According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple will begin mass producing iPhones at the end of the year to be sold through Verizon Wireless. AT&T and Apple have had an exclusive deal since 2007, with the original iPhone, that will now come to an end. Apple is faced with competition from phones using Google's Android software and are responding with their new relationship with Verizon. Verizon Wireless has been a major marketer and carrier of phones using Google's software and, also, the largest U.S. carrier by subscribers. AT&T's deal with Apple fueled a large amount of growth for AT&T, but now that most AT&T users who desire the iPhone have already purchased it, Apple is forced to find new areas of growth.
Phones using Google's Android software have become very popular this year with subscriptions leaping to 10.9 million in August from 866,000 last year. This growth is larger than that of the iPhone which only grew to 13.5 million from 7.8 million just a year prior. Verizon and Apple have been meeting in order to test the network and assure that it can withstand the enormous amount of iPhone users. Still, the president of Verizon Communications Inc., Lowell McAdam, refuses to comment on the matter, yet he hints that he expects the companies to eventually work together.
As a Verizon Wireless user, this news is both expected yet exciting. This move is going to no doubt benefit both Apple and Verizon. Verizon is the biggest U.S. carrier by subscribers and, reportedly, a better network. Verizon and Apple teaming up could have an effect on the pricing of phones within the Verizon network, both the iPhone and any phone using Android software. It could turn out to be very beneficial to customers. On the other hand, the end of their deal with Apple will be detrimental to AT&T. It will be interesting to see the innovation that AT&T is forced to come up with in the next few years.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703735804575536191649347572.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews
ReplyDeleteAs a former Verizon customer who switched to AT&T just for the iPhone, this article was definitely of great interest to me. I follow this type of stuff personally and do genuinely enjoy technology. In fact, I hope to make a career out of it. As with all exclusive contracts, they eventually come to an end. While I have been equally as satisfied with both companies, I will admit that Verizon has better coverage domestically. With the possibility of the top two cell phone providers having the same device, as you stated it can only benefit the consumer. From a purely economic perspective, competition is beneficial. In addition, if you live in an area where one service delivers consistently better reception than the other, you now can enjoy your favorite device. The only point I have to add is that Verizon operates on a CDMA network which is used almost exclusively in the U.S. AT&T on the other hand uses GSM which is used globally meaning the phone that we know an love can be used all over the world. (provided you have a plan that allows for it) In the future I hope to see the android platform evolve to keep up with Apple so that consumers will be able to select the device that truly caters to their needs.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. I was a Verizon user for two years. And Verizon didnt have lots of different phone verities to chose from. The problem with Verizon was if you had a Verizon phone, you couldnt use any other phones. Unlike any other company were you could just insert the sim card to the unlocked phone and use it. Verizon for most of its phones doesnt have a sim card, so you could only use that phone. And when your done with it; you either throw it away or only a Verizon carrier could use it. Verizon last year did a deal almost like this deal, they had a contract with BlackBerry. I think this is a great idea, because Verizon users are the same as everyone else. They want the new phone in the market.
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