External Environment To achieve the most successful goals in the telecommunications industry, AT&T cares about its external environment. The external environment can influence their guidelines when running their business because it can be the reference point for the company to gain more profits and become better than others. As a result, AT&T company had to analyze and focus on the external environment to understand the market and company conditions. Therefore, the six segments technological, global, sociocultural, economic, demographic, and political/legal are the segment that helps the company have a better understanding of its overall environment. Technology Segment of the General Environment Technological changes can affect many parts of society. When AT&T company introduces its new products and services, namely wireless and wired technology, the effects will mainly occur through the new products, processes and materials. Therefore, technological changes can often also achieve higher market shares and achieve higher returns because AT&T's new emerging technology could gain competitive advantages. For example, the Internet today is becoming an increasingly notable ability to provide information easily, quickly and effectively and can also create more value for customers in the future and anticipate future trends. Global Segment The global segment includes relevant new global markets, existing markets that are changing, major international political events, and critical cultural and institutional characteristics of the global market. When a company enters the global market, it can automatically increase the number of people who believe or consume in multiple nations and this is… middle of paper… subscribed to the AT&T network to use the smartphone. It will become a threat when excessive dependence on Apple affects the brand image and makes AT&T overshadowed by Apple. This will also have consequences if one day Apple is not interested in collaborating with them again, so they will not be able to make profits and recognize the market. Government RegulationIn fact, some of the biggest threats to company growth are government regulations that increase risk to the underlying business. Furthermore, the risk of losing the exclusive iPhone contract would represent a major loss for AT&T. Most consumers choose AT&T for the exclusive iPhone contract. Therefore, this loss of business will significantly affect AT&T's profitability and revenue. Additionally, antitrust authorities play an important role in approving the AT&T merger.