Several reasons may have led Apple to forge an exclusive partnership with AT&T when first entering the smart phone market. As a new player on the scene, without AT&T, the iPhone may have had a hard time to find footing and generate solid sales in the US. In the case of Nokia for example, even though it led in global sales particularly in places where it had an initial lead, it never managed to truly penetrate the US market because it never made solid partnerships with wireless providers there.
Furthermore, assuming that Apple would have launched the iPhone as a device that would function on any network, it may have reached only its hardcore Mac customers, loyal to the brand; this could have been similar to again what happened to Nokia which was not able to achieve success with its “a la carte” phones in the US. Without its strategic partnership, the iPhone may not have been the spectacular blockbuster that eclipsed even the original iPod launch. Another benefit of choosing AT&T over Verizon for example, was that the network used by A&T was GSM/UMTS which ensured the same model
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Furthermore, had this been the case it is highly unlikely that they would have entered into a long term partnership with AT&T or launched globally soon after entering the US market.
-Maybe due to carrier investment in network technology and updated services an exclusive partnership was necessary (this was not the case in France for example when the Apple-Orange alliance was canceled)
-The perceived value of the iPhone was greater as an exclusive device than as a non-exclusive device, maybe due to specific training of ATT personnel in selling it. On the other hand, if Apple was worried about this they could have sold the iPhone exclusively from their stores which were getting great traffic and had good