AT&T to Pay Apple for Referred Customers

AT&T (the new Cingular) may pay Apple a cut of all subscribers it refers to the communications company via both the online and offline Apple stores, according to American Technology Research firm’s Shaw Wu.

“The iPhone … commands enough potential sales leverage that AT&T is willing to share some of the proceeds,” said Wu, the same analyst who speculated about AT&T giving customers $50 to $150 iPhone rebates.

“AT&T will pay Apple a commission for each new customer and a cut of the customer’s monthly payment,” he said.

What 25 Cingular Reps Said About iPhone Release Date

I called 25 Cingular (now AT&T) stores around the United States today asking when the iPhone would be available. Of the 25 representatives I spoke with, none mentioned the June 11 release date that CNET claimed. Some reps said May, July, even “next month.”

Considering the responses I got from some of the people I spoke with, it’s possible the person who told CNET June 11 was just theorizing or didn’t know what he was talking about.

Decide for yourself. Here’s the list of the 25 Cingular stores I called and what they said (word for word) when I asked, “Do you know when the Apple iPhone will be available?”

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iPhone Already Increasing Traffic to Cingular Stores

Cingular (now AT&T) stores nationwide are enjoying a spike in traffic caused by the Apple iPhone craze, said Merrill Lynch analyst David Janazzo.

Perhaps consumers are hoping Apple will accidentally ship the iPhones early? That or they’re surveying the stores and devising plans to get past the crowds in June.

Whatever the reason, AT&T, whose stock was up $0.90 yesterday at $38.81, has no cause for complaining.

“Given the mid-year launch of the iPhone, we think AT&T could use [iPhone] to bolster the re-brand of Cingular to AT&T,” said Janazzo.

Apple to Get a Cut of Cingular iPhone Profits

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs doesn’t play nice. Back in 2005, when asked about an iPod mobile phone, Jobs said Apple would have to get through many “orifices [i.e. cell phone service providers] to get to the end users.”

Well it seems Jobs has made it through these orifices, because not only did Apple establish a deal with Cingular (now AT&T) for the iPhone service, it managed to get around Cingular’s usual demands to control most of “every detail from processing power to the various features that come with the phone,” said the Wall Street Journal.

With the iPhone, Apple convinced Cingular that it knows Web surfing and multimedia better than they do. Apparently, this was important enough to Cingular that they agreed to give Apple a cut of the revenue generated from subscribers, even though AT&T won’t get a penny from iPhone sales. Is that a price worth paying to be the exclusive carrier of the Apple iPhone?

Cingular CEO Stan Sigman Sucks at Speaking

Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen wrote a great article on Cingular CEO Stan Sigman’s horrific presentation during the Apple iPhone keynote (Sigman is introduced 5:15 into the video). Reynolds highlights the difference between Sigman and Steve Jobs, and shows us why presentation matters:

Most Apple customers did not know who Stan Sigman was before Tuesday. Now they know, and the first impression was not a great one. The difference in communication styles between the two CEOs is indeed worlds apart.

Stan Sigman

The thing is… when Sigman first walked out, he seemed like a more or less personable guy. But as soon as he took out his note cards – a blogger at DC-Connect said, “It’s probably the lawyers that told him he needed to say every word in that order.” – the keynote headed downhill. Reynolds accurately described it in his article as “a seven-minute snoozefest.”

I wonder how successful Apple would be if Steve Jobs talked—or read to—his audience like that (even if Apple did everything else the same).