I’m reading news coverage of a Morgan Stanley analyst (Kathryn Huberty) “predicting” that Apple’s iPhone would do much better without carrier exclusivity, that is, making the iPhone available on wireless provider networks other than AT&T.

The news articles generally make it sound like this is a new idea nobody else had thought of before.

A bunch of online media outlets that are pretending this is news, which makes it look like she’s the only one who has ever thought of it, or that this idea of parting with AT&T for increased iPhone sales is a new one. CNET, The Register, PC World, Business Week…they all want to make this sound like a big, new revelation. (At least CNET recognizes that many, many others have been saying this as well for some time.)

Apple is aware that being tied to AT&T is hampering sales: The web is full of people bitching about AT&T’s wireless service problems and there are more than enough people blatantly saying “I’ll buy the iPhone as soon as it’s not exclusive to AT&T” . I’m one of those by the way.

Those are big, blatant, and unmistakable clues to Apple, and anybody who cares about this sort of stuff as to what to do.

So why is this NOW such a seemingly head-slapping revelation? Because someone at Morgan Stanley said it is?

Another thing that bugs me here has nothing to do with Apple or the iPhone but the fact that investment firm analysts are still considered by many to be the next best thing to a finance Nostradamus. Those folks should be reminded that investment firm analysts had a strong hand in causing the financial mess we’ve all been experiencing for the past year or so. Analysts can be wrong. Analysts sometimes have agendas, like a financial interest in the industries, companies and products they talk about. This sways their expressed opinions on a subject to jive with the outcome they want to see. Please people, quit treating analyst words as gold.

So how does this matter to you?

This whole thing shows how a business, small or large, can spend tons of money and energy on hiring analysts or consultants for basic things the business should (and often does) already know – if it only LISTENED – or, if it does indeed already know, pulled its proverbial head out of its ass and followed through with it, instead of wasting more time and money on having analysts confirm their findings. This is especially true if the findings are so clear, as it is in this case.

While a good consultant can indeed do wonders, a lot of times it’s simply a matter of opening your eyes and ears and really, truly learning about your customers and those who could be.

In some cases this works (again – with the right consultant, for the right things). In many, many others it’s a tremendous waste of money though.

So ask yourself: how can your product/service be adopted by more people?

A simple question for which you should be eager to research the answer to.

Couple of sources on the MS analyst talking about iPhone exclusivity:

http://www.crn.com/mobile/220300918;jsessionid=2BKMSVFOQ1IXPQE1GHPSKHWATMY32JVN

http://www.pcworld.com/article/173038/analysts_to_apple_dump_exclusivity_double_iphone_sales.html

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9B34K3O3.htm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/02/iphone_sales_could_double/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10365952-266.html

Touch screen fever got the best of you?

Wondering about the new HTC Touch Diamond, Samsung Instinct, or alternative phones that look cool, and more importantly, help you get your work done faster?

In the market for a new mobile phone I spend some quality time at the local Sprint store with the HTC Touch Diamond, Samsung Instinct, Blackberry Curve, and Blackberry Pearl – read the full review here.

Note: all images from Engadget.