YAViPR

[Pliablemoose]

File this under the "Yet another Verizon iPhone rumor..."

http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/08/verizon-iphone-january/

I can’t say with 100% accuracy that an iPhone will hit Verizon store shelves in January, but all of the signals point that way, and it would give Verizon’s CEO some interesting things to talk about in his CES keynote (though he may have to refrain as CES comes before Apple’s typical January keynote). I may be proven wrong, but based on my history dealing with components and selling to Apple, a Verizon-compatible iPhone looks to be a done deal.

 

[gsaldivar]

ugh... techcrunch

 

[Pliablemoose]

I suspect the near 1000 percent growth of Android is what triggered the decision.

I also suspect this is a controlled leak, Att gets the iPhone Christmas sales, Verizon gets the iPhone after Christmas, likely 1st quarter 2011

We're talking at least 6 months out, Android sales will continue to explode in the meantime...

 

[boomhower]

To me the AT&T financial forecast are more telling than anything. With them emphasizing their "broad" smartphone offerings saying that losing exclusivity of one phone isn't going to hurt them says a lot.

 

[rudeguy]

Quote me:

It won't happen.

 

[pm]

Quote me:

It won't happen.

I'll take you up on that. I think when Verizon rolls out LTE, Apple will roll out an iPhone on LTE. Now, January seems a bit early... I would have said next summer. But whichever, I believe that we will see a Verizon LTE iPhone within the next calendar year.

I have no evidence or otherwise for my claim... except that it seems like something Steve Jobs would do - a new phone on the new worldwide network standard.

 

[tatteredpotato]

I'll take you up on that. I think when Verizon rolls out LTE, Apple will roll out an iPhone on LTE. Now, January seems a bit early... I would have said next summer. But whichever, I believe that we will see a Verizon LTE iPhone within the next calendar year.

I have no evidence or otherwise for my claim... except that it seems like something Steve Jobs would do - a new phone on the new worldwide network standard.

It's possible, but early LTE phones running first-gen LTE chipsets are going to be pretty power hungry (like the WiMax radio on the EVO). Apple was willing the leave out 3G on the original iPhone, so I don't see them having any problems leaving it out of a first gen CDMA iPhone.

 

[rudeguy]

I'll take you up on that. I think when Verizon rolls out LTE, Apple will roll out an iPhone on LTE. Now, January seems a bit early... I would have said next summer. But whichever, I believe that we will see a Verizon LTE iPhone within the next calendar year.

I have no evidence or otherwise for my claim... except that it seems like something Steve Jobs would do - a new phone on the new worldwide network standard.

MAYBE sometime but not in January.

I have very little to go on except my knowledge of Apple's current sales strategy and Verizon's deep roots in Android. Look at all the Android phones they have, the massive amount of advertising, the massive amounts of customers they have brought on because of Android....I just don't see them dismissing all that to be 2nd string to ATT in the iPhone game.

Now if you told me that the iPhone was going exclusively to Verizon. I would definitely be willing to listen. That would make much more sense.

 

[Pliablemoose]

MAYBE sometime but not in January.

I have very little to go on except my knowledge of Apple's current sales strategy and Verizon's deep roots in Android. Look at all the Android phones they have, the massive amount of advertising, the massive amounts of customers they have brought on because of Android....I just don't see them dismissing all that to be 2nd string to ATT in the iPhone game.

Now if you told me that the iPhone was going exclusively to Verizon. I would definitely be willing to listen. That would make much more sense.

They won't go exclusively to Verizon.

I just got through reading this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38614741/ns/business-motley_fool/

And I think the author nailed it, and as I said, I'd bet money, Android's massive move in the US is prompting the move to Verizon. Of course, Apple could be faking us out and will release a CDMA phone in countries other than the US.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Filed under: Believe it when I see it.

 

[dwell]

I have very little to go on except my knowledge of Apple's current sales strategy and Verizon's deep roots in Android. Look at all the Android phones they have, the massive amount of advertising, the massive amounts of customers they have brought on because of Android....I just don't see them dismissing all that to be 2nd string to ATT in the iPhone game.

Verizon is not going to turn down all those new subs just because it also sells the Droid. Not going to happen. All of the Droid-branded phones combined do not sell as well as the iPhone. Take the iPhone to a better carrier and it will sell like gangbusters.

Verizon's business strategy is not about hardware or OS loyalty. Their bread and butter is the Verizon service.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Verizon is not going to turn down all those new subs just because it also sells the Droid. Not going to happen. All of the Droid-branded phones combined do not sell as well as the iPhone. Take the iPhone to a better carrier and it will sell like gangbusters.

Verizon's business strategy is not about hardware or OS loyalty. Their bread and butter is the Verizon service.

It doesn't really matter anyways, Verizon's already given Android such a boost that getting the iPhone won't have near the impact that it would have a year or two ago. A large number of subs they'll pick up are all the people on ATT who love the iPhone and hate the ATT service though.

 

[dguy6789]

It's definitely past Apple's time to shine on Verizon, they took too long. If they did it a year ago, the iPhone would have become the default phone of choice on the two largest networks in America but now that's an impossibility. The iPhone 4 would have at least 3(Assuming they launched in the coming weeks, by January that number would increase) very high end handsets that out do it in numerous features backed by a massive marketing campaign to compete with. Talk to random people today and they know what Droid is(Ironically, they don't know what Android is). Buying an iPhone on Verizon will not be a "no brainer" situation like it is on AT&T. On AT&T, the iPhone doesn't have any real competition.(The Captivate would be that competition but AT&T is deliberately shoving it under the rug)

 

[dwell]

It doesn't really matter anyways, Verizon's already given Android such a boost that getting the iPhone won't have near the impact that it would have a year or two ago. A large number of subs they'll pick up are all the people on ATT who love the iPhone and hate the ATT service though.

Do you really think anyone but geeks care about Android from a brand loyality? The Android vs iPhone brand loyalty studies prove this. When iPhone comes to Verizon it's Android's lunch that will be eaten.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Do you really think anyone but geeks care about Android from a brand loyality? The Android vs iPhone brand loyalty studies prove this. When iPhone comes to Verizon it's Android's lunch that will be eaten.

MOST people don't care about Apple either. Brand loyalty for MOST people is as deep as their pockets.

 

[dwell]

MOST people don't care about Apple either. Brand loyalty for MOST people is as deep as their pockets.

That's just not true. Apple, iPod, iPhone are all strong brands. Droid is the strongest Android branding, but seeing how every Droid-branded device combined is outsold by the iPhone, it's pretty clear which is the stronger brand.

Maybe Motorola/Verizon should make commercials targeted to normal people and not Sci-Fi geeks, for starters.

 

[rudeguy]

MOST people don't care about Apple either. Brand loyalty for MOST people is as deep as their pockets.

Correct.

My point was that Verizon just spent how many millions of dollars on an ad campaign promoting how much "Droid Does" vs what the iPhone doesn't. They aren't going to start promoting what the iPhone does and the Droid doesn't. Not that there is that much they could say regarding that....

 

[dwell]

My point was that Verizon just spent how many millions of dollars on an ad campaign promoting how much "Droid Does" vs what the iPhone doesn't. They aren't going to start promoting what the iPhone does and the Droid doesn't. Not that there is that much they could say regarding that....

When I put on my general consumer hat and watch those commercials, all I hear is, "Droid does... a bunch of shit I don't care about."

Seriously, can you name anything in those commercials that an everyday person would say, "Wow, that's something I am sorely missing on the iPhone."? I can't.

 

[Pliablemoose]

MOST people don't care about Apple either. Brand loyalty for MOST people is as deep as their pockets.

I disagree, from the article I linked to a couple of posts up:

Think iPhone fever has peaked in the U.S.? While the iPhone commands 23% of US smartphone market share according to Nielsen's recent survey, in Japan the number is closer to 72%. The iPhone might be a smash hit in America, but in other countries where Apple has pursued a multicarrier strategy, its numbers are even more staggering.

Huge growth across the world
Exactly how much of a success is the iPhone abroad? Thanks to a new report from Gartner and Morgan Keenan, we have some answers. Let's look at Apple's mobile market share across the world. Remember, mobile market share takes into account all phone sales, not just smartphones. That'll make Apple's share smaller than the 23% figure quoted above.
In Canada, where five different carriers sell the iPhone, Apple's share of the mobile market is around 12.4%. In France, where France Telecom's Orange and two other carriers sell the iPhone, its mobile market share reaches 11.6%. In the United Kingdom, where six carriers sell the iPhone, Apple commands 10% of the market
In contrast, Apple's mobile market share in the U.S. is just 6.5%.

The study and stats suggest that Apple's multicarrier strategy in the rest of the world has been VERY effective, and the Android sales in the US are so high because Apple has not used other carriers here.

Those that say Apple won't sell a ton of phones when it goes to other carriers in the US are sadly mistaken.

 

[tatteredpotato]

That's just not true. Apple, iPod, iPhone are all strong brands. Droid is the strongest Android branding, but seeing how every Droid-branded device combined is outsold by the iPhone, it's pretty clear which is the stronger brand.

Maybe Motorola/Verizon should make commercials targeted to normal people and not Sci-Fi geeks, for starters.

I won't disagree that Apples brand is strong than that of Android (mostly "Droid"), but I argue that Verizon has marketed the Droid brand to the point that anyone interested in a smartphone knows of it's existence and is therefore "strong enough".

I think Motorola/Verizon picked the right market to roll out the Droid line to. It's a platform that is appealing to "Sci-Fi geeks" due to its open nature and other things most people don't care about. Once they have a foothold with that group they were able to use momentum to carry into a more casual market. It worked as I know plenty of "normal people", and even (Gasp) girls who own Android phones.

 

[tatteredpotato]

The study and stats suggest that Apple's multicarrier strategy in the rest of the world has been VERY effective, and the Android sales in the US are so high because Apple has not used other carriers here.

Those that say Apple won't sell a ton of phones when it goes to other carriers in the US are sadly mistaken.

But that supports my argument that Apple would have been better off launching multi-carrier a year or two ago. Android wasn't an established brand in other countries, so people just stuck with the "sure thing".

Also I don't want it to seem like I don't think the iPhone will do stellar on VZW, I just think Apple could have done better.

 

[rudeguy]

When I put on my general consumer hat and watch those commercials, all I hear is, "Droid does... a bunch of shit I don't care about."

Seriously, can you name anything in those commercials that an everyday person would say, "Wow, that's something I am sorely missing on the iPhone."? I can't.

Type one a physical keyboard.

Free navigation.

 

[dguy6789]

Type one a physical keyboard.

Free navigation.

Replaceable battery

Removable storage

Doesn't require itunes to perform basic functions such as software updates

Makes calls

 

[tatteredpotato]

Replaceable battery

Removable storage

Doesn't require itunes to perform basic functions such as software updates

Makes calls

Has a Google Voice app

 

[Pliablemoose]

But that supports my argument that Apple would have been better off launching multi-carrier a year or two ago. Android wasn't an established brand in other countries, so people just stuck with the "sure thing".

Also I don't want it to seem like I don't think the iPhone will do stellar on VZW, I just think Apple could have done better.

We're going to have to agree to disagree... (whoops, just read your last line, and yeah, you're right)

I suspect we'll see a roll out of the iPhone on at least 2 more carriers within the year.

The studies and surveys I'm seeing do not reflect the satisifaction and brand loyalty you suggest exist for Android OS'd phones.

IMHO, the main problem is that of price, state of the art Android phones are no cheaper than an iPhone, when the iPhone rolls out to other carriers, the only thing they can do is attempt to compete on price, and the bulk of a phone's price are not in the purchase price, but in the cost of the contract over it's life. The carriers will be unwilling to cut contract prices for Android OS'd phones to compete with the iPhone.

It's that kind of thinking that suggested the iPad would fail in the marketplace, it didn't, and rocked the industry back on it's heels, and it kicked the netbook sales squarely in the teeth...

I do see a massive market for WiFi only enabled Android tablets, they're going to be the new netbook(s), because they can compete on purchase price alone, not the contract price. The manufacturers will cough up a capacative screened Android tablet for between $350 & $450 and sell the crap out of them.

Will you or I buy iPhones? I doubt it, I do enjoy hacking Android OS'd phones too much, and I love the larger screens.