I'm out of contract on AT&T with a 3GS. The exclusive 5 on Sprint would be available and very attractive to me. Granted, that doesn't make it a good idea, but going exclusive with Sprint doesn't eliminate EVERY current iphone owner from upgrading.

Customers are loyal to the iPhone, not the network it runs on.

I left Sprint to get an iPhone. If I need to rejoin Sprint to get the next iPhone, that's no problem.

Yah, exactly. Most of the people I know still in contract with AT&T are waiting to jump ship to whatever carrier will have the iPhone 5. My gf and I are both a year in on our iPhone 4 contracts with AT&T and we have no problem dumping them.

You have to figure how much is your time really worth?! All the AT&T network b.s. (esp in San Francisco & NYC) that we've had to deal with costs me and my gf much more than the cancellation fee ever will. That said, the cancellation fee is still a load of crap.

I wonder how true this is outside techies. I'm personally network-agnostic, as I only use my "phone" for data and calls from the wife. I use about 100 minutes a month, so it doesn't matter.

My wife, however, makes at least 60 minutes of calls on more days than not, keeping in touch with friends and family (basically all the social lubrication I do with email and Google+). For her, the network effect is incredibly strong: all her friends and family are on Verizon, so she is very hesitant to switch as she gets the in-network minutes free. It was a huge deal for her when I announced I wanted to leave Verizon (for a Virgin Mobile Android) and how many minutes that would add to her plan.

I think a lot of people are loyal to their network not because of what they get from it, but about the people they know on it.

> For her, the network effect is incredibly strong: all her friends and family are on Verizon, so she is very hesitant to switch as she gets the in-network minutes free.

Sprint has unlimited mobile to mobile for plans with data, so as long as the other person is on a mobile line (probable since they are on Verizon), the call is free.

This is where iMessage and FaceTime, GoogleVoice (via unlimited data), MagicJack and other such services step in to forge the link.

I wouldn't say that customers are exclusively device-loyal and network-agnostic. The convenience of using the same device can be outweighed by frustration over the network's coverage, downtime, etc. Everyone has different breaking points, but I guarantee that if you couldn't get reliable service where you spend most of your time, you'd strongly consider a different device!

... in the USA. But yes, seems unlikely.

There are rumors of a 4S, though, with the upgraded A5 inside an iPhone 4 form factor. Which, in such a situation (and I agree it's not likely), could go to the other carriers and make the 5 a Sprint exclusive.

(Again, doubtful, but it would address that problem.)

The customers on AT&T & Verizon would still get an iPhone 4S with many of the iPhone5 features.