Rumor: Apple has a CDMA iPhone ready for Verizon
Just as every new day is met with a rising sun, every Apple event elicits rumors of an iPhone carried by Verizon. Some believe that a Verizon-compatible iPhone already exists and is merely waiting for a deal to be finalized.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg suggested that Verizon would debut its iPhone offering in January of 2011. AT&T has been the exclusive iPhone carrier it the US since its introduction in 2007. January is another six months away. What would be keeping this deal from going through?
John Gruber of Daring Fireball believes it's not the hardware. You'll remember when Steve Jobs revealed that "...Mac OS X has been leading a secret, double life," and he announced the move to Intel chips. John believes that a Verizon-compatible iPhone has been quietly existing at Apple, receiving the same refinements and improvements as its brother on AT&T.
The Loop's Jim Dalrymple agrees with John, adding that ongoing negotiations are the current stalling point. "It's reasonable to assume," Jim writes, "that the two companies are in negotiations and the Bloomberg article is just another negotiating tactic, but I don't think a deal has been signed."
Of course, they're both right. It wouldn't make any sense for Apple to finalize a deal with Verizon and then run around like a bunch of headless chickens to get a piece of hardware out the door. Speaking of that deal, Apple is in a great position. The iPhone continues to sell phenomenally well, and since the beginning fans have expressed an interest in the iPhone on Verizon.
Steve Jobs is notorious for hard-line negotiations. It's reasonable to assume that's where the Verizon deal is currently mired.
[Another possibility is that the Verizon iPhone in the underground labs is an LTE/CDMA hybrid device, and Verizon would use it as the flagship 4G phone for the network in the same way that Sprint is currently promoting the EVO 4G Android phone. –Ed.]
