Fortune: Apple to release Verizon iPhone in early 2011

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 55
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aquatic View Post


    How many people travel outside the US a lot? 1% of the population? Besides my CDMA phone works fine in Canada. I presume Mexico has CDMA as well. I do not think world-wide compatibility is even on Steve Jobs or Apple's radar at all. That is not the reason. Furthermore the next iPhone may have GSM and CMDA and LTE or some combination thereof. The reason is they are dumbly taking a bunch of $$$$ from AT&T short-term. I can't believe shareholders haven't started to talk to the Board about the bizarre lack of a Verizon iPhone.



    With respect, there are a whole lot of Apple customers outside of the Americas you mentioned.



    As many other posters have noted, it is much easier for Apple to produce millions of the same phone rather than having to do separate runs of oddball CDMA phones. Economies of scale and all. Of course, this doesn't mean they haven't had significant delays making the current phones because of the milling process. It took months to get more than a trickle of iP4's here in NZ. I hate to think of the delays with runs of CDMA phones AND the milling process.

    I really hope the LTE transition goes well. The sooner we have a truly worldwide standard the better for all of us.
  • Reply 42 of 55
    bwikbwik Posts: 565member
    When clumsy and irrelevant media start piling onto an apple rumor, it makes me concerned that maybe Apple is becoming clumsy and irrelevant, and old. It will happen, someday. If Fortune has caught up to Apple, maybe that moment is 2-3 years away.
  • Reply 43 of 55
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lostkiwi View Post


    As many other posters have noted, it is much easier for Apple to produce millions of the same phone rather than having to do separate runs of oddball CDMA phones. Economies of scale and all.



    We are also talking about the iphone having something like a 50%+ profit margin.



    Having a second production line would reduce that to --- what? --- 49% profit margin. By that rate, Apple should close all their iPad production line to produce the verizon iphone.
  • Reply 44 of 55
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by samab View Post


    We are also talking about the iphone having something like a 50%+ profit margin.



    Having a second production line would reduce that to --- what? --- 49% profit margin. By that rate, Apple should close all their iPad production line to produce the verizon iphone.



    You?re missing the point. To put simply, if Apple can sell as many units as they can produce, then the best option is to manufacturer the device that they can make the most of.
  • Reply 45 of 55
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SEOsudo View Post


    Everyone in the office, except me, has already purchase an Android



    Same here. Honestly it's probably an Apple-planted rumor, but this early '11 Verizon iPhone rumor is the only thing keeping me hanging on. I was set money in hand to buy an iPhone 4 until I heard about all of its problems. C'mon Apple hurry up, release an iPhone with a fixed Proximity sensor, fixed camera (no spots) and fixed antenna, on Verizon! What is taking so long! I am getting impatient...DROOOOID is calling...
  • Reply 46 of 55
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lostkiwi View Post


    With respect, there are a whole lot of Apple customers outside of the Americas you mentioned.



    As many other posters have noted, it is much easier for Apple to produce millions of the same phone rather than having to do separate runs of oddball CDMA phones. Economies of scale and all. Of course, this doesn't mean they haven't had significant delays making the current phones because of the milling process. It took months to get more than a trickle of iP4's here in NZ. I hate to think of the delays with runs of CDMA phones AND the milling process.

    I really hope the LTE transition goes well. The sooner we have a truly worldwide standard the better for all of us.



    I agree a worldwide standard will be great. I don't think Apple couldn't overcome simple technical and logistical hurdles like producing two phones, different only in the network connectivity. It's simply because AT&T is paying them a big lump of cash$$$. Also many people here think when LTE comes out CDMA goes away. CDMA will be the fall-back for a decade or more, and LTE won't cover the whole US for probably that long, too. Apple needs to make a CDMA phone yesterday. They've already lost a lot of customers to Droid on Verizon simply because Verizon customers like me to do not want to switch to AT&T. The tidal wave of people that WERE waiting for iPhone on VZW but will give up and get Droid will be in spring 2011 I think. If Apple doesn't have Verizon iPhone by mid-2011, I think it will be a tipping point. A lot of new Droids between early '11 and summer '11 when another iPhone comes out. Yearly cycles are a bit long in the cell industry, Apple needs to get their ass in gear and get iPhone 4.5 or Verizon edition or whatever out the door in a few months.
  • Reply 47 of 55
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SEOsudo View Post


    Everyone in the office, except me, has already purchase an Android



    Same here including me. Android might not be as polished as iOS but the Droid was light yrs better than any other phone VZW was offering a yr ago so I gave up waiting. I would've gotten a VZ iPhone in a heartbeat now I'm not so sure. Apple is losing potential customers every day.
  • Reply 48 of 55
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lostkiwi View Post


    With respect, there are a whole lot of Apple customers outside of the Americas you mentioned.



    As many other posters have noted, it is much easier for Apple to produce millions of the same phone rather than having to do separate runs of oddball CDMA phones. Economies of scale and all. Of course, this doesn't mean they haven't had significant delays making the current phones because of the milling process. It took months to get more than a trickle of iP4's here in NZ. I hate to think of the delays with runs of CDMA phones AND the milling process.

    I really hope the LTE transition goes well. The sooner we have a truly worldwide standard the better for all of us.



    Give up. A CDMA phone is going to happen, which will increase Apple's market worldwide. The manufacturing difficulties are not an issue, the past is not prelude. The iPhone 4 was a totally new design, the iPhone 4 with a cdma will be an iPhone 4 with a cdma chip. If they increased memory size would we worry about production?





    No.
  • Reply 49 of 55
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,807member
    Verizon has right around 93 million customers. That is a huge number of potential new iPhone buyers. Consider for a moment that 93M is larger than the most populous country in Europe which is Germany. I don't think it is unreasobale to predict that within 2 years as many as 15% to 20% of them could get an iPhone which would be about 18.6 million new iphones sold. I think the lower estimates will be proven wrong and the iPhone will wipe the floor with Android.



    I am happy that a CDMA iPhone will finally be a reality. People that kept sating it would not happen until LTE was rolled out were very uninformed simply because of the fact that even with LTE, CDMA will still be needed as a fallback for at least 5 more years and probably even a lot longer than that. The voice standard for LTE is not even finalized do LTE will be data only in 2011.



    My biggest question about a Verizon iPhone is this a new era of excusivity? Will only AT&T and Verizon sell the iPhone, or will it only be exclusive to Verizon for a few months, maybe 3 or 6 and then Sprint and T-Mobile will also be allowed to sell the iPhone. Verizon charges as much if not more for their smart phone plans as AT&T. Both Sprint and T-Mobile have far more competitive smart phone all you can eat type plans. An iPhone on either would be very attractive to a lot of people. My plan on Sprint for example is called SERO premium and I get unlimited data, texts, calls to any mobile number on any carrier for $40 a month for a 3G phone or $50 a month for a 4G phone like the Evo. Even at $50 a month that would still be less than half what AT&T or Verizon charge for similar smart phone plans. My plan is discounted, but even the standard plan is only $69 with no discounts. Most people would qualify with a corporate discount. My friend who works at Pepsi gets 25% off and even people with a credit union account can get 10% knocked off.



    I hope the Verizon iPhone will not be exclusive to only the two largest and also most expensive carriers. I can understand letting Verizon have it excusively for a few months, but open the flood gates and let all the carriers compete. That is what the free market is all about and some competetion from Sprint and T-Mobile might even help lower your bills on AT&T and Verizon if they start losing customers. I switched to Sprint from AT&T (then Cingular) because I could rarely even have a phone call inside my house without losing the call. I had to go stand in my front yard! Also, they didn't even bring 3G here until last year. Both Sprint and Verizon have had it here for quite a while. So not only did I get far better voice and data coverage with Sprint but also pay less than half as much as I did on Cingular.
  • Reply 50 of 55
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gwmac View Post


    Verizon has right around 93 million customers. That is a huge number of potential new iPhone buyers. Consider for a moment that 93M is larger than the most populous country in Europe which is Germany. I don't think it is unreasobale to predict that within 2 years as many as 15% to 20% of them could get an iPhone which would be about 18.6 million new iphones sold. I think the lower estimates will be proven wrong and the iPhone will wipe the floor with Android.

    a



    True. And here is another way to look at it.



    Apple is, and has stalled at, about 28% of the US smart phone market. AT&T covers about 25% of all phone owners in the US. If the iPhone is available on the rest, on all 100% where will the iPhone be - about 40%? 50%.



    The US is important for two reasons. It is a big market anyway and it has a lot of mindshare - so people in the US think ( and this is evident on this forum ) - that Android has done more of a catchup than it has. In fact Apple has been beating the worldwide market all year, this year,
  • Reply 51 of 55
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    You?re missing the point. To put simply, if Apple can sell as many units as they can produce, then the best option is to manufacturer the device that they can make the most of.



    You can always buy more capacity like hiring a second production line from another taiwanese company.
  • Reply 53 of 55
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    Quote:



    I hope that is true. I can't believe they get to announce before Christmas!
  • Reply 54 of 55
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chaseism View Post


    I know all signs point to this being true, but there is something that just bothers me...



    Why would Apple and Verizon release a CDMA iPhone after the biggest shopping season of the year? Won't both companies lose money on this?



    Think about it... Apple releases the iPhone 4 in Jan or Feb, missing out on people who sandbagged their upgrade until the holiday season. If people are happy with their Droids, then that's a loss from Apple in selling them iPhones. Also, a lot of folks on other networks will be beyond their 30-days and will either have to wait longer for a CDMA iPhone or pay an ETF to switch.



    But the bigger question is about those 30 day exchanges...and correct me if I'm wrong. Verizon purchases the phones at full price from the manufacturers to sell to consumers (I'm sure there is some bulk discount deal, but you get the picture). Verizon takes a hit for every new phone it sales at a cheaper price and how they make it up is the 2-year contract. But the truth is, they are going to get creamed when a good number of those phones are exchanged within 30 days for the iPhone, which they also purchased for full price. Verizon can no longer sale those returned phones as new and loses money because of the exchanges. When I worked for Sprint, they said the company loses about $170 for every handset that is exchanged or returned. Imagine that for thousands that would exchange what they got for Christmas for the iPhone 4.



    It just doesn't seem smart for either parties...



    First, AT&T has exclusivity until the end of the year that's why it won't be before the holidays. It's not much of a secret anymore that the iPhone is soon to hit Verizon, and likely other carriers too. I think for those that want an iPhone, they will hold out and wait. That's why there have been so many leaks recently. Finally, exchanges are subject to a hefty restocking fee. And, I would imagine there could be other fees as well or loss of eligibility for full discounts.
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