Verizon chief says offering the iPhone is Apple's call
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Oct 26th 2009 2:52PM
posted Oct 26th 2009 2:52PM
Remember how in grade school, you usually made fun of the people you had crushes on? Verizon -- hot on the heels of some surgically strategic anti-iPhone marketing to promote its upcoming Android line -- is singing a very different tune in the corporate boardroom, with CEO Ivan Seidenberg (who has a storied reputation for running his mouth) saying during the company's earnings call today that the company "obviously would be interested at any point in the future that they would be interested in having us as a partner." He went on to say that the decision to bring the iPhone to Verizon is "exclusively in Apple's court," though we doubt that's entirely true -- Verizon has a reputation for putting manufacturers and devices through the wringer, and if any carrier in the world were to spike the iPhone for failing acceptance testing or throw its gargantuan weight and reputation around to put pressure on the contract, it'd be Big Red. Either way, though, it's an olive branch and a potential start to the near-constant cries of "if only the iPhone were on Verizon" that we've been hearing for the past two years; we're still having an awful hard time picturing a CDMA-equipped version ever happening, but with Verizon's LTE network progressively lighting up over the next few years, it might just be the perfect opportunity for these wayward souls to finally find common ground, especially with the tune AT&T's singing these days.
this will never happen...face it VZW folks (of which I am also). They can't even appropriately release the O2!
O2? Ozone? An UK wireless provider?
Maybe he means Omnia II
O2 is molecular oxygen.
O3 is ozone.
It sounds like Verizon made a bid, but Apple laughed at it.
Verizon... It's in Apple's court if they will only approve to all-of-our-terms.
Apple... It's in Verizon's court if they will only approve to all-of-our-terms.
Einstein... This my friends, is truly a paradox.
Unstoppable force meets immovable object.
A big F U .......to the iphone
We have the "best" network, and soon gonna have
the best line-up of phones, by any carrier.... PERIOD !
iDon't need to Do iPhone to be iCool.
No one cares about an old tech esn based CDMA iPhone! LTE on the other hand, is a different story. "Ivan the terrible" has to promise however, NO GIMPING and get off of that "pipe dream" of getting between Apple and their App store revenue. No one wants a Big Red V surcharge tacked on to Apps...
Verizon has already decided to go with Android as a push against the iPhone.
That's it, folks.
If you want an iPhone on the Verizon network, you have to convince Apple to take a smaller chunk out of each sales and basically beg to get into the Verizon network. The longer the iPhone remains exclusively on AT&T, the more likely Android will become the defacto standard aside from the iPhone.
Verizon has already made that bet.
Verizon has never been able to really humble themselves and allow an essentially unbranded phone on their network. I'm sure Steve Jobs took one look at Verizon's crimson unified interface, threw up, and moved on.
@ChillyCat- I beg to differ on the iPhone and NTT docomo/au/Softbank would beg to differ about your "best lineup of any carrier... PERIOD" claim.
@10minutehobo^2- but iWant non-smartphones that aren't farking crippled. Exilim phone was a 2.8-inch widescreen in Japan but it's shrunken to 2.3 inches and regular-sized on Verizon. Music management is also worse than the Japanese model. So's the camera. Same thing is happening to the next GZ'one phone; features in the Japanese model are being cut out or crappified for Verizon. And the UI.
it seems to me they weren't jeering apple's products rather at&t's shitty service...
Remember this?
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/17/verizons-anti-iphone-gets-its-first-commercial-droid-does/
yep...i stand corrected. that being said i still think people would like the iphone a lot more in the u.s. if their service was better. i hear of calls being dropped all the time on at&t's network. i have an iphone in spain and can't remember when the last time i had a dropped call.
Ummm, their new Android commercials are indicative of Verizon not getting the iphone any time soon, followed by them ruining their chances of ever getting it with the iDon't commercials. I bet they make a CDMA version for Sprint just to spite Verizon.
@Michael Scrip
i also remember this
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/29/verizon-passed-up-apple-iphone-deal/
@Ekauq
Also remember the mobile phone market back in 2006 when this deal was first introduced... no one could have known what a success the iPhone would be. Yeah, Verizon dropped the ball... but oh well.
Apple didn't like what Verizon was offering back then... so they clearly picked Cingular/AT&T as their carrier of choice. Now, times have changed, and pretty much everyone on AT&T who wants an iPhone has one already.
If you were Apple... and once the exclusivity contract runs out... would you now "limit" yourself to only AT&T? Or pick a smaller carrier like T-Mobile or Sprint?
@ Michael
If I were Apple id pick T-Mobile...but I dont run Apple. My thinking is that they dont have to redesign hardware, test it, manufacture it...etc. with T-Mobile its only a software change...and some testing on an already working device and manufacturing doesnt change. You also dont have to keep track of seperate inventories as one phone could use either network.
Umm, actually the "Droid Does" commercial is from Motorola, not Verizon, but nobody seems to get that
@Warren
Most manufacturers make phones in both GSM and CDMA varieties. I have a Blackberry Curve on Verizon... and my friend has the same phone on T-Mobile. It's not that hard to do.
But, Apple will probably wait until LTE is ready anyway...
@Michael Scrip
I think even in 2006, Verizon knew the iPhone would be plenty successful. What Verizon didn't want to do was hand over a substantial amount of control to Apple.
At the time, Verizon was doing everything through VCast, GetItNow, or whatever other dumb proprietary method they were using to squeeze out some extra cash. Apple, the iPhone, and AppStore would undoubtedly supersede that. AT&T on the other hand, said "Hell yeah!"
If you ask me though, this was for two reasons. VZW was #1 in town, so logically they'd go to the #2 carrier. And the other reason being that AT&T would let Apple do essentially whatever they wanted.
...
Ask yourself this though, had the iPhone went to Verizon, would everyone still be bitching about poor 3G? Or would the sheer amount of iPhone users on Verizon do to their network, what it did to AT&T's?
If you were Apple... and once the exclusivity contract runs out... would you now "limit" yourself to only AT&T? Or pick a smaller carrier like T-Mobile or Sprint?
http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/
I think that's verizon's website. So it seems they are the ones trashing the iPhone right now.
@Mr. Blue >> "had the iPhone went to Verizon, would everyone still be bitching about poor 3G? Or would the sheer amount of iPhone users on Verizon do to their network, what it did to AT&T's?"
I dunno. If Verizon's claims are true... they have more 3G coverage than AT&T. But, I'd like to know who had more 3G coverage in June 2008 when the first 3G iPhone came out.
I know Verizon pumps a crap-ton of money into their network anyway... did they do it to prepare for something like the iPhone? Or did they build out their network because that's what they do, and they like having the largest network?
@ Michael
Apple is not a phone manufacturer. Sure - they happen to have a phone they sell - but they are not in the business of selling multiple versions of the same device.
They sell iPods in varying memory sizes and computers in varying configurations - but its not like my iPod is not going to work if i get the wrong version...
@Warren
Apple would need to make hardware changes to support the iPhone on T-Mobile in the US, due to T-Mobile picking a 3G frequency that noone else uses. This would require a different chip then the one on the normal iPhone, and restructured antenna.
It's not that big of a deal though, as Apple will soon have multiple iPhone models out due to launching in China. The phone will lack WiFi, support WCDMA and GSM, and run on 900MHz, 1700MHz and 1900MHz bands
@Warren >> "Apple is not a phone manufacturer. Sure - they happen to have a phone they sell - but they are not in the business of selling multiple versions of the same device. They sell iPods in varying memory sizes and computers in varying configurations - but its not like my iPod is not going to work if i get the wrong version..."
1. Apple IS a phone manufacturer. They don't just "happen" to have the iPhone... they made the iPhone.
2. Apple hasn't made multiple versions of the iPhone because it wouldn't do them any good right now... thanks to exclusivity contract. This is an anomaly... since most other manufacturers make both. RIM made 2 versions of the Blackberry, Motorola made 2 versions of the RAZR, Palm made 2 versions of the Treo, etc. Only in recent years has this "carrier exclusive" trend been prevalent. If the exclusivity contract was only for 1 year... you damn well know there would be another iPhone created for Verizon by now.
3. There's no danger of buying the wrong version of a phone. You buy a phone and get a service contract from the same place. They're only gonna sell you a phone that works on their network. I didn't buy my Blackberry from a Verizon store and then complained that it doesn't work on T-Mobile...
@ warren,
you'd still need to update the 3G radios for T-mobile frequencies, but yeah other than that its not mch change needed to move over to T-mo network
doesn't matter. they snubbed apple a few years back, and now they will feel the wrath of Steve Jobs. At this point making Verizon burn is a fun little side benefit for Jobs.
Making fun of the ATT for not being able to handle the iPhone is like making fun of Bill Gates for having too many rooms in his mansion. If the iPhone were a failure like all those other phones, I'm sure there would be no problem ATT complaints at all.
@sam incorrect, it's from verizon
I wonder if Verizon would try to cripple the phone like they seem to want to do with so many of the other ones they have. I could also see them trying to implement some sort of 3 apps for free, the rest you have to rent from them service.
The last time Verizon "crippled" a smartphone, George Bush was still president. Seriously people. Get a new argument.
Dorf, Get your history right. Last time I checked, Verizon still has a terrible reputation for gimping their smartphones. Ever heard of the Touch Pro? Look up the CDMA version Sprint had. Now look up the Verizon version.
Oh yeah, that's right, they halved the RAM and ROM, removed an entire row from the keyboard, and made it the dullest, most uninteresting looking box ever.
CDMA is dead, GSM is the future. Get with it, Verizon.
at nerdtalker
your argument is the touch pro that phone was released like 4 years ago look at the touch pro 2 verizon didnt touch a thing. the only time verizon cripples a phone now is when they remove wifi and they dont do it on all there phones just the low end ones. as the person above you said get a new argument. also, i + rank you by accident so can other people - rank him thanks.
Awesome Jay Jay, awesome. The Touch Pro was last year, by the way. Don't know what kind of temporal reality distortion field you live in, but good luck with that.
Verizon is losing subscribers to AT&T the same as the rest of the major carriers are. It's a free market. Get with it.
verizon losing costumers to at&t, lol.
Steve Jobs doesn't forget things easily. The latest marketing push by Verizon could (sadly) hurt their chances in the near term.
If Apple doesn't forget... other companies do... If they want to cripple their own market in the US to only one carrier .. that is their choice...
Steve Jobs also likely hasn't forgotten being shown the door when he approached Verizon first, before Cingular, I might add.
I'm so unbelievably sick of people carrying on and on about how awesome Verizon is and how evil Apple is for not pairing with them. Get it straight, idiots, Steve went there first, and they told him to get lost. There's an epic story about it on Wired which you can find, but the long and short of it is that Verizon was stuck in its ways of considering the device just a hook to grab customers, and making endless revenue through value-added carrier nonsense.
In case you haven't noticed, that's still what Verizon does, and it's still why they're screwed. Tell me what good having an awesome, allegedly superior network is when you have few if any devices that can actually use it. I'm willing to bet VZW's network would be equally strained given millions of iPhone toting customers.
Verizon does not need Apple or her iPhone. Technology does not stand still. Apple had a three year head start and they landed on one beach (in the US)… AT&T. They then turned that beach into quicksand by overloading AT&T’s network. In the meantime, Verizon has been able to hold on to their market share because of their superior network. Now come January, they will be getting the Palm Pre. Verizon’s network + Palm Pre = best smart phone experience.
Damn straight. Everyone argues carrier-branding > carrier service/quality, which is just HILARIOUS.
I'll take the Dragon with my "annoying" VZW logo and Android, thank you.
Yeah. Sadly I also doubt that Jobs will forget that, which sucks for me because I´d love to switch to Verizon soon, but I have not interest in any of their crappy phones. iPhone or bust Verizon.
Ain't buying that Verizon customers are begging for [Jobs] iphones.
We have the ONLY coast to coast service in existence. What good
is "any" phone if it can't be used ? I did the at&t gig 3 years ago and
quickly found out how horrible Nation-Wide service is/was. Great in
Metro areas......out in the "boonies" = not so good.
By Christmas time, Verizon will have surpassed all others in regards
to phone offerings
I hope it comes to VZ, I hate At&t
After the iDoesn't, Droid Does campaign, I doubt Apple would bother to approach them.
>> "After the iDoesn't, Droid Does campaign, I doubt Apple would bother to approach them."
Unless Apple wants 80 million new potential customers... and the fact that people are begging to have an iPhone on the Verizon's network.
Apple wants to sell more iPhones... so that more people will buy music and apps. Apple can't really lose if more people have iPhones. Business is business.
And... look at Apple's ads against Microsoft. It's not like Apple is always the nice guy when it comes to advertising.
Frankly, it is Apple's lost... Verizon has nothing to lose here. They would continue to be #1 on wireless footprint and be served by many other phones.
I have a feeling Apple isn't the one to take their own medicine. Their ads rely on ignorance and mudslinging, while Verizon's did point out some startling truths. You'll probably see a poorly written retaliatory ad that actually mentions the Motorola Droid more than the iPhone soon enough.
Jobs has a history of punishing anyone who stood in his way - it doesn't have to make business sense. And the iPhone is about to launch in China. Makes 80 mil look like small potatoes.
80 million potential new customers? Get real. The vast majority of Verizon's users are not buying smartphones, Apple or otherwise. Smartphones still represent a minority of the cellphone market.
I'm just not sure releasing a CDMA iPhone makes any sense. They'd have to do whatever work is necessary to build an iPhone with a CDMA radio, no doubt change some software, run thru a bunch of QA cycles to find things that break in new and exciting ways when on a different network, get FCC approval, then get Verizon's approval.
All to sell a "custom" iPhone that only works in the US and will only be purchased by loyal Verizon customers who want an iPhone but refuse to switch carriers to get it.
According to this:
http://www.edibleapple.com/analyst-apple-could-double-iphone-marketshare-by-ending-exclusivity-agreements/
iPhone marketshare is 5%. 5% of Verizon's 84 million subscribers is 4.2 million. However, market share in terms of sales numbers vastly overstates actual smartphone usage; we see a lot more people who need to have the latest iPhone or BlackBerry, while featurephone users tend to keep their phones longer.
So, at best, iPhone penetration on Verizon would be 4M users. However, if you factor in the fact that smartphone sales overrepresents the population of smartphones relative to featurephones, the die-hard BlackBerry component of the Verizon smartphone market, and the fact that most cell service customers have little brand loyalty, I bet your addressable market for an iPhone on Verizon is less than 1M. That's nothing to sneeze at, but do you really want to engineer a whole new phone just to grab those holdouts who want an iPhone but won't leave Verizon?
Now, I'm sure there are plenty of ex-Verizon customers who are unhappy on AT&T but love their iPhone; giving them an option on the big V might keep them as loyal customers rather than having them 'defect' to a non-Apple device back on Verizon's network, plus smartphone marketshare will only continue to grow, but I'd still question the economics of such a move.
Thats why he said potential because they are bottling up their money until a phone worth purchasing comes around then they buy it. You certainly don't know anything about physics.
Seriously, VZ sounds like a little cry baby here... First they didn't want to, now that the phone became a success they want.
I know it is not fashionable to look beyond our beloved US of A but seriously, there are still HUGE markets to be conquered out there and thus I don't think that VZ is the center of the universe right here and now. In particular since most people who really want to have an iPhone probably have one by now.
iPhone on AT&T, the Pre on Sprint, wonder what VZ comes up with next ;-)
@UnixSystemsEngineer >> "80 million potential new customers? Get real."
AT&T has 81.6 million subscribers. Verizon has 87.7 million subscribers. If Apple has sold X amount of iPhones on AT&T... and they consider that a success... I imagine they would sell a similar amount on Verizon.
You're right... most people are *not* buying smartphones. So, what kind of people bought an iPhone on AT&T? What was their motivation? Look at all the Verizon customers who have a regular cell phone or whatever... and now look at how many of them also have iPods? It really wouldn't be a stretch for them to get an iPhone. Most of them would definitely buy an iPhone before they bought a Blackberry or WinMo phone. Most of the people I know who now have an iPhone came from some old flip phone or other dumb phone. They wanted an iPhone... so they got one. However... if the iPhone didn't exist... they would probably stick with their RAZR.
The iPhone is a consumer device... and has a broader appeal than other true smart phones. I don't see why the iPhone would be *less* successful on Verizon...
UnixSystemsEngineer,
Are you purposely being ignorant or are you truly that way? You obviously don't understand what "market share" means. It takes the cell phone market as a whole into account, which includes carriers that do not carry the phone. It doesn't mean "oh let's calculate 5% of VZW and that's how many we'll sell." Also, there are an estimated 6.4 million iPhones ACTIVE (not just sold) in the US. Keep in mind this article was posted even before the 3GS launched.
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/iphone-users-watch-more-video-and-are-older-than-you-think/
Now, let's take a look at that article you posted. It claims the market share is about 5%. If you read it even half-assed you can see it can be expected to rise up to 12%, which is MORE than double, which shoots down your 4M (and at one point your less than 1M) prediction.
"CDMA-equipped version every happening," ever not every
I'm loving that picture for some reason
lockdown on lockdown
Although I would be glad that the iPhone to go multi-carrier, I would rather have the iPhone on any other network than Verizon.
Agreed!
I would hate to see what kind of shenanigans Verizon pulls with the iPhone in regards to apps and music.
Droid Does But iDoesnt wanna work with Verizon now.
I really hope so i will do anything for this phone if it would mean it would get switched to any carrier other than att. I mean i would do ANYTHING.
Anything?
Yes anything why?
Would you vow to never own an iPhone for the rest of your life in order to get it on Verizon?
HELL NO! anything other than that lol im down.
iDon't think it's coming to Verizon.
Hilarious that he says it's in Apple's court, after green-lighting the anti-iPhone ads that essentially guaranteed they won't ever get it. Who knows what actually happened, but it sounds like they asked for more than Apple would give, got angry and trashed the iPhone in their ads... and now want to make it look like it's Apple's fault.
You know Best Buy salespeople used to trash on Macs to sell PCs... now they not only sells iPods but are also an Authorized Apple Retailer....
So, in the world of business, there is no space for stupid he-said and she-told-me drama....
Wanna bring the iPhone to our Network? Well then it better iDo to all that it doesn't...
The thing I find amusing is that CDMA doesn't allow simultaneous data and voice. For some reason this is never brought to light from AT&T or Apple. So I can be talking on the phone, but it on speaker then open Safari or other internet connected app and be able to connect. CDMA/EvDO, no dice.
Actually Qualcomm has some newer CDMA revisions that allow simultaneous Data and Voice- it's up to Verizon and Sprint to consider upgrading their networks though. Sprint will likely just do Wimax data + CDMA voice though as it's just a better deployment of funds for network upgrades.
>> "The thing I find amusing is that CDMA doesn't allow simultaneous data and voice."
Considering the iPhone's wild success even when it couldn't do the simplest things like copy-n-paste and other trivial things... I don't think that would be a problem.
There are many smart phones on CDMA/EvDO right now... what do those people do?
VZW just threw the ball in Apple's court. Good PR move, but that's about it.
I'm not concerning myself with whether the iphone comes to Verizon or not. I used to care.. not any more. Think of all the aging we do waiting for shit to happen. If it comes, it comes.
Hopefully droid does, and looks good doing.
Word.
Of course, Apple could just point northward and tell VZW that they only have to install a little old UMTS network in order to play.
What I don't understand is why Apple will not go to a different carrier...Potentially doubling the amount of people that have to ability to actually use the phone...
I think it will only be a matter of time before we see it on tmobile not verizon. However I think if tmobile does get the iPhone it's network will crash faster than you can say iPhone. Tmobile only has 2million people on their 3G network imagine what 5-6 million iPhones would do to them.
Verizon will stay with the droid, since it will be the next best thing since the iPhone.
This seems less like an article and more of a diatribe...just my lame opinion =\
Thank you for enhancing my vocabulary. :D diatribe
I think if Apple were to switch over to Verizon, Apple would be the only manufacturer on that network without the Verizon logo stuck on the Phone. We all know how Verizon likes inserting their red background and logo into every dam phone they sell. Its like PC's with bloat software.. i'd love to see Verizon and Apples stand on this
I'd consider getting an iPhone as long as they're on any network but AT&T. I dunno where this "if only it were on Verizon" noise came from.
I'm guessing you're on the west coast? Verizon's fairly popular here out west, but they have a downright rabid following on the east coast.
From today's NYTs: "Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon and Vodafone Group, added 1.2 million net new subscribers in the quarter compared with the average analyst estimate of 1 million, according to five analysts contacted by Reuters. In comparison, a rival AT&T added 2 million customers, as Apple’s iPhone helped it take market share from Verizon.
It's only a matter of time before AT&T leverages the iPhone to improve its transition to 4G, establish a superior network and close the network perception gap with Verizon.
Oh, and Androrid? From today's Public Citizen: "How much of your personal information is Google willing to turn over to a third party without a fight? Learn the answer and tell me if you're still willing to hand over rights to every call, contact, message, search request and location you visit: http://citizenvox.org/2009/10/21/in-google-we-trust-think-again/
Oh hey, I found this comment under that article
>>"This ‘article’ is total linkbait with a mis-leading title only designed to be eye catching.
Shame on you.
Facts according to published reports weeks ago (when this news was actually fresh):
- Google refused to turn over any records, or take any action on the email account in question based on the banks requests.
- Only when the Google refused to act did the bank file suit in federal court, and when Google was *ordered* by a federal judge, did they take action to temporarily close down the account (if I remember correctly it has also been restored to the owner by now).
- Contrary to your headline this really has nothing to do with Google or their protection of private data. Any email service provider of *any* kind in the US would have been *compelled* to act just as Google did under orders from a federal judge.
How exactly would you have expected them to react differently? Defy a judges order?"
Would I prefer if Google appealed the order by the judge to a higher court?
Yes.
Apple hasn't leveraged the iPhone into DICK so far. Big red doesn't have the iPhone and continues to expand its already superior 3G coverage at a faster rate than ATT while simultaneously beginning the 4G roll out.
It wouldn't be difficult to make the next gen iPhone CDMA/GSM/LTE compatible.
With Verizon in transition from cdma to LTE, there will have to be hybrid radios that can do CDMA and LTE. If LTE is backward compatible with the current GSM standard, then a hybrid radio could easily be made tri-band and then you'd have your one product to serve ATT and Verizon. If you want to keep people from being able to jump carriers, just nuke the GSM or CDMA via firmware. I'm sure it would be quickly defeated by the jailbreak community, but the people that will jailbreak their phones should be a very small percentage of the overall user base.
Apple hasn't leveraged the iPhone? Check the latest earnings/stock value of APPL. Fail.
AT&T hasn't leveraged the iPhone? Do the same. Fail.
AT&T is just as capable, if not more so, as Verizon of the transition to 4G. Fail.
Apple doesn't need Verizon. Verizon needs Apple. The lack of the iPhone will continue to be drag on Verizon.
Verizon. Fail.
Ivan Seidenberg: "obviously would be interested at any point in the future that they would be interested in having us as a partner."
Steve Jobs: "obviously would be interested at any point in the future that they would be interested in having my big @#$@ in your mouth."
was that really necessary? you don't even make sense at all... Please refrain from exposing your Wireless Network Sexual Fantasies on this blog.
Amen ^^ that comment was so unnecessary
HA, who cares? as a vzw customer i want the droid, offering the iphone would not change my mind seeing as the iphone is too locked down/old.
something new and better is what carriers need to look for and Verizon is FINALLY doing that
Oh, so that's why these pricks kept bullying me in grade school...
EWW!
Verizon is the largest provider, yet they sound desperate. This makes it sound like the only reason they jumped into Android is that Apple isn't returning their calls. How sad. Based on the frequency with which many of you post, the feeling you get when someone doesn't return your calls is not a foreign one.
Sometimes I feel like I am the only person that doesn't want an iPhone.
Not that there is anything wrong with the iPhone, but i rather have a phone that has a physical keyboard. Even if Verizon had the iPhone, I would still get the Droid. Hell, I would take a Verizon Palm Pre over a Verizon iPhone.
I have an iPod touch, and I definitely think it is awesome. However, I also use it primarily for music, so I don't use the keyboard too frequently (I do use it when I have to [obviously]). I also hate the fact that with the newest iPod Touch OS, I cannot access my iPod in Linux unless I jailbreak it. Seriously, screw that.
No, you are not. I also don't want an iPhone. Not even free.
So that makes us 2. Anyone else?
Count me in also. I'm staying with my blackberry keyboard and BBM so I can chat to any of my friends in other countries.
I'm in the same boat. Sure the iPhone's nice but when everyone and their mom has one, it makes it not as special. I'd rather get a DROID, knowing not everyone has it at this moment since mos tof my friends have iPhones. I don't wanna be a sheep.
I'm not sure having the iPhone makes sense for verizon. They are heavy in the business world and having a heavy blackberry, WM, Android base is likely what their customer base wants.
Few corpoarate business partners are ready to move to the iPhone, even if it does in fact do what most business people need.
Apple has the consumer market in their sights but their price and limited carrier selection is a problem to reach huge %. They compete with many phones that are extremely low cost or free (Sprint phones)
I dunno. just installed v5 verizon/storm software and everything about this formerly wretched object is considerably better. overall response is MUCH better. menus respond better. dialogues respond better. it scrolls better. typing's better. it's almost livable now. hell, even the accelerometer now responds in less than a day. pre-v5, i needed and lusted for an iphone on Red. now, i just want one.
I really hope this doesn't come to Verizon.
I actually like AT&T and if it comes to other networks it will lose a lot of other cell phone sales.
Both Verizon and Apple would benefit hugely from this deal. Verizon will get a lot more customers coming back to Verizon and Apple will have a lot of new sales.
For me, the end of iPhone exclusivity for AT&T would finally mean I get a decent Android phone on AT&T and a good chunk of the iPhone users hogging the bandwidth would probably leave and make the service experience better for the rest of us.
So far it seems like a deadlock. Verizon wants more control over the iPhone, while Apple is unwilling to give up control.