Doubts Circulate of a Verizion iPhone in 2010

[mac-er]

Verizon was Apple's first choice for the iPhone originally, and Verizon wouldn't agree to Apple's subsidy and other control demands. That is supposedly how the second-fiddle of AT&T got picked.

If Apple wanted Verizon in the first place, there is no reason to think Apple wouldn't want Verizon now. Despite one-off situations, Verizon is generally regarded has having better customer service and better coverage then AT&T (see most recent Consumer Reports).

Shaw Wu is inaccurate. Apple and Verizon have not become competitive. Verizon has never made any claims against Apple. Verizon and AT&T have become more competitive, as they have widdled down their competition so much that their only real choice is to take customers from each other. Sprint's brand is so damaged, that I highly doubt Steve Jobs would want to be associated with it.

 

[lazyrighteye]

I agree that a monopoly on a market isn't a good thing. The problem with Verizon is that they like to monopolize features in handsets. I was a subscriber to Verizon for many years. Their typical MO is to take a handset, remove the software, install their own software, and then sell back features the handset came with to their users. It was the most frustrating part of being part of Verizon. I know that Verizon has this as part of their business plan and when Apple wouldn't give them control then they turned away.

Spot. On.
This was/is my biggest beef with VZW: they choke and dictate handset innovation as a business model. F that & F them.

My next issue with VZW? Customer "Service." Easily the worst in the US (save Cricket). On more than one occasion, they auto-enrolled me in their highest data plan. Quite convenient for them, a massive PITA for me. And every time (again, this happened a few times during my nightmarish 2-yr contract), they were painfully reluctant to credit my accont for their admitted error (and we're talking several hundred dollars each instance). Solutions only happened after persistent calls over the course of a couple months - for each incident. It was practically a full time job simply managing my account.

Third issue with VZW? Data plans/rates. Anyone complaining about AT&T's rates obviously did not have a web-ready device with VZW, pre 2007. Criminal.

Those 3 serious issues made leaving VZW/Treo for AT&T/iPhone in '07 a no-brainer. While certainly not perfect, AT&T/iPhone has (by a long shot) been my best, easiest, most fair mobile experience to date.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

I'm more concerned that there is absolutely zero competition for the iPhone in the U.S. AT&T can pretty much do and charge what they please. Competition is a good thing.

How's that competition doing for price plans? They are all high. Worry about the plan costs.

Apple owns the iPhone and will choose the carriers it best sees fit for its flag ship product.

 

[seangw]

Closest Evidence I have

The only thing I have is that I heard from a Verizon store employee that they were being trained on selling the iPhone.

Of course that was like 6 months ago, and I'm sure things have changed. It just doesn't (hopefully) sound like Verizon would say no again.

 

[ChazUK]

I wish that "competition" when it comes would actually drive prices down. Unfortunately it will not work that way. The service will remain at a minimum of $79.99 a month for the iPhone if VZW and AT&T both have the iPhones. There single or family plan prices are exactly the same now. I doubt that would change at all. They need to keep their profit margins. It doesn't do either company to race to the bottom.

I completely agree with you and this is sadly the case over here in the UK.

I was hoping the fact that Orange and Vodafone were going to offer the iPhone that they would start a little price war which would benefit potential iPhone customers.

That hasn't happened so far but I do hope that Tesco invoke a price war with competitive prices.

 

[NokX]

I really doubt Apple is working with Verizion to sell the iPhone. They have just made Ads directed against Verizion and their lack of Talk/Surf !

remember when apple use to make ads making fun of intel chips?

 

[NokX]

I completely agree with you and this is sadly the case over here in the UK.

I was hoping the fact that Orange and Vodafone were going to offer the iPhone that they would start a little price war which would benefit potential iPhone customers.

That hasn't happened so far but I do hope that Tesco invoke a price war with competitive prices.

i don't know the agreement apple has setup with its vendors, but it very well could say that the iphone can't be offered below $x price. quite a few companies do that.

 

[joelwnelson]

As a current (and actually mostly satisfied) AT&T/iPhone customer, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other if other providers get the iPhone, as long as AT&T keeps the device as well. Some of the bloggers and rumor sites, and even a couple mainstream media articles, have worded it in a way that makes it sound as though AT&T could *lose* the phone to Verizon. Now my assumption is that's a miswording and AT&T would continue to sell and support the GSM iPhone, and if so that's fine. I find it hard to imagine that Apple would actually revoke a carrier's right to sell future editions of the phone, so hopefully those articles and posts inferring that are in error.

I live in a midwestern/plains market of about a million people, where AT&T is a relative newcomer and didn't even offer service more than three years ago. There are a couple known weak spots in coverage, but our 3G network here really never sees the congestion spoken of in the larger coastal markets. As far as Verizon, they're now the dominant provider here after taking over the previous #1, Alltel, and they're having more issues now -- especially in customer service and billing, but also network reliability. I would never switch back to CDMA. The local Verizon/Alltel system seems to either have full coverage or no coverage and little in between. On AT&T there are a lot of areas where I only get two bars but at least it works in areas where CDMA users are out of luck for whatever reason. Long and the short: Verizon's coverage isn't always as good as it looks on the maps either.

Ultimately, I think having the iPhone on multiple carriers will be a good thing for competition, though question whether Apple will do a 3G CDMA phone -- my guess is they wait for 4G when supposedly the networks will be on the same technology anyway.

 

[Rot'nApple]

Boo! Get these negative nancys out of here! I would never switch to the Deathstar (poor coverage and lots of dropped calls in my area) but if the iPhone came to VZW I would jump on it!

And if Catherine Zeta Jones came around here, I would jump on it!

C'mon, T-Mobile!!!

There, that is my "unprofessional analyst" guess as to where the iPhone is heading next and being on T-Mo, that is a good thing!

 

[MarlboroLite]

Everytime one of these posts pop up the same predictable "Verizon cripples the phones" arguments are made. Can people still be that misinformed?

They haven't crippled smartphones in a long time, they sell the very open Droid for god's sake! With the Android market right in and the amazon music store on the phone! They never cripple blackberries either. Why would they then want to cripple an iPhone?

It IS going to happen, when, no one knows. But it will happen. It's in Verizon AND Apple's best interests to do so. Money talks first.

 

[PDXoPDX]

my guess is they wait for 4G when supposedly the networks will be on the same technology anyway.

This is probably what Steve is hearing from his engineering team. Plus if Apple is going to have to do hardware upgrades to be 4G compliant anyways (even on ATT) then it's also a sound business decision to wait. Why invest in a CDMA compliant device that will soon be obsolete?

I think Apple is pleased with the success of the iPhone to date and there's no real immediate need to expand their user base to Verizon customers.

 

[Martog]

One thing Verizon really hates about the iPhone is the iTunes store. Verizon does not want you to be able to download your own music to the phone; they want you to pay them for the music that you download via vCast. I don't see Verizon being willing to give up control of the music and apps; they want you to pay verizon for extra stuff, not Apple.

To be honest, not true considering with Verizon's smartphone handsets you can put any music on there you want, does not have to be purchased from VCast at all. Heck I can use Blackberry MediaSync to copy my iTunes or Windows Media Player playlists and music to my Blackberry Storm. Heck the only Verizon branded stuff on my Storm is the logos on the phone along with the startup logo and the Visual VoiceMail application is also from Verizon. There is NOTHING else on my Storm from Verizon. Their smartphones are quite indeed different from the non's. Though I have to speculate this could be because of corporate needs to install whatever through Exchange or BES and such.

Verizon just couldnt' agree to other terms by Apple is all. Fact is I doubt Verizon gets much revunue from VCast from most of their smartphone owners because there is no need to use it.

This only applies to the non-smartphone handsets which I do find appalling to be honest. However I don't think I could switch back to a non-smartphone or go to another carrier, I've had too many run ins with AT&T and I don't even get AT&T here whereas I can get Verizon, Alltel (before merger..) and Sprint just fine. Granted atll three are CMDA networks but doesn't bother me, I don't go outside of the country. Having GSM on my Storm is just a bonus if I need it.

I do kind of wish Verizon would get the iPhone, but I do have reserverations moving to the iPhone from my Blackberry, kind of like the Driod "Don't" comercials show some of the shortcommings. I also looked at replacing my Storm with the Droid, not happening. The person at Verizon I talked to replaced her BB with the Droid, said she's going back to a BB more than likely. I would honestly love to have some of the apps that are on the iPhone, but I also hate to loose the RIM MSN, Yahoo, and AIM messenger clients, the best IM clients on a phone I have used to date. In the end I'll probably get a Storm 2 and wait to see what comes with Apple and Google handsets for Verizon in the future. Though I would like a phone that could play my Apple Lossless encodes, doesn't seem most devices can play either Apple Lossless or Windows Media Lossless formats. iPhone plays Apple, not sure what plays WM Lossless.

Though it was kind of funny..the Verizon rep said she had her friend there with an iPhone and compared browsing speeds to the Droid and the Droid won..she seemed pretty happy about that. Then I looked at the "There's a Map for That" poster and pointed out that her friend wasn't in 3G coverage with AT&T here.

 

[Rot'nApple]

How's that competition doing for price plans? They are all high. Worry about the plan costs.

Check out the talk, text data rate plans for T-Mobile... just announced new plans prices going down.

The market is coming saturated with "smart phones" with their finger swipes, multi gestures, web browsing, tweeter doodling, facebook loving ways. The only way to differentiate is pricing between the various smart phones and the smart phone cellular plans. Both of which will have to come down due to market forces. And that's good for everyones bank account.

 

[GeekLawyer]

Considering that the latest Verizon ad basically calls anyone who uses an iPhone gay, these analysts may be on to something this time.

(Maybe not gay... but certainly questions an iPhone user's manhood. Or something like that.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLDxv9ohH2s&feature=player_embedded

 

[Xavier]

Like others have been saying, it is probably a safe to bet that the iPhone will come to both major cell companies when the 4G network is active.

There are plenty of people on Verizon that would like an iPhone, so I don't think it would be a matter of less customers.

 

[bergmef]

remember when apple use to make ads making fun of intel chips?

Ans vice versa, remember intel refusing to put firewire on it's motherboards ... ok, they still do I think.

The sniping back and forth between apple and verison doesn't matter, it the deal suits the both of them, they will do it. If not, they won't.

 

[jbs3229]

iPhone on T-Mobile/Sprint

After Verizon's latest round of ads bashing iPhone as a girly phone and Droid as a manly phone, I do not believe you will see Apple doing business with them anytime soon. Verizon had the iDon't commercials about a month ago which were directed at the iPhone as well. So Verizon has put their $$$ on android platform and Motorola. So based on latest rumors that T-Mobile will be getting iPhone in June, that will probably happen. Also, iPhone was just released on South Korea on their WiBro (WiMax) network, which is same as Sprint/Clearwire 4G network. Clearwire just got addtional $2B in funding to build out their network ahead of schedule going into 2010. I have heard that Sprint will have an HTC and/or Samsung 3G/4G phone sometime during second half of 2010 and it wouldn't surprise me if you might see iPhone in the mix. Everyone just loves Verizon's 3G network, which is 5X bigger than AT&T's, but people should consider Sprint's 3G network which is 3X bigger than AT&T's network, plus Verizon and Sprint roam on each others networks. So you are better off going with either Verizon/Sprint since their 3G coverage combined is years ahead of AT&T/T-Mobile 3G networks. Sprint/Clearwire WiMax 4G network will cover as many people as AT&T's 3G network by early 2011 as WiMax can be rapidly deployed compared to 3G networks. So if you want to pay an extra $50 per month to stay on Verizon or AT&T's networks on their overpriced plans, more power to you. If you want to save some $$$ while staying on a network that provides comparable coverage to Verizon across the US, you should consider Sprint. Sprint has suffered from customer service and billing problems in the past, but over the last 1-2 years, their service has greatly improved in these areas.

 

[John.B]

Sprint's version of 4G is incompatible with everyone else's version of 4G, so I doubt Apple wants to build a special CDMA iPhone that's going to have to support a 4G network unlike basically any other carrier in the world.

FWIW, I get great coverage with AT&T where I need it, though I do empathize with those who have coverage problems, dropped calls, etc.

 

[Eric S.]

a couple of analyst reports this week cast doubts that we would see a Verizon iPhone in the near future.

Darn, as that would be the only way I might be enticed to consider an iPhone.

there appears to be a growing divide with Verizon/Google/Droid on one side and AT&T/Apple/iPhone on the other.

I don't want to get stuck with Google either.

Reid expects that Verizon may opt to offer the rumored Apple Tablet

And I have no interest in a tablet. Oh well, I'll just stick with a phone that's, you know, just a phone.

 

[reallynotnick]

I really don't care to see the iPhone go to Verizon, they have the same ****** prices as ATT. I would love to be able to get the next version of the iPhone on either T-Mobile or Sprint, I would probably buy one on launch. My original unlocked 8GB iPhone on T-Mobile is getting a little long in the tooth.

 

[Ted13]

If Sprint becomes the carrier, it essentially will come to Verizon. Unlocking isn't that hard, and Verizon started allowing any unlocked CDMA phone on their network a few years ago.

Oh yeah? How many Palm Pres are on Verizon's network?

 

[rkdiddy]

In all honesty why would Apple not just make the phone compatible with all US carriers? T-mobile seems like a shoe-in and why not add Verizon/Sprint compatibility while they're at it.

The only people this would hurt is the eBay sellers that are gouging buyers.

 

[Ted13]

If Apple wanted Verizon in the first place, there is no reason to think Apple wouldn't want Verizon now. Despite one-off situations, Verizon is generally regarded has having better customer service and better coverage then AT&T (see most recent Consumer Reports).

I can think of two big reasons: back in the mid '00s CDMA had plenty of future ahead of it -- now it is a dead technology. Apple never goes backwards.

Also back then was before Verizon's CEO made public statements about "liking [their] chances" of Steve Jobs dropping dead soon. El Jobso never forgets a personal insult.

 

[txhchman]

If the iPhone doesn't come to Verizon, then Google gets my mobile business.

Period, and I know many other people who feel that way too.

And why do so many people NOT want to see a CDMA iPhone or a Verizon iPhone? If you're gonna stay with at&t it won't affect you!

We will stay with att and we must be the only people that DON'T have a problem with them. On the other hand we wouldn't go to Verizon, why, because there is NO signal where we live. Mind you we can only get edge with ATT but at least we get a signal. kevin

 

[Ted13]

Also, iPhone was just released on South Korea on their WiBro (WiMax) network, which is same as Sprint/Clearwire 4G network.

This is the first time I'm hearing of Apple selling different iPhone hardware somewhere. Exception: China where they eliminated the WiFi (no idea if they did it in hardware or software). Can you please point to some evidence of your Korea iPhone assertion?