Using Twitter to announce $49 iPhone

Twitter may have finally arrived as a major marketing tool for huge corporations. A look at the AT&T (T) section of the microblog service shows an announcement that the phone company is beginning to sell $49 Apple (AAPL) iPhones. The phones are refurbished. The Twitter announcement sends people to the AT&T web site.

Critics of the Twitter business model say that the firm has not found out a way to bring in revenue. The AT&T marketing message is a case in point. Twitter received no compensation from AT&T, but the phone company will probably bring in new customers and get plenty of PR from the move.