3. they turned down a CDMA phone for China etc. Despite that standard being well over half the market in that area
All good points but note that CDMA is by far the smallest of cellular technologies used in China. China Mobile (TD-SCDMA) near 550 million subs at the moment, with China Unicom (3GSM) near 150 milion subs and China Telecom (CDMA2000) near 75 million subs.
Remember kiddies, just because it's on Verizon doesn't mean it's automatically better. I'll be waiting to see if it's an improvement in my area. I don't live in SFO or NYC.
You don't live in these areas which is the point. If you did you'd understand how severe the problems actually are. If AT&T is going well for you then keep using them. In NYC, you have a hard time making a phone call and the data speeds are slow because there is such a high concentration of iPhones.
Maybe it's at&t's fault or maybe the iPhone usage is killing the network. Either way, the situation is becoming unbearable and the only solution is to make it available on multiple carriers.
Don't forget Verizon demands crippled versions of cell phones from manufacturers.
This is not true for any of their Android handsets. I don't think it would be true for a VeriPhone. One of the best things the iPhone has done has rebalanced the leverage between handset makers and carriers in favor of handset makers. Verizon doesn't onerously lock up their handsets like they once did.
...Maybe it's at&t's fault or maybe the iPhone usage is killing the network. Either way, the situation is becoming unbearable and the only solution is to make it available on multiple carriers.
It'll be interesting to see, when Verizon finally gets the iPhone, how their network will hold up to the sudden surge of iPhone users.
'TIPSTER' sounds good, but nobody is willing to come up to the plate.
Hopefully we get to see a Verizon Iphone. However till there's more concrete substantiation or evidence, I'm not ready to believe it.
This is not a solid rumor. The most significant and reliable rumor so far is from WSJ stating that Apple was developing a CDMA phone in time for September.
If anyone can get Verizon to stop playing 'silly devils' with crippling customer's phones and high cost payment plans, it's Apple.
I hope Apple will bring an iPhone to Verizon....ATT needs the competition to bring their plans costs down. I'm paying $110/month for my iPhone 3Gs and not looking fwd to paying another $30/mo for an iPad 3G!
Plus it would be seriously interesting to see the sales grow and see how well RIM 'copes!'
This makes far more sense as Apple's next step in opening up the iPhone to other U.S. mobile operators.
My guess is that Apple has already built a number of prototype iPhones that actually function on T-Mobile USA's 3G service (AWS). It wouldn't surprise me if AWS-capable iPhone 3G, 3GS, and next-generation units have all been field-tested.
While T-Mobile has basically one-third the number of subscribers as Verizon, the engineering effort to get this done is probably nominal at this point.
Personally, I'd love to see the iPhone come to T-Mobile as I get zero bars of AT&T reception at home. I'm using a pay-as-you-go dumbphone on T-Mobile right now, but I'll step up to the iPhone if it shows up on T-Mobile.
Agreed. I don't get why they don't do T-Mo. Compared to rejigging for CDMA, adding T-Mo's Band IV is easy. Nokia's got quint-band in the new N8. I see no reason for Apple not to be able to do the same.
If anyone can get Verizon to stop playing 'silly devils' with crippling customer's phones and high cost payment plans, it's Apple.
I hope Apple will bring an iPhone to Verizon....ATT needs the competition to bring their plans costs down. I'm paying $110/month for my iPhone 3Gs and not looking fwd to paying another $30/mo for an iPad 3G!
Plus it would be seriously interesting to see the sales grow and see how well RIM 'copes!'
I just checked on Verizon's site last week and they charge exactly the same for their smartphone plans as AT&T does. However, you may have a point. In an effort to keep some of their disgruntled iPhone customers from jumping ship, they may have to offer them a sweet deal in the form of better rates.
Why on earth would Verizon need an ad agency to do an iPhone promo? I mean, seriously, all they need to do is put up signs that say "Verizon + iPhone." That's it. Hell, they can have kids do in crayon and construction paper and people are going to come flocking in for it. But an ad campaign? It's like marketing water to desert dwellers.
It's funny, because I keep hearing from friends "Hey, did you hear that Verizon is going to start selling the iPhone?" I get this about once a week.
I'll believe it when I hear Steve Jobs say it.
There's a lot to doubt about it ever happening. I don't see why they would've made the iPad 3G GSM only if they intended to do an iPhone deal with Verizon.
I don't see how the iPad deal with AT&T would've resulted in a change in the contract with the iPhone. I could understand if Apple said, "Here's the iPad, we'll do a 1 year exclusive or 1 year lock with you if you shorten our contract with the iPhone", but instead, it's "here's the iPad, it will be unlocked and not exclusive and there will even be a non-3G version which will go on sale first...so uhm...how about shortening our iPhone contract?"
If Apple decided to break/terminate the contract, I would imagine that would cost them $$$ and would need to be reported in the quarterly report when they knew they were intending to break/terminate it. As we know, termination fees with AT&T are a bitch
All this said...
It seems like Apple has done the math and if they aren't going to offer a Verizon iPhone, they're sacrificing market share and volume for overall net profit. That makes me nervous considering the small relative market share Apple has in the entire phone market as compared to how they're doing in the profits department.
I just checked on Verizon's site last week and they charge exactly the same for their smartphone plans as AT&T does. However, you may have a point. In an effort to keep some of their disgruntled iPhone customers from jumping ship, they may have to offer them a sweet deal in the form of better rates.
Yep, thanks. I suspected the actual 'plans' were similarly priced, which I think they are both too expensive.
I was getting more at Verizon's need to make money at every turn, ie., music downloads, games, etc.
Admittedly, this is anecdotal, in that, I'm getting it secondhand from my sister who has Verizon.
If the furor against ATT's service I've been reading and hearing about in the last few months is any indication....it sounds like a lot of people would, indeed, 'jump ship!'
Personally, I think this is the only reason for a Verizon phone if one happens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevie
... That network is a huge seller of Android phones, which are giving the iPhone a run for its money.
There is no reason from the point of view of sales, profitability or technology to do a CDMA phone, but at the same time, it would be an easy thing to do.
If Verizon had an iPhone available (especially the cool techie 4.0 version coming out), Android sales at Verizon would plummet. That's the only reason to do it. A minor investment of time and money, and the return is a torpedo directed midship, at Android.
World-wide, Apple's sales are soaring far above Android and they don't need Verizon at all so who knows, but IMO if they do it, the only reason is to destroy Android sales in the US.
Comments
Don't forget Verizon demands crippled versions of cell phones from manufacturers.
I once sat down with a friend to pick a Verizon phone that would be best for sync'ing with his Mac.
EVERY one of their phones didn't support the open standard sync'ing even when other phones made by the same manufacturer DID support the standards.
Interesting...do you know any dumb phone/any network that syncs contacts with Apple's address book?
Re. Thinking of getting an iPad 3G and giving up my iPhone for a 'dumb' phone because of costs!
Thanks
3. they turned down a CDMA phone for China etc. Despite that standard being well over half the market in that area
All good points but note that CDMA is by far the smallest of cellular technologies used in China. China Mobile (TD-SCDMA) near 550 million subs at the moment, with China Unicom (3GSM) near 150 milion subs and China Telecom (CDMA2000) near 75 million subs.
Remember kiddies, just because it's on Verizon doesn't mean it's automatically better. I'll be waiting to see if it's an improvement in my area. I don't live in SFO or NYC.
You don't live in these areas which is the point. If you did you'd understand how severe the problems actually are. If AT&T is going well for you then keep using them. In NYC, you have a hard time making a phone call and the data speeds are slow because there is such a high concentration of iPhones.
Maybe it's at&t's fault or maybe the iPhone usage is killing the network. Either way, the situation is becoming unbearable and the only solution is to make it available on multiple carriers.
Don't forget Verizon demands crippled versions of cell phones from manufacturers.
This is not true for any of their Android handsets. I don't think it would be true for a VeriPhone. One of the best things the iPhone has done has rebalanced the leverage between handset makers and carriers in favor of handset makers. Verizon doesn't onerously lock up their handsets like they once did.
T-Mobile instead, please!
Just add another 3G band, Apple!
I wish T-Mo would buy/merge with Sprint and roll out WiMax more quickly...
...Maybe it's at&t's fault or maybe the iPhone usage is killing the network. Either way, the situation is becoming unbearable and the only solution is to make it available on multiple carriers.
It'll be interesting to see, when Verizon finally gets the iPhone, how their network will hold up to the sudden surge of iPhone users.
VeriPhone.
.
.
Did you make that up? I like it.
'TIPSTER' sounds good, but nobody is willing to come up to the plate.
Hopefully we get to see a Verizon Iphone. However till there's more concrete substantiation or evidence, I'm not ready to believe it.
This is not a solid rumor. The most significant and reliable rumor so far is from WSJ stating that Apple was developing a CDMA phone in time for September.
I hope Apple will bring an iPhone to Verizon....ATT needs the competition to bring their plans costs down. I'm paying $110/month for my iPhone 3Gs and not looking fwd to paying another $30/mo for an iPad 3G!
Plus it would be seriously interesting to see the sales grow and see how well RIM 'copes!'
T-Mobile instead, please!
Just add another 3G band, Apple!
This makes far more sense as Apple's next step in opening up the iPhone to other U.S. mobile operators.
My guess is that Apple has already built a number of prototype iPhones that actually function on T-Mobile USA's 3G service (AWS). It wouldn't surprise me if AWS-capable iPhone 3G, 3GS, and next-generation units have all been field-tested.
While T-Mobile has basically one-third the number of subscribers as Verizon, the engineering effort to get this done is probably nominal at this point.
Personally, I'd love to see the iPhone come to T-Mobile as I get zero bars of AT&T reception at home. I'm using a pay-as-you-go dumbphone on T-Mobile right now, but I'll step up to the iPhone if it shows up on T-Mobile.
T-Mobile instead, please!
Agreed. I don't get why they don't do T-Mo. Compared to rejigging for CDMA, adding T-Mo's Band IV is easy. Nokia's got quint-band in the new N8. I see no reason for Apple not to be able to do the same.
If anyone can get Verizon to stop playing 'silly devils' with crippling customer's phones and high cost payment plans, it's Apple.
I hope Apple will bring an iPhone to Verizon....ATT needs the competition to bring their plans costs down. I'm paying $110/month for my iPhone 3Gs and not looking fwd to paying another $30/mo for an iPad 3G!
Plus it would be seriously interesting to see the sales grow and see how well RIM 'copes!'
I just checked on Verizon's site last week and they charge exactly the same for their smartphone plans as AT&T does. However, you may have a point. In an effort to keep some of their disgruntled iPhone customers from jumping ship, they may have to offer them a sweet deal in the form of better rates.
I'll believe it when I hear Steve Jobs say it.
There's a lot to doubt about it ever happening. I don't see why they would've made the iPad 3G GSM only if they intended to do an iPhone deal with Verizon.
I don't see how the iPad deal with AT&T would've resulted in a change in the contract with the iPhone. I could understand if Apple said, "Here's the iPad, we'll do a 1 year exclusive or 1 year lock with you if you shorten our contract with the iPhone", but instead, it's "here's the iPad, it will be unlocked and not exclusive and there will even be a non-3G version which will go on sale first...so uhm...how about shortening our iPhone contract?"
If Apple decided to break/terminate the contract, I would imagine that would cost them $$$ and would need to be reported in the quarterly report when they knew they were intending to break/terminate it. As we know, termination fees with AT&T are a bitch
All this said...
It seems like Apple has done the math and if they aren't going to offer a Verizon iPhone, they're sacrificing market share and volume for overall net profit. That makes me nervous considering the small relative market share Apple has in the entire phone market as compared to how they're doing in the profits department.
HTC DROID INCREDIBLE with GOOGLE
I just checked on Verizon's site last week and they charge exactly the same for their smartphone plans as AT&T does. However, you may have a point. In an effort to keep some of their disgruntled iPhone customers from jumping ship, they may have to offer them a sweet deal in the form of better rates.
Yep, thanks. I suspected the actual 'plans' were similarly priced, which I think they are both too expensive.
I was getting more at Verizon's need to make money at every turn, ie., music downloads, games, etc.
Admittedly, this is anecdotal, in that, I'm getting it secondhand from my sister who has Verizon.
If the furor against ATT's service I've been reading and hearing about in the last few months is any indication....it sounds like a lot of people would, indeed, 'jump ship!'
too little too late - from both Apple & VZW. This is now "end of the summer, maybe" kind of situation. Android's the platform of the future
HTC DROID INCREDIBLE with GOOGLE
Good point. The success of the Droid may make Apple rethink their Verizon position. Who the hell knows!
... That network is a huge seller of Android phones, which are giving the iPhone a run for its money.
There is no reason from the point of view of sales, profitability or technology to do a CDMA phone, but at the same time, it would be an easy thing to do.
If Verizon had an iPhone available (especially the cool techie 4.0 version coming out), Android sales at Verizon would plummet. That's the only reason to do it. A minor investment of time and money, and the return is a torpedo directed midship, at Android.
World-wide, Apple's sales are soaring far above Android and they don't need Verizon at all so who knows, but IMO if they do it, the only reason is to destroy Android sales in the US.
Did you make that up? I like it.
Thanks! It's my very own neologism!