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All good things must come to an end, and Apple could be ready to open up its exclusive relationship with AT&T.

At the iPhone's launch, Apple's deal with AT&T was rumored to be five years, though later reports have pegged next year as the end of the agreement. Why would Apple enter into such a deal for three or more years? More specifically, with Verizon running neck and neck with AT&T for U.S. market share, why would Apple deliberately limit the penetration of their product into half the U.S. market? Should this continue, or will Apple be compelled to change in the future? Clearly, AT&T benefits from the exclusivity, and Verizon would like its rival to lose the advantage. The question for Apple is when will its benefits from the AT&T relationship be outweighed by sales gains from adding AT&T's chief rival?