AT&T, after using the iPhone to salvage its fourth-quarter revenue, is in talks with Apple to team up for a 3G data service aimed at MacBook owners, reports said Thursday.
At the heart of the speculation is a brief comment to Fortune by the carrier’s Emerging Devices group president Glenn Lurie. Lurie said he’s talked recently with interim Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“I would very much like to do more business with Apple, and I hope that we do,” Lurie said Wednesday. Although the AT&T executive said he was having similar conversations with other companies, Apple has been an especially profitable partner.
The implication is that AT&T is seeking to expand its lineup of subsidized data devices to Apple’s MacBook portable computers. Earlier this month, the carrier announced it would subsidize a Sony digital camera and a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook. In the case of the Dell computer, reported Fortune, the usual $449 price would fall to $99 if owners also sign-up for AT&T’s data plan.
Despite taking a $450 million bite from AT&T’s fourth quarter earnings, it’s net profit falling to $2.4 billion in 2008 from $3.1 billion in 2007, the carrier sees the heavily-subsized iPhone as an attractive profit center.
Wednesday, AT&T said the 1.9 million iPhone subscribers added during the quarter provide 60 percent more revenue than ‘feature phone’ subscribers.
However, this isn’t the first time Apple has considered creating 3G-ready MacBooks. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has mulled the idea since 2007, according to Apple Insider. Apple CEO Steve Jobs had balked at being tied to one carrier for MacBook wireless services, the site noted.
