It’s normal that AT&T would not trust WiFi-only tablets, since it’s their business to promote devices connected to their network, right? AT&T’s Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices recently detailed his opinion on the future of tablets, during a speech at CTIA 2012.
He said that we could even see some tablet makers getting rid of WiFi-only models alltogether. Lurie says that the price of adding 3G connectivity has been going gown and a 3G HSPA+ radio attached to a tablet is now only $30. Meanwhile, adding LTE to the device goes for $60 to $70. As the prices drop, people will start to realize that WiFi only models aren’t that big of a bargain. The consumer will be the one to win here and AT&T is said to be discussing with tablet makers the idea of creating slates with cellular and WiFi support.
Apple is the first company that comes to mind, since they’re the traditional AT&T partner, but they will probably want to hold out from making 3G/LTE slates only, since the majority of iPads sold in March for example were the WiFi-only kind. Also, it’s important to note that even on the 3G/4G iPads the most web traffic is done via WiFi, so that’s pretty clear…
