Since the past few months, many blogs have reported that Apple is working on a CDMA iPhone which will launch with Verizon network early next year. Today, Fortune, in their report has further confirmed that Verizon iPhone is real and it will be available in U.S early next year. This report also consists of a lengthy profile of Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg and then it explains the history between Apple and Verizon.
The next step, the iPhone, remains shrouded in secrecy, and neither company will discuss it. But people familiar with its development say it is a fait accompli. Verizon, sources say, will sell its own version of the iPhone 4, which will work on Verizon’s CDMA-based 3G network. Unfortunately for globe trotters, the first version of the phone likely won’t be built to work outside the U.S. — it probably won’t carry a special chip that can turn it into a “world phone.”
The report mentions that Verizon had an opportunity to be the exclusive carrier of iPhone in US but they decided not to go for it because they don’t wanted to agree with the Apple’s deal in which Apple wanted to share revenue of from the monthly fees. This deal was later accepted by AT&T. So, after declining the Apple’s offer in 2005 , these two companies didn’t have any business relation for a long time. In 2007, these companies had some talks but at that time iPhone was already available in the market exclusively from AT&T.
Seidenberg broke the silence. In the spring of 2007, months before the iPhone launch, he secured an audience with Jobs at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., and asked, “Why are we in your doghouse here?” It turns out that for all of Verizon’s concerns about ceding control and sharing fees, Apple was wary of building a device for Verizon’s CDMA network because it didn’t use technology that allowed a phone to seamlessly operate around the world, as AT&T’s network does.
iPad is now available in Verizon stores with their MiFi devices which means that both these companies have started working together and because of this we can also expect that the chances of Verizon iPhone are high.
[via macrumors]
