UPDATED 12:33 EDT / DECEMBER 06 2010

Verizon May Be Looking to Cut a Deal with Apple for iPhone

vzw It’s like shaking the Magic 8-ball, this article from Electronista mentions a lot of sources mentioning a possible deal between Verizon and Apple. Right now, the wireless carrier markets Android with a vengeance, perhaps as a response to AT&T exclusive embrace of the iPhone, but this might be changing. It would seem that Verizon wants in on that exclusive pie, and since they have a lot of subscribers to offer, Apple might just bite.

The speculation covers as follows,

Sources told Wu that Verizon doesn’t think the upcoming launch of BlackBerry 6 devices on its network will have a "material impact" on its sales, ruling it out as a savior. The researcher also believed that even Android was leading to a change of heart as its growth has lagged AT&T despite multiple high-profile devices from HTC and Motorola, giving Apple a larger bargaining chip.

The purported insiders also mentioned that Verizon considered the iPhone so important that it was hoping to prevent the iPhone from going to any additional carriers beyond itself and AT&T. No deal was known to be in place, but it might pay for a pseudo-exclusive that would prevent Sprint, T-Mobile and other smaller carriers from getting the iPhone for a set period. Apple might be willing to accept such a deal since the combined carriers would represent about two thirds of all US cellular users.

Indeed, with iPhone only barely caught up with Android in the marketplace, Apple does need some sort of killer edge to actually make their ploy for supremacy. How better to do that than make a deal with Verizon and pick up two-thirds of the entire wireless subscriber base combined with AT&T. Verizon would love to make sure that T-Mobile, Sprint, and others cannot rain on their parade and, if they can make their phone affordable, they’ll generate a lot of reasons for people to go with them.

Although, the article headlines itself with the suggestion that Android and Blackberry sales are “cooling”, it’s hard to tell why the analyst thinks this is so. Google just released Android 2.3/Gingerbread with the Nexus S, the Android has shown consistent popular momentum. With the introduction of this new phone and groundbreaking technology, Android doesn’t show many signs of slowing down. Perhaps the sources and analysts have access to statistics that we don’t?

If nothing else, a deal between Verizon and Apple would certainly help blunt the Android juggernaut in the U.S. market. iPhone has probably outgrown it’s exclusivity with AT&T, especially with how prevalent and easily marketable Android devices are.

Then again, we could always shake the Magic 8-ball and see what other sources have to say.


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