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Doubts Circulate of a Verizion iPhone in 2010

PDXoPDX said:
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.
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Just because Verizon will have an LTE network up and running doesn't mean it will be everywhere. And unless Verizon is going to roam on T-Mobile's network when it's out of LTE network range (which T-Mobile also roams on AT&T's network when you get much further out in the country), CDMA support will have to be put in sometime, regardless of how dead the technology is today. Verizon has said that they won't have their LTE network nationwide until 2013-2014. I doubt Apple has the patience to wait that long to get onto America's largest carrier.
 
dagamer34 said:
...Verizon has said that they won't have their LTE network nationwide until 2013-2014. I doubt Apple has the patience to wait that long to get onto America's largest carrier.
Click to expand...
If it takes Verizon another 4-5 years to establish the infrastructure necessary to support the hottest smart phone platform going, then do you really think they'll be America's largest carrier for much longer? Let alone in five years?
 
NokX said:
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.
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You're probably right NokX.

That's one of the perils of being after sought after hardware. The popularity of the iPhone probably gives the networks extra leeway with what they charge too.
 
I relate

Ammo said:
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!
Click to expand...

I totally agree, I am upset that the iPhone looks as if it will continue to be exclusive to AT&T. My contract is also up soon and I will be switching away from the iPhone. I absolutely love my iPhone, however, I cannot deal with all the drop calls I get on my iPhone and the lack of coverage. I hate to leave my iPhone to the side, but the reliability factor is why I must do so. Therefore, come March I will be using the new Droid or maybe the Palm Pre.
 
beowuff said:
I'm in the same area with the same experience. I'd never go back to Verizon for any reason.

Also, TMobile is much more likely, as isn't that where most of the jail broken phones go anyway? I don't think there'd need to be any hardware change on
Apples' part, just some software changes for TMobile. Seems like a no brainer if they want to expand.
Click to expand...

There are some people who have bad service with verizon because lack of service. But Tmobile is not any better considering that that verizon has a bigger area of coverage.

And i don't think T-mobile is more likely to get the iphone, the only reason why the jailbroken ones go to tmobile is because it's the only other gsm network they can use it on. Plus it's cheaper then what at&t offers so some people tend to just go for the cheapest plan cause they're in a fairly populated area where pretty much any carrier has good service there.

Also, T-mobile is just rolling out with their 3g covereage. If everyone says that at&t has poor 3g coverage, t-mobile is going to be 10x worse. They haven't spent millions like at&t has over the years to improve their network as fast as possible to handle the data load of the iphones alone.
 
dagamer34 said:
Just because Verizon will have an LTE network up and running doesn't mean it will be everywhere. And unless Verizon is going to roam on T-Mobile's network when it's out of LTE network range (which T-Mobile also roams on AT&T's network when you get much further out in the country), CDMA support will have to be put in sometime, regardless of how dead the technology is today. Verizon has said that they won't have their LTE network nationwide until 2013-2014. I doubt Apple has the patience to wait that long to get onto America's largest carrier.
Click to expand...

cdma will be around for years, it's not a dead technology. China is continuing to roll out cdma in parallel with gsm so the Asian market will definitely be around for a while. But it will be decreasing for LTE. As I've guessed before on these boards, verizon will be using cdma for voice for a solid 10 years. There is no reason not to, just look at the map commercial. If I were them, I would put the lte on the towers with cdma and have the phones dedicate voice for cdma, lte for data if available, and cdma as a fallback for data. Even though Europe picked gsm, that doesn't mean cdma doesn't have it's benefits. It's lower power, longer range and handles cell handoff better than gsm. Why not use it to it's advantage?

The day a product comes out, it's dead technolgy. 3G is dead technology, lte is being tested by verizon and other companies in Europe. Why are we asking why ATT is wasting their time deploying dead technology. They are just going to start replacing it in 3 or 4 years.

If verizon and apple find it mutually beneficial to combine, they will. Simple as that.
 
Why I expect an iPhone on Verizon

There are several compelling reasons why I expect to see a Verizon iPhone next summer:

1. Apple is known for spreading tidbits of information in all directions, sometimes to confuse, sometimes to titillate, sometimes to keep the talk alive. This is what is going on right now.

2. Apple will profit enormously by having a new iPhone for Verizon, for 2 key reasons: a) it doubles the product line by creating a Verizon-capable phone, while keeping the existing phones (why would they not?) that work all over the world and already work on AT&T. By creating a new Verizon phone, people like me will buy one so that they can dump AT&T at the first opportunity. In my case it's not because of bad connection (mine works great w/AT&T) but because I've had some terrible dealings with AT&T over home phone service.

3. Apple is not going to settle for 2nd or 3rd-best this time; I fully expect a deal to be brokered with Verizon so that they can be available on the highest-rated cell carrier.

4. Verizon is pushing the Droid phones right now because... it's all they've got that competes with the iPhone. You can bet that they'd love to get their hands on the enormous iPhone market at this point, and have regretted not making a deal with Apple 2 years ago.
 
old-wiz said:
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.
Click to expand...

Thats not true. The Droid comes with Amazon MP3 music store :cool: No involvement with Verizon whatsoever. Apps too. Android marketplace and I pay through my Google account. No involvement with Verizon.
 
PDXoPDX said:
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.
Click to expand...

Well for one thing CDMA is not going to soon be obsolete. Just as with the proliferation of 3G ATT isnt dropping GSM anytime soon nor will they for years and years to come after LTE is fully rolled out. Same thing with Verizon. CDMA will still be around for years to come after LTE is fully rolled out.

On the engineering point, then why did Apple bother to release a 2G iPhone only to re-engineer it and put in 3G radios less than a year later to release the 3G a year after the original 2G?
 
Island Dog said:
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.
Click to expand...

good thing it's cheaper to own an iphone on AT&T than a Droid or BB on Verizon
 
alent1234 said:
good thing it's cheaper to own an iphone on AT&T than a Droid or BB on Verizon
Click to expand...

Good thing with my BB on Verizon I can go all over the US pratically and keep 3G connectivity. :) I guess I pay a premium for a large 3G network as I do travel often.
 
GeekLawyer said:
If it takes Verizon another 4-5 years to establish the infrastructure necessary to support the hottest smart phone platform going, then do you really think they'll be America's largest carrier for much longer? Let alone in five years?
Click to expand...

If it takes Apple another 4-5 years to get out a Verizon model, do you really think they'll have what's usually the second-hottest* smartphone model in America for much longer?

From the postings on HoFo, it looks like the current major churn is users ... including frustrated iPhone owners... moving from other carriers to Verizon to get the Droids.

Verizon will also have the Pre models soon, and maybe even the HD2. The iPhone's fine, but it's not the only good choice around. Especially as people get more experience with what non-restricted smartphones can do.

*(Except for each iPhone new-model-launch July, five of the top seven selling smartphones in the US are usually the RIM Blackberry series. And a third of RIM's income comes from Verizon accounts.)

alent1234 said:
good thing it's cheaper to own an iphone on AT&T than a Droid or BB on Verizon
Click to expand...

How so? Their plan prices are almost exactly the same these days.
 
patsfan83 said:
Verizon's ads are attacking ATT's service, not the iPhone. They just happen to use the iPhone because that is the demographic they are trying to reach.
Click to expand...

I don't know... the newest Droid ad is directly attacking the iPhone. They pretty much call it out but they do not say the name...... I am searching for a link..
 
According to news releases in the last couple of days....
1. Verizon has much better coverage according to Consumer Reports, along with a more satisfied Customer Service report.
2. Droid is picking up momentum, and more App development

This could hurt Apple if it sticks with AT&T only.

I know that I would now consider a Droid and Verizon. After purchasing 2 1st model iPhones, 2 3G, and 1 3GS. At least one of the 3G's GPS was broken after the 3.0 update. None of the workarounds work. I took it to Apple, and they said the bottom H20 detector has tripped although it seemed to be completely working except for the GPS. The Gunuis said that his ONLY option left by Apple was to charge $199 for replacement although it had 4 months left before the 1 yr. warranty is up.

That sure makes me NOT want to buy another Apple product. Especially after visiting the Apple Forum and finding they have a LARGE number with this same problem and Apple is ignoring there is a problem.

Oh, well, my stupidity.
 
I say apple sticks with AT&T and uses the money to build their own cell phone company starting with the big metro areas and expanding from there.
[/sarcasm] ;)

That or buy a company. lol
 
I see a higher probability of an iPhone being designed specifically for Verizon's network than AT&T improving/expanding their puny subpar network. It's a win/win for Apple anyway.

Here's hoping. :( I'm planning on moving in the next year anyway so...;)
 
JoJoCal19 said:
Well for one thing CDMA is not going to soon be obsolete. Just as with the proliferation of 3G ATT isnt dropping GSM anytime soon nor will they for years and years to come after LTE is fully rolled out. Same thing with Verizon. CDMA will still be around for years to come after LTE is fully rolled out.

On the engineering point, then why did Apple bother to release a 2G iPhone only to re-engineer it and put in 3G radios less than a year later to release the 3G a year after the original 2G?
Click to expand...

Yeah, reading all these comments about how Apple would'nt make a Verizon iPhone until LTE matures a bit and how CDMA is dead tech is the stupidest thing. Their going to have to put in CDMA support regardless so it can fall back on it when theres no LTE. Which there wont be almost everywhere in the country for years to come. Did AT&T get rid of EDGE when they got their 3G set up? ugggh...NO .Did Verizon get rid of 1x when they set up EVDO Rev A? NO. Regardless of WHAT new tech is coming out my best guess is its always going to fall back on the older tech until it can be replaced everywhere.
 
I'm surprised the Verizon rumors didn't die the moment Apple put those "can your network do that?" ads which, while not a direct attack on Verizon, definitely burns a bridge or two. If Apple were to jump to Verizon, they would have to backpedal on that claim of being able to talk and surf at the same time. Doesn't make sense that Apple would put themselves in that position.
 
GeekLawyer said:
It's a direct-shot at the iPhone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLDxv9ohH2s&feature=player_embedded
Click to expand...

Perhaps. Although the "princess" phone in the ad is a non-existent white hourglass shaped model.

Maybe it's also a commentary that even though the Droid doesn't look sexy, it gets the job done. In other words, being pretty isn't everything.

RazHyena said:
I see a higher probability of an iPhone being designed specifically for Verizon's network than AT&T improving/expanding their puny subpar network. It's a win/win for Apple anyway.
Click to expand...

I'd guess a combo CDMA+GSM device, so there'd only be one factory line.
 
When the first iPhone came out I was almost more excited to get away from Verizon than the phone itself, and happily paid my contract cancelation free.

I really do not understand why there are so many people who prefer Verizon over At&t.

I was with Verizon for nearly 5 years and it was horrible. They nickel and dimed me on everything, and commonly overcharged me for data plans and features I never even used (they charge an entire minute of data usage even if you only use a single second). Not to mention they crippled all their phones Bluetooth capabilities, and then forced the phone manufactures into using the same Verizon created UI which made Windows 95 look state of the art.

To make matters worse, they have horrible customer service. Their reps have no authority to do anything to your account even if they made mistakes, and if you actually go into a Verizon store you are forced to wait just to talk to someone who doesn't even have the authority to make changes to your account, or assist you properly. To top it off their bills were long, and confusing, and at least back then their website was horrible for managing your bill online.

I hate the dropped calls on At&t, but other than that they've been nothing but good to me. I can actually get a real person on the phone within minutes for customer service, and they actually have authority to make changes to your account. There website is topnotch and lets you control a lot, and track your usage easily. I had one mistake/billing issue with At&t and with one 10 minute phone call they corrected the problem, removed the charges, and gave me extra rollover minutes, and bumped up my eligibility to upgrade to a 3GS and I didn't even have to talk to a manager.

As for data speeds, At&t is much faster than Verizon's network, and all major metropolitan cities have 3G. Since I probably spend more time using the data network on my iPhone now more so than making actual calls it's nice to have a speedy network, and good customer service.
 
I might be interested in a Sprint iPhone. I have had Sprint in the past and was not impressed but I understand they have made some improvements since 2005. I also had T-Mobile in 2005 and was less than impressed.

Could someone please enlighten me on what is meant by Sprint's 4G network. How happy is everyone with Sprint. I am ready to get out of AT&T at my first opportunity.
 
Just to pick one point out of a fairly long post ...

applextrent said:
To make matters worse, they have horrible customer service. Their reps have no authority to do anything to your account even if they made mistakes, and if you actually go into a Verizon store you are forced to wait just to talk to someone who doesn't even have the authority to make changes to your account, or assist you properly. To top it off their bills were long, and confusing, and at least back then their website was horrible for managing your bill online.
Click to expand...

I've never had any problem with Verizon customer service, either getting someone on the phone or at a store resolving any account issue I've had immediately. I also have no problem understanding their bill; I have three family members including myself on the plan, and the bill is broken down by individual number, usage, etc. Very clear. I can't speak about their website because I've never had occasion to use it.
 
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