Many people have been hard at work to unlock the iPhones that they own so that they were not forced to use AT&T services. Although most consumers were thrilled with the iPhone itself, many were less than excited about the provider that was thrust upon them.
Contests sprouted up and the tech-savvy began to work out the problem. Experts predicted that unlocking the iPhone would hurt AT&T. No body thought that it might hurt Apple. While AT&T will most definitely take a hit because of the inability to force new customers into a two year agreement, it seems that Apple will also find itself at a loss.
Apple had an agreement with AT&T that would give it a percentage of the income received from cell phone service subscriptions. It does not have that same agreement with other providers.
The initial financial hit that Apple will probably receive from the unlocking of the iPhone will be wiped clean by the number of new buyers. There were many customers who chose not to by the phone simply because they didn’t want to be forced to switch to AT&T. With the new found freedom, more buyers will be on their way to an iPhone store near them.