• August 31, 2009

Apple will end its exclusive iPhone deal with AT&T within the next year, according to a new research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. He expects Apple to add new U.S. carriers with the launch of an upgraded iPhone next summer.

Munster predicts the company will be expanding the model adopted in France, where Apple shifted from an exclusive partnership with mobile operator Orange to working with multiple carriers.

"In France, the company now enjoys dramatically higher market share (in the 40% range versus about 15% in ROW) than in countries with exclusive carrier agreements (such as AT&T in the U.S. where the iPhone has market share in the mid-teens)," he wrote. "We believe Apple is seeing the increased unit sell-through more than offset the slightly (~10%) deteriorated economics per unit involved in non-exclusive agreements."

The Wall Street Journal earlier this year reported that AT&T is in talks with Apple to extend its deal -- set to expire at the end of 2009 -- through 2011. Government regulators may have an impact on any future deal between the companies. The Federal Communications Commission recently began investigating exclusive handset arrangements as part of a broader examination into competition in the wireless industry. --Mark Walsh