Apple to launch iPhone 5 simultaneously with AT&T, Verizon and Sprint

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Apple is expected to start selling the iPhone 5 simultaneously with three of the Big Four mobile operators in the USA, Sprint being reported to join AT&T and Verizon for a mid-October launch.



According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Sprint, the number 3 carrier in the US, will start selling the fifth-generation iPhone this fall, giving Apple access to an important new channel for selling its iconic device in America. Sprint currently has just over 52 million subscribers compared to Verizon?s 106 million and AT&T?s 99 million.



Since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007, Apple has slowly shifted its policy regarding its carrier partners both nationally and internationally, replacing exclusive iPhone carrier deals with partnerships with multiple mobile operators in various markets around the world.



America was the last market to lose carrier exclusivity. In the US, the iPhone was originally available only from AT&T until Verizon started selling a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 in February of this year. Rumors have suggested that Sprint and T-Mobile would be next in line to carry the iPhone, with a recent job posting revealing Apple?s specific interest in a future collaboration with Sprint.



Like Verizon, Sprint would require a CDMA version of iPhone 5, although a number of reports have provided evidence that Apple?s next-gen smartphone will come with ?World Phone? capabilities. A dual-mode GSM/CDMA iPhone 5 running iOS 5 has already been noticed in app usage logs by developers, for instance. Sprint is also said to begin carrying a CDMA iPhone 4 starting with the same date.



Richard Doherty, the director of research firm Envisioneering Group, believes that Sprint needs the iPhone in order to prevent its customers interested in the iOS smartphone from changing carriers in order to buy the device.



In the quarter ending in June, Sprint has posted a loss of subscribers on comparison with its main rivals, AT&T and Verizon, which gained more customers partly due to their strong iPhone sales. However the addition of the iPhone to Sprint?s lineup will not have any impact on the company?s fiscal fourth quarter ending in September.



AT&T sold 7.2 million iPhones in the first half of the year, including iPhone 3GS sales, a device still carried by the GSM mobile operator while Verizon sold 4.5 million iPhone 4 units in the same period of time. Peter Oppenheimer, Apple?s chief financial officer, noted during the last earnings call that ?a future product transition that we are not going to talk about today? would occur the company?s September quarter.



Recent disclosures suggest Apple will introduce a cheaper 8GB iPhone 4, in addition to an all-new, fifth-generation model dubbed either the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5, in September and that the company is currently working on ad spots for the new handsets that will be finished in early October, suggesting general availability of both models during the first or second week of October.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple is expected to start selling the iPhone 5 simultaneously with three of the Big Four mobile operators in the USA, Sprint being reported to join AT&T and Verizon for a mid-October launch.



    Terse. Very terse.
  • Reply 2 of 43
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    If this rumor comes true, that's all but confirmation of the AT&T-Mobile deal going through and the Fourth Big Four being completely shut down.



    Of course, in that case, screw this country, but until then, it's still the Big Four.
  • Reply 3 of 43
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Cool! That'll make it even easier to tell AT&T to **** off!
  • Reply 4 of 43
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    This rumour makes a true world mode phone seem like a greater possibility.
  • Reply 5 of 43
    quashquash Posts: 23member
    Will the iPhone have T-Mobiles 3G radio? Thats what I want to know. It may be irrelevant with the merger
  • Reply 6 of 43
    Sprint? Ew. Another CDMA holdout.
  • Reply 7 of 43
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quash View Post


    Will the iPhone have T-Mobiles 3G radio? Thats what I want to know. It may be irrelevant with the merger



    AT&T wants their spectrum so the acquisition would necessarily affect the 1900MHz band.
  • Reply 8 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    This rumour makes a true world mode phone seem like a greater possibility.



    Looking back, it does seem to have been Apple's goal right from the start to create a single handset that just works anywhere on any network.



    I take it you are still sceptical that LTE would also be included? I know that as much as I would like to see it, it does seem a bit much to ask for this soon. I just can't see why they would have waited so long to release the thing if they weren't waiting for something. The dual mode phone would seem to be essentially the same phone they shipped to Verizon months ago.
  • Reply 9 of 43
    lamewinglamewing Posts: 742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    If this rumor comes true, that's all but confirmation of the AT&T-Mobile deal going through and the Fourth Big Four being completely shut down.



    Of course, in that case, screw this country, but until then, it's still the Big Four.



    If this happens I will finally give up on our leaders (politicians having their pockets lined by lobbyists) and governmental organizations (FCC in this case) doing anything fair and honest.



    I have pretty much had it with cell phones / smartphones anyway. If this merger goes through. I will finally cancel my cell (no contract at this point) account with AT&T and just go back to using Skype as my home phone via my Macbook/iPod Touch/iPad.



    Some people really do need a smart phone / cell phone, but 90% of us really don't NEED one.



    I can save the $80.00 + tax each month. How about you?
  • Reply 10 of 43
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    Looking back, it does seem to have been Apple's goal right from the start to create a single handset that just works anywhere on any network.



    I take it you are still sceptical that LTE would also be included? I know that as much as I would like to see it, it does seem a bit much to ask for this soon. I just can't see why they would have waited so long to release the thing if they weren't waiting for something. The dual mode phone would seem to be essentially the same phone they shipped to Verizon months ago.



    1) I am skeptical because more HW and newer HW takes it's toll on space, including what you can do with the battery. I hope they have a solution but I'll have to side with caution on this and say that one of the two jumps are likely to happen.



    2) The Verizon iPhone does have the Qualcomm "Gobi MDM6600 chip that can do CDMA/CDMA2000 and GSM/UMTS, but they don't have any of the support ships to make GSM/UMTS active. If you look at the battery life of '3G' calls on Verizon iPhone it's inline with the AT&T iPhone, yet on '3G' it uses CDMA for voice the time is usually quite a bit longer when looking at competitor's phones. You can see this when they release a GSM/UMTS and CDMA/CDMA2000 model. This makes me wonder if this Gobi chip, for all it's benefits, just isn't as power efficient as other chips.



    3) That said, Apple is using this chip for a reason so they may be testing the waters and working out the kinks in other areas. Qualcomm also has other Gobi chips that support HSPA+ and LTE along with all the radio frequencies Apple needs to make the first world mode phone.
    But is this chip bigger? Does it use more power? Can Apple reduce the size of the A5 which is already larger than the A4 processor? Can they increase the battery density or reduce other components? Are they willing to make a sacrifice in usage time
  • Reply 11 of 43
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lamewing View Post


    I can save the $80.00 + tax each month. How about you?



    I can't afford it in the first place. I won an iPhone on Day One 2007 and I've just used it as an everything-but-a-phone ever since. It's a great device. I wish I could have been able to waste my money on the nonsensical plans back then (and now), but I can't afford it. I have an LG VX5300 that I use as a phone phone. No data (it can't do anything with it, anyway), and texting's blocked. I carry my iPhone in my other pocket and things work out fine.
  • Reply 12 of 43
    Geez. Been waiting and hoping Apple would bring the iPhone to TMo and give them a fighting chance, and now it looks like they're going to be left out. I hate corporate asskissing bullshit.
  • Reply 13 of 43
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lamewing View Post


    If this happens I will finally give up on our leaders (politicians having their pockets lined by lobbyists) and governmental organizations (FCC in this case) doing anything fair and honest.




    I'm not getting this. Tmobile is abandoning the US because it cannot compete; not because it does not want to do business here. People like their rates and plans - great! They are so good that Tmobile is going under. So they're gonna get bought by someone - who's your choice? They fold up shop and get auctioned off piece by piece? How's that good for their customer base who will just lose service and have unusable phones on one fine random morning. There doesn't seem to be a bidding war.



    It seems to me, no matter how this is sliced, that the wireless carrier pool is shrinking by one. The fact that T is willing to pay a premium and the stock holders and bond holders remain whole AND T gets to improve their "horrible" coverage, which seems to be the theme behind every other post on this fine forum. Oh and a great many people get to keep their jobs. What's the negative again?



    And the FCC has never really been about what is fair to the consumer or the corporation. They are about the government getting their slice for "protection".



    Edit add: How is Tmobile a good fit into Sprint or Verizon networks?
  • Reply 14 of 43
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TitanTiger View Post


    Geez. Been waiting and hoping Apple would bring the iPhone to TMo and give them a fighting chance, and now it looks like they're going to be left out. I hate corporate asskissing bullshit.



    1. TMo has been dogging on the iPhone in ads.



    2. The iPhone will be coming to TMo when the rename themselves to just T.
  • Reply 15 of 43
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lamewing View Post


    If this happens I will finally give up on our leaders (politicians having their pockets lined by lobbyists) and governmental organizations (FCC in this case) doing anything fair and honest.



    I have pretty much had it with cell phones / smartphones anyway. If this merger goes through. I will finally cancel my cell (no contract at this point) account with AT&T and just go back to using Skype as my home phone via my Macbook/iPod Touch/iPad.



    Some people really do need a smart phone / cell phone, but 90% of us really don't NEED one.



    I can save the $80.00 + tax each month. How about you?



    Saving $3 per day? 20 cents per hour? Sorry, my time is worth way more than that. They could charge me triple and I'd still be getting a good value out of my iPhone.
  • Reply 16 of 43
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ChristophB View Post


    1. TMo has been dogging on the iPhone in ads.



    Where the dogging the iPhone or just the AT&T network it was saddled with?
  • Reply 17 of 43
    I swear this is not me being a fanboy...but this should help to put Apple and Android on equal footing regarding distribution. Android has numbers in part because Apple limits itself. In the US, it was exclusive to at&t for over 3 years. Even when it launched on Verizon, it got a phone model that was some 8 months old already.



    If this is true, then the iPhone 5 will be the first iPhone to launch simultaneously on multiple carriers. And not even 2, but 3. That, combined with its continuing carrier availability (e.g. China) should help increase the platform size.



    Of course, Apple is never one to go for straight up quantity. But it helps!
  • Reply 18 of 43
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Where the dogging the iPhone or just the AT&T network it was saddled with?



    Had that I'm a PC, I'm a Mac feel to the ad. They could have run the same ad with a Verzon suit instead of the AT&T suit. Felt to me like the were swiping at Apple and iPhone for their choice in carrier and lack of 4G support.
  • Reply 19 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    Sprint? Ew. Another CDMA holdout.



    I agree. Another CDMA carrier....big deal. Still the same old slow, no data/voice multitasking CDMA drawbacks.
  • Reply 20 of 43
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by noexpectations View Post


    I agree. Another CDMA carrier....big deal. Still the same old slow, no data/voice multitasking CDMA drawbacks.



    Yes but they are rolling out LTE. Well sorta - I don't think it's their wireless network or even backhaul.
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