In the strongest indication yet that Verizon will soon get the iPhone, Bloomberg is reporting that Verizon Wireless will begin stocking the phone in January, according to two sources familiar with the plans.
The deal would bring the iPhone to the largest U.S. wireless carrier and end AT&T’s exclusive distribution for the iPhone—something AT&T has enjoyed since June 2007.
Verizon customers could buy 3 million iPhones a quarter, UBS AG analyst John Hodulik told Bloomberg. Verizon has almost 93 million customers in total. “Apple is going to dramatically increase the number of devices it sells in the U.S. when exclusivity at AT&T ends,” said Hodulik. “It’s hard to ignore the quality issues that AT&T has faced.”
Verizon Wireless is also building out a 4G LTE network and plans to unveil new 4G devices at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, it has said in the past.
By expanding to additional wireless carriers, Apple is making the iPhone more competitive with Android and BlackBerry devices that are available from multiple carriers.
Apple has sold more than 50 million iPhones since the device launched in 2007. The iPhone 4 sold more than 1.7 million units in the first three days after its June 24 debut, setting a record for Apple.
Source: Bloomberg
I’m not convinced that Apple will share the iPhone with Verizon, despite the rumors and rumors past as well. They’ve gone for so long with one device, one cellular chipset, for all markets around the world. Why would they suddenly now want to produce a CDMA version for the USA? Cashing in on more carriers in the USA is smart, but do they really need to? Is it really worth the trouble of having a second set of hardware for a single market? I remain skeptical for now.