In 2007, the mobile phone operator AT&T managed to be convinced by the company Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), to share part of the income generated by the monthly bills of iPhone owners. Practically Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), indoors $10 from the bill for every AT&T customer who bought an iPhone through them, and this was the first time a mobile phone manufacturer received something like this. If you wonder how he did it Steve Jobs to convince them to do so, well, the former CEO intended to give them a check for $1 billion as a guarantee that the iPhone would be successful, and if the product was to be a failure, the operator would keep the money.
Jobs met with the CEOs of each carrier. I was struck by the hands-on nature and his desire to make his mark on everything the company was doing. He got deeply involved in the details he cared about. He made it happen. In one meeting in the conference room with Jobs, he was annoyed that AT&T was spending too much time worrying about the risks of the deal. So he said, 'You know what we should do to stop them from complaining? We should write AT&T a check for $1 billion and if the deal doesn't work out, they can keep the money. Let's give them the $1 billion [Apple had $5 billion in cash at the time] and shut them the hell up.
Apple then had 5 billion dollars in liquidation, but in the end it did not offer any money to the operator, but still convinced him to conclude this agreement. Moreover, Steve Jobs wanted to convince AT&T to offer iPhone owners a special subscription based on which they paid $50 per month and received unlimited minutes/SMS/traffic. Steve Jobs wanted to make unreasonable requests and convince his partners to accept them, but in this case he was not very successful. Despite his efforts, Jobs helped AT&T grow its revenues, with iPhones generating 2 times more money through customers than any other smartphone.
Jobs said, '$50 a month unlimited voice, data, and SMS plan — that's our mission. We should ask for and go after something unreasonable that no one has been willing to accept.' He would come up with these outrageous demands and fight for them — getting much more than he otherwise would have.
