Apple gets $18/month kickback from AT&T for each iphone

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greggh
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Apple gets $18/month kickback from AT&T for each iphone

Post by greggh » Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:15 pm

This is probably why Steve Jobs is so eager to brick all those unlocked phones...

http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9803657-37.html
It's a little tricky because the iPhones that were sold in June and July have obviously been generating revenue for longer than the ones sold in September, but he arrives at a figure of $18 per iPhone subscriber in monthly payments to Apple during the fourth quarter.

That would mean that over the life of a two-year contract, AT&T will pay Apple $432 per iPhone subscriber. Silicon Alley Insider adds the $400 in revenue per iPhone and uses iSuppli's cost estimates to calculate a $565 profit per iPhone over a two-year period. I'm a little wary of those iSuppli numbers myself (they don't really account for things like research and development costs), but the exact number isn't really the point: Apple has a huge incentive to make sure iPhones stay on AT&T's network, even if Munster's numbers aren't perfect.
Apple is f'n taking in probably close to a grand for each scummy little iphone. Steve Jobs is a freakin genius.

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