In an interview with Beet.TV, Verizon spokesman John Johnson dashed the hopes of those who have been craving an iPhone but are unwilling to join AT&T, as well as the growing chorus of devoted iPhone enthusiasts who are unimpressed by AT&T’s network, when he recently said that Verizon has “no plans to carry the iPhone in the immediate future”.
The announcement is a blast of cold water after months- even years- of speculation that Verizon would soon host the Apple smartphone, although the wording is vague enough to still leave hope for a future migration for the iPhone.
Recent documents have shown that AT&T holds the exclusive rights to Apple’s phone until 2012, and although there are ways out of that contract- most of which involve paying AT&T huge amounts of money- Verizon might be willing to wait out the contract rather than pony up the cash needed.
So is this just more vague negotiations between Apple and Verizon through the press, or does is signify that Verizon is temporarily putting its courtship on hold? Other than the appeal of stealing a top phone away from a competitor and winning over some disgruntled AT&T users that are not thrilled with their provider’s network speeds, Verizon does not really need the iPhone.
Android based phones are currently outselling the iPhone, and Johnson gushed about the HTC Incredible, saying that it is “outperforming just about everything else out there.”
It is still possible- maybe even likely that the iPhone will one day reach Verizon, and the release of the 4G iPhone could speed up Verizon’s desire to win over Apple, but for now it appears that the dream of the iPhone on the Verizon network is dead. Or at least on indefinite hold.
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