By: Angela Soric
Apple’s multiple carrier approach in France has proved to be very successful for the company. Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster is predicting that Apple will follow a multi-carrier strategy in other countries following the launch of a new product next year.
Apple has gone from an exclusive relationship in France with wireless carrier Orange to multiple carriers. The result is a significant boost in the market share. Munster compares Apple’s 40 percent market share in France with a share in the mid-teens in the United States where Apple has an exclusive deal with AT&T.
There have been many rumors surrounding Verizon Wireless positioning itself as a potential carrier partner for Apple when AT&T’s exclusivity runs out. Verizon has been updating its data network to very-high-speed 4G technology. Substantial portions of the network are said to be ready as early as the first quarter of next year-reportedly around the same time the Apple/AT&T partnership expires.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said it would make “logical sense” for Apple to make deals with multiple carriers in a given market. “There are a lot of customers in the U.S.,” he said, “who would like to buy an iPhone but are locked into their carrier.”
The mobile market is an ever-growing platform for innovation and technology; Undoubtedly one of the markets major setbacks comes from the manufacturers exclusive contracts with mobile carriers.
