Not sure why that would be, surely while Apple dictates their asking price they don't dictate financed price do they? So that's a self-inflicted wound, and one which carriers could fix by financing the phone less.
On the other hand, the iPhone precludes almost all carrier control, they don't control the initial load, they don't control the updates, ... Carriers control some features Apple gives them hooks for (e.g. tethering), but that's about it. And customers become loyal to the device (and its manufacturer) rather than the carrier, not hesitating jumping ships to a carrier providing the device.
> Carriers need a third player, to push down financed device costs
It's not like Apple had much say in this back in 2007~2008, and BlackBerry was still there...
I don't see sensible support for this narrative.
The fact is that margins are down at Sprint, Verizon and AT&T because of the iPhone.
Last quarter:
http://business.time.com/2012/02/08/how-apples-iphone-actual...
This quarter, AT&T's and Verizon's profits are up because of lower iPhone sales:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/24/us-att-idUSBRE83N0...
I think Apple won't be too happy with it's primary device more expensive than $199 on contract as that's the sweet spot and any increase will cut into sales.
Apple's stock is down about 13% in two weeks because the carriers are getting tired of razor thin margins on iPhones while Apple laughs all the way to the bank and are pushing back. Not to mention the lower sales of iPhones this quarter.
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2012/04/23/apple-slips-...
http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/24/technology/att-verizon-iphon...
Also, I call bullshit on the "razor thin margins" that carriers are making. They make plenty over the lifetime of the device contracts. Also, ask Sprint if it would like to get rid of it's iPhone deal. They are getting plenty of new subscribers thanks to the iPhone and are banking on making up their initial loss over time on their new contracts. http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/analyst-who-downg...
The problem comes in on their aggressive upgrade policies. In fact, I believe Verizon just added a $30 fee for upgrades on 2 year contracts.
Apple's stock is down because the market is full of idiots. Analysts have bet against Apple for years and every quarter Apple has come up on top. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that this quarter won't be any different and overall sales will be through the roof.