Apple, Verizon negotiations from the inside
Bloomberg has posted an interview with Verizon Communications Inc. President Lowell McAdam that explores a bit of the lengthy process that brought the iPhone to Verizon. The technical acrobatics took the most time, while "the commercial deal took us a day," McAdam said.
The two companies actually built Verizon cell towers at Apple's Cupertino campus, and Apple also received "their own laboratory to play with," according to McAdam. Additionally, Verizon's executive director of technology David McCarley spent a year working at Infinite Loop.
The two companies also had to agree on branding. Verizon typically places a logo their handsets; Apple allows only its own. It was a concession Verizon was apparently OK with."They don't put a lot of logos on their phones," McAdam told Bloomberg. "So that wasn't a major issue for us."
There's no mention of the clearly redesigned antenna, or how the associated brouhaha in 2010 might have influenced negotiations. The interview concludes with speculation on likely sales numbers (spoiler: a lot) and the announcement's effect on each company's stock prices. It's an interesting peek into a very high-profile business deal.
[Via MacRumors]
