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Analyst: T-Mobile USA might announce arrival of iPhone next week

With T-Mobile Chief Operating Officer Jim Alling hinting that the iPhone was too expensive at a recent conference in Barcelona, it seemed like the carrier planned  to continue with its bring-your-own iPhone strategy for its ever-expanding iPhone-compatible 4G network. However, a note from Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig today claimed the carrier could announce a deal to carry the iPhone as early as next week. Fortune has the story:

Now Merrill Lynch’s Scott Craig is out with a note reporting that “speculation is heightening” that Deutsche Telecom (DT) will announce a deal to bring the iPhone to its U.S. subsidiary at next week’s analysts day (12/6-7).

Merrill Lynch’s Craig points out that cutting a deal with the fourth largest U.S. carrier would give Apple access to 98% of the U.S. post-paid market and 75% of the country’s total mobile subscribers.

“While this would be incrementally positive,” he writes, “any financial impact would be limited.” He estimates that a T-Mobile deal would add about 4 million iPhones to his current estimate of 179 million sold in calendar 2013, boosting Apple’s top line (revenue) by 1% and its bottom line (earnings per share) by 2%.

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Apple’s new Barcelona retail store opens tomorrow [Gallery]

We first got a look at the elaborate mosaic construction barricade officially announcing the new location, and today MacRecord and CultofMac posted some photos of Apple’s Barcelona retail store slated to open at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Related articles

• Apple announces that its new Barcelona store makes its grand opening on July 28th

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Industry expert sees Apple becoming a mobile operator

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At a recent presentation in front of international wireless operators at the Informa MVNO Industry Summit in Barcelona, wireless industry analyst Whitey Bluestein claimed Apple will soon move to provide wireless service directly to users of its iOS devices. Specifically, he said Apple will beat Google to become a mobile virtual network operator. While noting Apple’s distribution through retail stores and the 250 million iTunes accounts with credit cards, Bluestein said Apple’s biggest barrier is the subsidies paid by carriers to offer consumers iPhones at their current prices on contract. We already know former Apple CEO Steve Jobs wanted to “replace carriers” and worked on it leading up to the iPhone launch, but Bluestein said Apple would soon be the “first mover” as Google struggles to compete with the iTunes ecosystem.

Here are the main points:

• Apple will in the near future begin providing cellular service, data, voice and roaming, directly to its customers.
• Apple will begin by offering mobile data plans bundled with iPads (vs. current practice of selling GSM iPads with AT&T data and CDMA iPads with Verizon data plans).
• Apple will then offer iPhone customers activation, data and international roaming plans through the iTunes Store.
• Apple will provide voice, data and messaging plans directly to its iPhone customers, on an ala carte basis as an alternative to their current mobile operator and then as wireless service provider directly to customers.
• Google, while behind Apple in technology, distribution and back-office capabilities, will nevertheless follow in lock-step behind Apple and provide wireless data services directly to its Google Tablet customers.

The big problems obviously include the mobile industry’s resistance to Apple becoming an MVNO. Also, Apple becoming a carrier would be a difficult transition and would leave customers with two-year contracts stranded on previous carriers.

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