Who is "they"? Seriously, you have to take a look at the source of that data and try and determine their motive. This was coming from an independent research firm that I've never heard of. I don't know what their track record is on these types of things. A couple of analysts took this data and extrapolated that the $23.5B was "mostly iPhones" ... huh????!?! How did they arrive at that assumption? Did they call Verizon and check with them?
Now, I'm not saying that the data is wrong or the analyst's interpretation is wrong ... I'm just skeptical. Here's why.
1. For Verizon to back themselves into a deal like this, they must have grossly overestimated the growth of the market. If they missed this badly, then their executives are extremely incompetent.
2. Would Apple allow a customer to sign such a bad deal, know that they have no possible way of meeting the contractual agreement? Nothing good can come out of this scenario and I doubt Apple would have forced a contract like this on a customer. Heck, Apple can't even make that many iPhones to begin with.
3. Verizon recently had their Earnings Conference Call. I'm not privy to what was discussed, but I've not seen any followup to this story. Either Verizon answered the question and indicated that it was bogus, or the legitimate analysts didn't ask the question becuase it was BS to begin with. You'd think with the way Wall Street is all over any Apple info, that they'd be asking every Verizon exec about this ... and after a week, it's not even talked about anymore.
ft