Following Steve Jobs’ iPhone presentation, Apple’s (NSDQ: AAPL) exclusive U.S. partner AT&T (NYSE: T) offered its (much more subdued) perspective on the launch in an after-market conference call. But the message was basically the same: If you thought the 2G iPhone was good, you ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s a great product, with higher speeds, and the potential to drive higher ARPU through this “new world of advanced wireless data” in the words of CFO Rick Lindner. Also making AT&T happy: the new business model, which has Apple taking a giant step back from carrier subscriber fees. But: The new iPhone will put downward pressure on earnings and margins, hitting earnings in the $.10-$.12 range. The new device isn’t expected to be accretive to earnings until 2010 (see page 10 of the slides). Equipment and marketing costs will fuel the hit, though bear in mind that current estimates are for $3.12, so it’s not a huge bottom-line hit the company is taking. CEO of AT&T Mobility Ralph De La Vega Offering another take on the hit: “All this does is bring these costs upfront rather than over time.”
— Enterprise: Lots of enterprise talk. De La Vega noted his discussion with corporate CIOs: “The number one issue on their mind was how to get the iPhone into enterprises”
— New YellowPages.com app: For the iPhone, the company will launch a new local search-meets-social networking app (think user reviews).
— Cannibalization: Not worried about users taking advantage of stuff like online chat to circumvent AT&T communications services… more data use is good and these services will bring in users that have never gone on the web through their phone before.
Slides (.pdf)
{"source":"https:\/\/gigaom.com\/2008\/06\/09\/419-3g-iphone-the-view-from-att\/wijax\/49e8740702c6da9341d50357217fb629","varname":"wijax_e6a77ba43cc0f55770757020ad769c24","title_element":"header","title_class":"widget-title","title_before":"%3Cheader%20class%3D%22widget-title%22%3E","title_after":"%3C%2Fheader%3E"}