Apple changes its direction as the iPhone thwarted plans

Whilst in America the iPhone is stuck on AT&T contracts for at least another 2 years, if the rumored 5 year contract length the company had with Apple holds true (supposedly set to run out in 2012), the European market does not have such problems, with companies like Vodafone, O2, Orange and Tesco all offering the iPhone on various contracts.

Mind you when it comes to having the flexibility to change contracts at a drop at a hat you are still bound by the original contract terms, so it’s difficult to swap to a different carrier when you want to. Apple decided to resolve the problem by creating a special sim card (using the mobile SIM card maker Gemalto as their manufacturer) which could bypass operators.