Can you widget me now? If the overload of industry reports are to be believed, Verizon Wireless is in talks with Apple Inc. to snag the iPhone, as soon as June of next year. And that iPhone might just be a CDMA-LTE dual-mode handset.
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| Image courtesy of Apple. |
It all started with USA Today. The infographic-loving national newspaper cites “people familiar with the situation” who are not able to speak publicly, noting that high-level discussions between Apple and Verizon Wireless started back in the fall, before CEO Steve Jobs took his medical leave of absence. Nonetheless, these sources say that discussions are continuing. And the paper cited the fact that Verizon Wireless co-parent Vodafone plc distributes the iPhone overseas.
The news, if true, would dovetail nicely with the fact that AT&T Inc. is due to lose its exclusivity for the device next year. The carrier is reported to be in talks with Apple to extend that, but for now it looks like the iPhone will soon be up for grabs by other carriers. Perhaps as soon as June of next year.
The problem of course lies in technical realities. If CDMA-based Verizon wants the iPhone, then it will have to talk Apple into creating a new hardware version of the handset to run on CDMA networks, since the iPhone is a GSM device. And the USA Today note about Vodafone’s iPhone connection loses its weight here: The world’s No. 1 wireless operator runs a GSM network, for the most part.
Craig Mathias, an analyst at Farpoint Group, told Computerworld that Apple could benefit from addressing the CDMA segment. "An iPhone that is CDMA/EVDO capable would really open up opportunities for Apple," Mathias said. "It makes sense for Apple to get the iPhone to 80 million subscribers at Verizon."
But it doesn’t seem that Apple is amenable to this. “CDMA doesn’t really have a life to it after a point in time,” Apple COO Tim Cook said point blank during the company’s earnings call last week.
In case the point wasn’t clear: “From a technology point of view as you know, Verizon is on CDMA, and we’ve shown from the beginning of the iPhone a focus on one phone for the whole of the world,” he said. “And when you do that, you really go down the GSM route.”
That’s where LTE comes in.
LTE Changes Everything
As far as being a global technology, LTE has emerged as the 4G standard most major carriers are embracing. Facing increased pressure from Sprint-Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp.’s national 4G WiMAX plans, Verizon intends to be live with several LTE markets next year, with AT&T following soon thereafter. Thus, Apple could address its existing AT&T base, and any number of other carriers’ distribution opportunities, with a single new device.
