My guess is rather that from the very _beginning_ Cisco was hoping to cling on to Apple's halo. They didn't have a _product_ called iPhone until like two days before MWSF! Like this, they can be in the spotlight over and over again and create some confusion whenever they release a new version of their iPhone. Maybe some will even mailorder it, thinking it's the Apple iPhone, and might find it "okay" enough for the price. You know... Sneaky sales. Either way: I'm glad it came out as it did. Apple can now be well and sell all the iPhones they want. All the buzz they've created in the industry (well, the years of rumours of course helped them for free as well), imagine if they had to rename it now or in June. That would have been sad.
