Prayers of millions of consumers have finally been answered. Fortune has confirmed that the Verizon iPhone will be released early in 2011.
The Verizon iPhone may not exist, but American’s have been consumed with the idea; wishing for it since Apple’s iPhone was launched in 2007. And with Verizon’s new deal to sell Apple’s iPad with a MiFi card, that works on their network, people began to anticipate what tech site Appolicious was the first to ask, “…are there bigger plans in the works?”
With analysts estimating that Apple could sell 8 to 9 million Verizon iPhones next year, Ivan Seidenberg,Verizon’s CEO, has built an empire that tech companies: Google, Microsoft and Apple, must find a way to partner with.
Though the iPhone remains in the shadow of secrecy sources say Verizon will sell its own version of the iPhone 4, which will work on Verizon’s CDMA-based 3G network. Though the first version of the phone probably won’t be built to work outside the U.S.
With Apple already serving 28% of the smartphone market on AT&T this deal with Verizon could easily grow that number to 50%!
So whether you’re a long-suffering Verizon customer or part of the 18% of AT&T iPhone users that would consider switching carriers (Credit Suisse), this news has everyone talking, and AT&T signing customers up for new, two-year contracts worried about defectors to Verizon.
