re "ASAP" v "no announcement"
I think there's another possibility, which is they hadn't entered negotiations and said they would, then they did and learned the price was silence, and now they are preaching "no comment" and "we haven't announced it" and so on.
The question is what Apple's strategy is for moving the phone in other countries. I'd like to see a quick worldwide rollout, but Apple hasn't got an idea yet how many it needs to sell, and there's not been a lot of experience troubleshooting them in the wild.
If Apple is only moving them where it can get a share of subscriptions, Apple's foreign rollout could be slowed. Also, Apple will need to upgrade the phone, or foreign versions, to support the twenty-first century; foreign commentators looking at the GSM-only spec laughed, or simply said there was no carrier that far behind and so it'd get no signal.
The questions for me seem to be: (a) how broad are Apple's patent protections, to keep folks from offering a credible substitute while Apple dallies and negotiates, (b) how fast is Apple willing to move outside the US before it has experience with the US rollout and its surprises (actual demand? user-identified weaknesses? OEM part issues?), and (c) how are Apple's relationships shaping up with foreign partners?
One theory: sell CDMA phone at a premium since it's being sold without a contract (since the foreign vendors don't sell phones bundled with a contract), and then who cares what carrier is used? Possible issue: visual voice mail may not be supported by all carriers, and other such surprises.
Take care,
--Tex.
PS if labels go to DRM-free, then iPhone may be able to plan anyone's offerings soon, making more carriers more excited about it.
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