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iPhone Verizon Wireless: Sales would double

iPhone Verizon Wireless: Sales would double

By: Peter Chubb | June 9, 2009 | 20 Comments

As we know the exclusive deal that AT&T is enjoying with the Apple iPhone will expire in mid-2010, leaving Apple with a tough decision, do they abandon it and offer the deal to a second carrier, which most hope will be Verizon Wireless.

We do not understand why Apple like these exclusive deals, if they partnered with two carriers, then this would certainly double the amount of iPhone handsets sold. With the news of a new iPhone 3G S being announced at WWDC 2009 keynote, AT&T have been fast to provide details of the upgrade option, and it is not good news for existing customers.

Those customers have to pay the rest of their contract to get the upgrade, and that is on top of the price for the handset. Existing customers feel as if they are getting a raw deal, it looks as though AT&T do not care about its customers and are being stubborn, as they know that if they want an iPhone 3G S, customers do not have any other choice.

All Things Digital have reported that Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi said that a deal with Verizon could more than double iPhone sales in the U.S. More details here

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  • Rich

    I just will not deal with AT&T. I have Verizon currently and love it. Hope Apple will come across on this.

  • VerizonUserInOC

    i’m guessing Apple already knows what they are doing. if they partner with two carriers, don’t the iPhones have to be modified so that they work with verizon network signals or what not? I would certainly get the iPhone with Verizon Wireless. and from all the verizon users i know, not one has switched to att just for the iPhone. c’mon Apple, get with it next year.

  • Mike in NY

    Can’t wait to switch to the new iphone and AT&T. For way too long I have suffered from the very poor voice mail system verizon uses. It is really embarrassing when it takes days for a voice mail to reach me.

    Fortunately and unfortunately other Verizon customers understand the problem when I do not call them back for days.

    I am willing to lose coverage, for a better phone and hopefully better voice mail.

    My biggest concern was the battery life and it sound like that is fixed.

  • Mike in South Florida

    I hope that Apple and Verizon can get together. I went to Verizon in 2005 from At&t/cingular. It was the best change ever.

  • Mike in South Florida

    Hey Mike in NY,

    Did you try turning on your v.m. notifier?

  • liz

    I have Verizon and I’ve never had any problems with my voice mail. I love Verizon and don’t want to switch, but I am itching for an iphone. My contract is up next May, hopefully they’ll have the iphone by then, my blackberry curve just isn’t cutting it anymore and the storm just doesn’t interest me.

  • Ross in NY

    Mike in NY, are we using the same Verizon??

    I have never had any problems with voice mail or any other notifications from verizon such as sms or phone calls. Are you sure you are using your phone correctly?

  • rudy

    I just switched to AT&T just for the iPhone. I wish I would have waited because my signal with AT&T is not comparable to what I had with Verizon. It’s not terrible but I can’t call in every part of my house like I could with Verizon. Hopefully Verizon does get the iPhone and when my contract is up I will switch back… unless AT&T gets better coverage along the way. But I’m happy with the switch since the other features besides the phone make it so sweet. I use it on a daily basis checking email, using the GPS, using several of the apps I have installed, etc. So I’m still happy even though my coverage isn’t as great.

  • http://philbucks.com Phil Staudt

    Waiting for the Verizon iphone and looking forward to it. Hopefully everybody who owns the first version of over-priced AT+T iphones will help Apple make it better and cheaper by the time I get it through Verizon.

  • http://www.MonicaMingo.com CreoleInDC

    I’m with you. I won’t own an iPhone on AT&T’s network. Period. End of discussion. If it crosses over to Verizon I will stand in line in a snow storm to get mine.

  • CM

    Actually, it does happen. I have had it happen to me a once or twice…not such a big deal since I have been with Verizon for almost 10 years. But my husband has that happen to him much more frequently. Maybe once every two months. Just out of the blue his phone will notify him of a new VM, and they could be a week old. They usually show up in blocks of 4 or 5 messages. Not such a great thing when you rely on networking to get your next job in the movie industry.

    But we still won’t switch to AT&T for the iPhone.

  • Mark Pemburn

    I spoke with a Verizon representative last night and asked about their plans to offer the iPhone. He replied, “I don’t think we are going to offer it, at least not in the near future.” {sigh}

    The biggest issue is the network — Verizon is still largely CDMA and AT&T is using 3G. It would make sense for Verizon to leap-frog to 4G since that technology has already started rolling out (it’s now here in Baltimore and, I think, San Diego). That’s going to cost a *lot* of money to go nation-wide.

    The other thing you need to think about if you’re still mooning over the possibility of a Verizon iPhone is Verizon’s well-known tendency to deliberately cripple a phone’s capabilities so as to force user to buy services that use their network. They might limit things like connectivity to other devices (e.g., your PC or Mac). This has long been a source of frustration for users of sophisticated phones on the Verizon network — their phones can’t do what they *should* be able to do.

  • thomas sundermeier

    I switched from AT&T to Verizon 5 years ago, and I am glad I did. AT&T voice service really sucked, I always had dropped calls and other network related difficulties. I experienced all this in a major metropolitan area(NYC).

    I will never give AT&T any money. I pray every day that the iPhone will come to Verizon.

  • Kristin

    I am long-time Verizon customer and although I have wanted the iPhone for months…. I won’t drop Verizon to get it. Truly hope that Verizon gets to sell the phone next year!

  • Cheryl in NY

    I’ve always had Verizon and will not switch, everyone I know has Verizon, and aside from a few issues with not getting texts right away and not getting service in some towns, I’m perfectly content.

    If iphone comes to verizon I will get it in a second, I have an ipod touch currently and would love to have all the features of my verizon cell phone and ipod touch combined.

  • Steve in Annapolis

    I have a friend who has an iPhone for the apps, but carries a Verizon phone for calls. He was going to show me how the stock market was doing but couldn’t get a signal from ATT. I am like so many others; if iPhone was on the Verizon network, I would buy one immediately. If they stay with ATT, I will stay with Verizon.

  • Janice

    I, like everyone else, loves Verizon coverage. Problem is…. everyone keeps saying that they won’t ever leave Verizon because of it… this doesn’t give Verizon any reason to change their ways because they know even with bad phones we have to make calls, so we’re all stuck. Until Verizon starts to lose business and money, we’re all going to be stuck with whatever they give us. What needs to happen is to have lots of people say to Verizon – you have 1,3,6 months (whatever the timeline), fix it or we’re leaving even if it costs us and then have it happen. Pick a day to have a network of thousands and thousands of people to call in and cancel their service in one day and lock up their call centers with people actually cancelling service. Or, even just a call in to say I’ll be calling back in one week to cancel. But, they need to have some numbers showing them what will happen. Something needs to be done to get their attention. You know – like a national cancel your Verizon Wireless Service Day… every person that wants an iPhone call in and give them the deadline of when they will be cancelling. Maybe if they could put some numbers to it things would change…

  • Phil S

    I am in agreement with most of you, I want an Iphone (I have a touch and love it) but don’t want to go back to AT&T and their crappy network. I would gladly use my LG Voyager for target practice once I have an Iphone. How hard is it for Verizon to figure out that they would make millions on Iphone customers instead of trying to shove these iphone wannabe’s down our throats. Dim bulbs indeed.
    Regards
    Phil

  • Chuck K

    I recently switched from AT&T to Verizon due to poor, sometimes nonexistent reception in my home. I would love an I-Phone and can’t wait for Verizon to close the deal with Apple.

  • Algernon

    You are correct that the Verizon and AT&T employ two different technologies for their phones. Verizon is CDMA and AT&T is GSM. In order to make the iPhone compatible with Verizon, Apple would have to make a new iPhone that used CDMA technology. On your second point; I help people get their iPhones for a living (I’d say I sell them, but I don’t, they sell themselves) and have converted many Verizon customers over to AT&T because they want an iPhone. That said, I do speak with a number of customers who want it but just won’t give up Verizon, but the first group is larger.

    On as side note: The iPhone clones are not cutting it: I have had many customers come to me who were dissatisfied in the extreme with both their Blackberry Storms and Palm Pres.