Apple Partners: iPhone to get Bang for its Buck with Verizon on the Horizon

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Apple has two new models of the iPhone up its sleeves, to be used on Verizon’s CDMA network. Until now, the iPhone has been running exclusively on AT&T’s GSM standard.

The launch could be seen as early as this summer, according to The WSJ.

Several Verizon spokespeople said the company is not talking anything about the rumor. Apple also could not be reached for comment.

The iPhone hasn’t had a seamless ride with AT&T in terms of service, and its users in high iPhone dense cities such as New York and San Francisco have complained of this issue.

Despite this, however, some Apple partners say the iPhone has been revolutionary in terms of mobile computing dynamics and thus Apple wants to extend its hit phone with as many potential customers as possible.

“Nobody seems to know how long AT&T exclusivity last, whether Apple is waiting for Verizon to build out their LTE network before offering the iPhone on their system or if they are exploring interim options,” said Nick Gold, senior account executive for Baltimore, Md.-based Chesapeake Systems.

“With that said, AT&T is obviously improving their current network, the main areas that had problems are getting fixed and nobody knows how well Verizon’s network would actually hold up under ‘iPhone-load.” Other Apple VARs suspect the company’s desire to expand the smash iPhone further propelled these rumors.

“While I suspect that the success of the iPhone that has resulted in quality concerns is a component, I think that the competition, primarily from Google, and the desire for greater market share are the main driving forces behind Apple’s decision,” said John Eaton, president of San Francisco-based solution provider Eaton & Associates.

He added it would be hard to believe that Apple would share an exclusive with AT&T forever, and doesn’t think either party can complain about their return on investment. “For Apple, it means they will probably sell more iPhones; for AT&T, they had better fix their underperforming infrastructure and address our (consumer’s) concerns or we will all vote with our feet,” Eaton said. “As for us iPhone users, I think this could result in a reduction in costs over time, and improved quality for all cell phone users as infrastructure investment increases.

Nonetheless, all of the possibilities are still just rumor, insists Michael Oh, president of Boston-based Apple reseller Tech Superpowers. He does however, realize tapping into Verizon would be a good play.

“It would obviously silence people who said the AT&T network is the Achilles’ heel of Apple’s strategy,” Oh said. “But there are potential downsides (such as) having two different model phones out there for two types of networks – Apple likes fewer SKUs.

“Verizon's network is better than AT&T’s because it doesn't have iPhone users clogging up the airwaves, but once they get the iPhone, they will have similar capacity issues, although one would guess they would be able to predict the usage better than AT&T did.”