and Cingular (which now is solely owned by AT&T and adopting
>> that brand name) have declined to discuss terms of their alliance. But the
>> Apple-Verizon talks offer a peek into the computer giant's thinking.
>>
>> According to Verizon, Apple CEO Steve Jobs insisted that he have hard
>> control over iPhone distribution.
>>
>> The problem? While Apple and Verizon stores would have it, Wal-Mart,
>> Best Buy and other Verizon distributors could have been left out. "That
>> would have put our own distribution partners at a disadvantage" to Apple
>> and Verizon stores, Gerace said.
>>
>> Customer care was another hitch: If an iPhone went haywire, Apple
>> wanted sole discretion over whether to replace or repair the phone. "They
>> would have been stepping in between us and our customers to the point
>> where we would have almost had to take a back seat . on hardware and
>> service support," Gerace says.
>>
>> Cingular won't talk about the financial terms or say how long its
>> iPhone exclusivity lasts, but two people with direct knowledge of the deal
>> say it's a five-year contract. The exclusive is USA-only, leaving Apple
>> free to market its iPhone globally.
>>
>> Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, declined to comment on any
>> aspect of this story.
>>
>> Mark Siegel, a Cingular spokesman, said, "We think this is a win for
>> Apple, and it is a win for Cingular."
>>
>> Siegel declined to comment on customer care plans but said Cingular
>> would field calls related to the wireless service. "I don't want to leave
>> the impression that these (iPhone) customers are not ours. They are."
>>
>> Siegel would not say whether Cingular distributors, which include
>> Wal-Mart and RadioShack, would get the iPhone. The deal announcement
>> referred only to Cingular and Apple stores and their websites.
>>
>>
>>
>

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>