By Roben Farzad – Apple is the largest, most dominant and highly valued company on the planet. It’s measured against entire gross national products. Doubt it at your peril. And yet Apple does not control its own destiny.
“The iPhone,” says analyst Walter Piecyk of brokerage BTIG, “is squeezing margins at wireless operators.” He explains how the carriers’ subsidies, which average about $450 a pop, have fueled the huge success of Apple’s $600 iPhone since it launched five years ago. Originally, the wireless operators were happy to chip in; the iPhone was a boon to the data portion of subscribers’ average monthly bills. Those bills had been falling for decades, what with the advent of “nights & weekends” plans and cheapo prepaid carriers. more> http://tinyurl.com/7djqxj6
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