Verizon iPhone Coming In January

By Jake • June 30th, 2010 • 13 Comments

Since its debut, the rumors about an iPhone on Verizon have run rampant.

Verizon iPhone Coming In January

And this time we mean it, according to “two people familiar with the plans.”

This could be more a study in controlled leaks, i.e. Verizon leaks a rumor to keep people from getting into two-year contracts with AT&T for the iPhone 4.

Everyone seems to think a Verizon iPhone would sell a boatload of phones. I guess that makes sense, but I wonder how saturated the smartphone market has become.

Just because Verizon has a bunch of addressable customers, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re foaming at the mouth to geek it up with an iPhone.

The view from the street says dropping $200 on a phone is pretty steep, or did the recession end and no one told me?

John Gruber’s Verizon iPhone coverage is also worth reading to get a bit more on the Apple side of this equation.

Update: MobileCrunch has several interesting counterpoints to the rumor mill, including this gem:

Consider, also, the audience for Verizon phones – an audience that rarely travels abroad and is looking for the lowest price possible.


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  • http://twitter.com/theappslab/statuses/17428674595 theappslab (theappslab)

    Twitter Comment


    Verizon iPhone Coming In January [link to post]

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  • http://twitter.com/btaroli/statuses/17438624176 btaroli (Bill Taroli)

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    I understand the AT&T hatred, but I seriously doubt this. RT @theappslab: Verizon iPhone Coming In January [link to post]

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  • Fmteter

    I'll believe it when I see it.

  • http://theappslab.com Jake

    I think it's wishful thinking. Verizon would need to retool its Droid campaigns too.

  • http://empoprise-bi.blogspot.com/ John E. Bredehoft (Empoprises)

    If owning an iPhone is the most important thing in someone's life, that person would have had ample time to let their existing service expire and move to AT&T.

    I haven't experienced AT&T's coverage (or reputed lack thereof) myself, so I can't say whether a Verizon offering of an iPhone would result in a mass exodus from AT&T.

  • http://theappslab.com Jake

    The thinking is that AT&T is preventing a large group of people from buying an iPhone, i.e. people prefer Verizon's network, etc. Like I said, I think this is overly optimistic, especially the estimates of 3 million sold per quarter. I just don't see that type of demand.

    This is one of those topics that feels amplified by teh internets.

  • http://twitter.com/btaroli Bill Taroli

    Well, I've made my case in my own microblog postings and in Facebook. And I've irked a few Verizon Wireless friends in the process. I agree with the sentiment that having the iPhone available on as many carriers as possible is a good things since it inspires competition for service pricing and delivery. I equally think it unlikely that Apple would really want to focus serious resources on supporting a cell system that's only available in small portions of the globe — but there was reportedly a time when they were specifcally targetting new positions for CDMA radio specialists.

    Verizon, for it's part, is fully focused on Anroid for it's flagship smartphones these days. Anything that dilutes that would be considered a Bad Thing, I suspect. I think Verizon likes the idea that people would be tempted to return, but is annoyed that the carrot is a phone they don't have and, despite their marketing doublespeak that they'd like it, they don't really want to admit they want or need it. If “sales” (I quote because many Android devices are being /given/ away, either directly or through BOGO) statistics are to be believed, they are doing quite well with Android, thank you very much.

    And forgetting all the marketing and politics… would it actually be better? Hard to say. Would Verizon want to emblazon itself in the UI, much as it likes to do everywhere else to peddle it's own “value add” services? Would Verizon's network — who's backhaul bandwidth/throughput is already measurably slower than AT&T's in at least a few third party published results — be able to handle the onslaught? Hard to say. This could definitely be a case of the grass being greener…

    In my view, I don't really care whether Verizon gets the iPhone. What I actually care about is that there be COMPETITION in the market. AT&T bought it's way into a lengthy monopoly over iPhone users in the US — until 2012, which was recently confirmed. Consumers never benefit from a monopoly, and having the incentive of losing customers because of their inattentiveness or poor delivery is a good thing. Whether they would lose said customers to Verizon or T-Mobile, etc, is of less concern. It's very saddening that the US has seen such consolidation in the wireless carrier market, because that does nothing but harm us all. The argument made for consolidation is that it would increase efficiency and focus R&D and capital investment dollars? Hmm… OK. But did it work?

    In order for this whole Verizon scenario to have any tangible benefit for customers in the US, given our carrier situation, the phone would have to sport GSM *and* CDMA radios. And there are actually a small number of phones in the world that do already have this, so it's not that outlandish. So-equipped, such a device could freely follow a customer between providers and provide REAL incentive for customer service. Where's the incentive for Verizon to work that much harder if it knows you're paying for a lot more than an ETF if you switch to AT&T? Or vice versa?

    In the end, all this Verizon talk amounts to the same mole hill as all the media hysteria over the fact that putting your hand on an antenna will cause attenuation. (sigh) Maybe Verizon will get an iPhone. Maybe it won't. But unless that device can truly move between carriers AND networks, then it really isn't going to result in anything but a new channel for sales and no real benefit for customer choice.

  • http://theappslab.com Jake

    John Gruber makes similar points. Yes, CDMA makes sense, but GSM makes more sense. AT&T is the biggest domestic GSM carrier, qed.

    Good points about Verizon's network. I like the point that they want to cobrand everything, which would irk Apple.

    I agree with your point about competition, which Android devices have brought to the party. Verizon would be unwise to cannibalize their own marketing by bringing over the sissy phone that doesn't do or something. I must say I do love the CDMA talk+internets=fail, even if it's a corner case. Funny.

    I'm pretty sure Apple won't go the GSM+CDMA antennas bit. They seem to have some problems with a single antenna :) Two would be insanity. Isn't that one reason they passed on 4G for the foreseeable future?

    If anything, the iPad could benefit most from multiple antennas bc of the larger form factor.

    Oh and you know you love the “you're holding it wrong” meme. That one has legs.

  • joel garry

    strange brew makes phones not so dumb:
    http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/30/…

    Let all the techies fight it out over bandwidth and k001ness, the real growth will be at the low end.

  • http://theappslab.com Jake

    That was kind of my point about the Verizon iPhone missing. Verizon has the most subscribers for a reason. Cheap phones are cheap. The iPhone isn't cheap.

  • http://www.cheapgsmcellphones.com Alfonso Goettsche

    I have a slight predicament here. I would love to get a new phone and I’m having trouble to decide on which phone to pick. First of all, i thought of the Nokia E71, which my buddy has. It looks quite tough, and all seemed good, but then i began researching others. Now my biggest dilemma is to decide between the Nokia E71 and the Samsung Blackjack i607. Any suggestions?