It has been a rumor for a long time that Apple is considering a Verizon iPhone. And from the looks of things, it might come true as reports form the Wall Street Journal says that mass-production for this iPhone begins at the end of 2010, allowing Verizon to sell them the following year. More information after the cut.
The new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T Inc. but would be based on an alternative wireless technology called CDMA used by Verizon, these people said. The phone, for which Qualcomm Inc. is providing a key chip, is expected to be released in the first quarter of next year, according to the same people.
Along side that news is that Verizon is planning to launch their 4G LTE service next year. Currently, iPhones are GSM-based, thus, having no CDMA support -- Verizon's network technology. But, with the 4G LTE being GSM-aligned, Verizon will basically share the same network type with everyone. That's the idea, one iPhone for both kinds of networks.
Why the notion of an idea? The technology will have it's pioneer launch next year care of Verizon, and they're planning to cover 38 major cities in the US with it. AT&T, on the other hand, will have the 4G network ready by the middle of 2011, probably covering the same area by virtue of competition. This will create a coverage area that's pretty much limited. And we all know that new network technologies like this aren't so easily to adapt. Making an iPhone for LTE technology will be basically as stable as the network it supports, which can take a couple of years. For practicality's sake, the Verizon iPhone, should have adapted both CDMA and LTE.
Apple, on the other hand, has this "strategy" of being an early adapter to new technologies and easily dumping the old ones. However, this wasn't the case for the first iPhone as it didn't support 3G at the time. Credit goes to the fact that the 3G network of AT&T isn't ready yet from the flood of users that will eventually use the 3G network. Another issue is the iPhone itself. Data flowing at 3G speeds will quickly drain the phone's power source, making it even impractical during the day.
What's the best solutions to all these implications? CDMA. It's known that Apple has been developing CDMA-compatible models concurrent to their current ones. But if Verizon really wants to sell iPhones that bad, this might push through. Also, Apple is also reported to be in the process of developing a fifth-generation iPhone having a new form factor.
