Despite recent information suggesting otherwise, a USA Today story reports that “people familiar with the situation” say, that a Verizon Wireless-branded iPhone is in the works and is expected to drop sometime next year once LTE, the next generation high speed wireless standard is operational on Verizon’s network. The sources also say that talks surrounding this deal have been in the works for a few months, leading back to the point when Steve Jobs was still running Apple full-time, and despite being on medical leave, the talks have continued.
What do you guys think? How many of you would like to see the iPhone come to Verizon Wireless? I know I certainly would, but it would have to retain certain aspects of the current generation iPhone – such as WiFi and unlocked GPS. Let us know your opinion in the comments!
The more iPhone users the better. More iPhones mean more people using apps. A lot of apps that require crowds to work (review apps, social networks) have millions of more users if Verizon gets iPhones too.
Apple is holding all the cards here. They can ask for whatever they want of either Verizon or AT&T. The question is, what does Apple want?
If Apple is actually working on a Tablet/Netbook Mac, that would likely be important in the negotiations as it would likely carry a 3G cellular chip inside. If Apple wants to sell an iPhone Nano of sorts, that would be in the cards as well.
Apple’s got a worldwide market here to consider for phones and I have to think they want a unified approach across all countries. What if they let one carrier in each country keep exclusive rights to the top-of-the-line iPhone while they make available a stripped down 4GB iPhone that is fully subsidized but runs on a slower unlimited data connection? Apple would put iPhones in the hands of millions upon millions of people, not just those willing to shell out for smartphones.
I would hope if AT&T keeps exclusivity it would mean the end user gets something out of it too, like, say, free tethering. Alas, that’s probably not the case.
I’d give anything to see what these negotiations look like from the inside.