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Here is a story that I wrote the day of the iPhone launch. Yes, I have one, but it is a loner from AT&T. I enjoy it, but my story was written BEFORE I got the phone. Nothing has changed in my opinion.

Apple Inc.'s highly anticipated iPhone already has made waves with its oversized touch-screen navigation and large music storage capacity. But industry analysts wonder if its price is what might have the most lasting effect on consumers.

When the iPhone hits the market June 29, Apple and exclusive cellular service provider AT&T will sell the device at full retail value - $499 for its 4-gigabyte model, $599 for 8 GB - without offering subsidized discounts.

This deviation from typical cell phone sales, which usually include huge discounts with service contracts, may cause other carriers to follow suit, said Bill Hughes, cellular industry analyst from Scottsdale-based market research firm In-Stat.

When Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs predicted the company would sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, industry analysts, including Hughes, said the goal was very ambitious. But if Apple even comes close to that mark, the effect on other carriers could increase cell phone prices, he said.

"If it can be done, they are the ones that will do it," Hughes said. "They are completely flipping the business model."

Apple also will not offer discounts on its downloadable programs, such as its popular iTunes service. With no price breaks, the company could make huge profits if customers buy into the idea.

Hughes said Apple will attempt to keep prices the same throughout the year, hoping to avoid Motorola's "Razr burn," which saw the company's sleek Razr line start out at $500 two years ago, only to fall to $50 now.

With competition from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG Electronics and others, the highly touted Razr did not meet Motorola's expectations.

In the cell phone industry, the service providers set the hardware prices. AT&T will not offer reduced prices for the iPhone and will sell service for a minimum of $60 a month.

AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said the Apple partnership will help his company as well as the competition. He said AT&T is not worried about the lack of subsidies hurting sales.

"When you create a product like this, it inspires mass adoption," he said. "It will stimulate great competition."

If Apple reaches its goal of 10 million sales, it will absorb about 1 percent of all cell phone sales, according to IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based

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