[pgr73]

6 months is no where near long enough. And that's not politics, that's business. Apple may be fronted by Hippy Liberals, but the bottom line is they are beholden to there investors to be profitable 1st, inovative 2nd.

Also, how much is AT&T paying per iPhone?

Say they are paying $600 for the 8GB 3g, selling them for $99 with an $80 plan, how long until they turn a profit? Lets say AT&T's cost on that plan averages $40, than it would take 13 months to break even, leaving 11 months to profit $40 a month after a huge front end investment. They literally need you to NOT upgrade for at least 12 months to truly be profitable. That may be the reason they didn't go ape **** on there 3GS changes. Make it cool enough for the 2G hangers-on to buy it and go for another 2 years, but the same enough to make the 3G crowd go another year to see what Apple will do next year, and so on.

Also, maybe Sprint and Verizon aren't willing to take risk on those margins. Bottom line is money talks.

As far as going to an Asian style market, it would cost Apple a net $0 to make the iphone GSM/CDMA, selling it for $600 would be the issue. After the fanboys buy up the first shipment, who is shelling out that kind of dough? In our "Live for Today, Pay for it Tommorow" economy it would be a tough sell and $99 is easier to swallow. And for those who think rate plans would drop if they went this way, I doubt it.