Oh we've all known that Apple will eventually come out with a 3G iPhone, but when AT&T's Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson says, "You'll have it next year," we're all going to listen.
Stephenson doesn't give an indication as to how much it'll cost, that's up to Apple CEO Steve Jobs who "will dictate what the price of the phone is."
Jobs plans to sell 10 million iPhones worldwide in 2008, and so far Apple had sold a "mere" 1.4 million handsets through the end of September. Even with 10 million iPhones in everyone's pockets, that would give Cupertino only 1% of the mobile-phone market.
Of course this is all part of Apple's grand plan.
Introducing a 3G iPhone will still allow for the slower EDGE iPhone to penetrate the market - just at a lower price (and subsequently a faster pace). The 3G iPhone will likely also pack more features, which will make it the must-have mobile phone/music player once again.
And who wants to make bets that a "Mobile iTunes" will be part of the package? At 3G speeds, and unlimited bandwidth packages, streaming music (and talk, and sports) on your iPhone will be commonplace.
Long live planned obsolescence.
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