Cingular Provides Details on Apple iPhone Future and History

Today at a small luncheon meeting at the 2007 International CES show in Las Vegas, Cingular's Glenn Lurie, President of National Sales Distribution, briefed the press on further details regarding the new Apple iPhone and the business arrangements between Apple and Cingular. An Apple representative was originally scheduled to appear at the meeting, but turned out to be a no-show.

Cingular stated that the iPhone saga started nearly two years ago when Steve Jobs placed a call to Cingular's CEO, Stan Sigman. Apple at the time was looking to further the relationship that the two companies established while working together with Motorola on the original iTunes capable phone, the ROKR E1. Apple supposedly tested Cingular a bit early on to see how well it could keep a secret, and apparently as of the launch at Macworld yesterday, only 3 people from Cingular had ever actually seen the device. Cingular's Lurie stated that they were put in the unusual position of having to gain approval for the Apple deal from the Cingular board of directors while not being able to actually show its members any hardware.

This hints at just how much Apple was, and remains today, in the driver's seat when it came to a potential iPhone deal. While Cingular does have a multi-year exclusive deal with Apple to sell the device, Apple has been responsible for defining the phone's specifications, setting the price, and building the user interface. Apple is also responsible for the decision to not allow any 3rd party applications to be installed on the iPhone, as well as the decision to not include 3G data support in the initial iPhone. The fact that there will only be only on-screen AT&T or AT&T/Cingular branding, and no such markings on the exterior of the iPhone, also shows that this really is Apple's baby, and that Cingular is just happy to have been invited to tag along for the ride.

The iPhone will be available at Apple and Cingular retail stores, online, and, at Apple's discretion, possibly even eventually offered at large retailers such as Walmart. The only way to obtain one will be to enter a new 2 year service agreement with Cingular, or to extend an existing agreement for 2 years. The device will be locked, and Cingular's Lurie joked that Apple's engineers would be looking at ways to prevent unlocking once the device is released, something that would not be all that surprising.

 

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