There’s been a lot of noise lately about Verizon and the iPhone. Sure, some could be wishful thinking. Some could be to manipulate the ongoing Apple/AT&T negotiations. But could there be anything more to it?
We’ve heard rumors that an iPhone nano/lite/mini could be coming, and coming to Verizon alongside an iPhone-esque iTablet/iPad.
Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly, Scott Bourne claimed a Verizon insider contacted him and told him “Verizon is getting their own iPhone and the announcement will be in June”. Sound like a WWDC 2009 “one more thing” for the ages?
This follows on our friend Duvi letting us know about a rumor posted on the CrackBerry.com forums:
It is confirmed that iphone is coming to vzw…date? Very soon…there is a training for all emp on the internal training intranet website.
Could be smoke and no fire, or it could be Verizon finally warming up the iPhone BBQ, what do you think?
Daring Fireball posted a tremendous article about how Verizon, AT&T, and Apple benefit if the rumors about an iPhone Lite and iPad media tablet on Verizon are true-ish (Gruber also looks at Apple’s iPod strategy mapped to the iPhone — go read it now, I’ll wait).
What struck me, however, was how Verizon, AT&T, and Apple benefit from the rumors themselves rather than the actual devices and/or their eventual carriers, if any.
Apple is, according to a separate rumor, negotiating with AT&T to increase the length of their iPhone exclusivity agreement. AT&T’s last earning report showed just how important the iPhone was to their revenues, especially their new customer acquisition and premium service charges. This puts them at a distinct disadvantage with Apple, who could theoretically — if inconveniently — re-engineer the iPhone to work on any of the big 4 US carriers (CDMA for Verizon or Sprint, different GSM bands for T-Mobile). Rumors that Verizon is already talking to Apple, then, pushes AT&T over edge of disadvantage cliff. Obviously this is of great benefit to Apple.
Verizon had what could only be termed a lackluster launch of their so-called iPhone killer, the BlackBerry Storm. With AT&T likely getting yet another mainstream hero phone this year in the form of the 3rd generation iPhone. Sprint, the other CDMA carrier, is getting the less mainstream, but still geek-anticipated Palm Pre as their hot summer hero phone. Where does that leave Verizon? The BlackBerry Tour (”Niagara”) and various HTC Touch series Windows Phones which will — eventually — be upgradable to the profoundly incremental Windows Mobile 6.5. Great gear, perhaps, but not hero phones on the same level as the iPhone or even Palm Pre (or last year’s Android G1 launch on T-Mobile). Rumors that Verizon may (soon) get an iPhone of sorts, or iPad, however, give the perception of a hero phone coming to the network. This is a huge benefit to Verizon, and might even keep some users from switching to AT&T (or Sprint) this summer to get a real device.
Inversely, AT&T benefits not one bit from these rumors. They hurt AT&T’s negotiations with Apple and they may cost them some users who would have defected from Verizon.
We discussed this briefly last Wednesday on the iPhone Live! podcast, and no doubt others have made the same observation this week after reading the series of rumors (yes, even the one about the iPhone Lite actually being the Microsoft iPhone-Killer Pink). However, looking past the devices, it does seem like the rumors in and of themselves carry a hefty benefit for both Apple and Verizon.
Until the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks roll out in a couple years, that might be the closest we really get to seeing Apple and Verizon together.
Drop one tiny Verizon rumor pebble into the pond, and watch the iRipples spread like crazy. Cases in point:
Business Week (via MacRumors) is reporting that Apple will introduce two (2) new devices on Verizon this year:
- iPhone “Lite”, which would be thinner and cheaper than the iPhone proper due to the system on a chip technology Apple has been amassing lately (i.e. PA Semi, Arm and PowerVR licenses, etc).
- “Media Pad”, which would be smaller than an Amazon Kindle but with a larger screen and described as yet another breakthrough device on the scale of iPod or iPhone, with photos, HD movies, music, and Wi-Fi for — presumably browsing and — VoIP calls.
To further the rumor, one of these new toys may come as early as this summer. (WWDC time frame?)
We’re still not sure about any of this. iPhone did begin life as a larger, iTablet-like Safari Pad, and recently developer Craig Hokenberry made an interesting argument for a “Front Row To Go” pad that sounds similar.
Meanwhile, sucking the oxygen out of the lower-cost market is something Apple did with the iPod nano, however Apple has repeatedly said there’d be no iPhone nano (for whatever that’s worth…) but more importantly, unlike the GSM iPhone, a CDMA iPhone Lite or “Media Pad” wouldn’t enjoy the international portability of the iPhone (sure, “world phones” typically do some EDGE, but we’d want ultra-fast HSPA+, right?).
Just 2 years post launch, the GSM iPhone is in over 80 countries. The CDMA Amazon Kindle? Still just 1. Apples to oranges, we know, but it’s something to consider for “Media Pad” class devices.
Commercial Times is raising the bar on crazy rumors by claiming Apple will release not just one, not even two, but a whopping three new iPhones this summer.
First would be the next-generation iPhone previous rumors have pointed to, with beefed up processors and features like the camera.
Second would be a throwback of sorts to the original iPhone, dropping HSPA 3G in favor of EDGE 2.75G to lower costs and smash what little umbrella was left competitors.
Third would be a special version to support a CDMA carrier in China, allowing Apple to penetrate that last, largest of markets. (And with the mere mention of CDMA, cue baseless Verizon rumors in 3… 2… ) [Note: Chinese CDMA bands won't work on Verizon -- hence baseless]
While TiPb has been on the next-gen bandwagon as a long as anyone, I have to admit the other two I’m not as sure about. Even though I mentioned the possibility of an EDGE-again iPhone on Twitter this weekend, Sacha Segan from PCMag was quick to point out a problem: AT&T is cutting EDGE capacity in favor of 3G. And like Giz says in the link below, Apple’s never been a retro-embracing company…
Would anyone be interested in an uber-cheap (free on contract, low EDGE data plan) version of the iPhone? Or is it Next Gen or nothing? And could we see a world where people are smuggling CDMA iPhones out of China?!
[via Gizmodo via Slashphone]
This is not a drill! We finally have someone, likely with no actual knowledge of the engineering or design of the next gen iPhone, going on record as saying:
his sources indicate Apple is readying a new iPhone that will ship in June with an upgraded camera that could deliver big improvements to the iPhone experiences, including both still and video capabilities “with possibly another camera on the front for video chat.”
iChat on the iPhone has been a perennial favorite among rumormeisters before every new launch, real and imagined, just like iPhone nano speculation. Speaking of which…
Apple Insider’s coverage of Barclay’s Capital analyst Ben Reitzes’ predictions doesn’t stop there, of course, as we also get the prerequisite low end iPhone nano-ized rumors, the high end video iPhone Pro rumors.
Some of these are logical inferences, some are wishful thinking. We’re thinking — why let analysts have all the fun? What are you wishing for? Do we want Mobile iChat video? Could AT&T even support it in iPhone numbers? And if Apple isn’t going to fracture the platform with different screen sizes, are features a realistic way to differentiate their offerings?
Also touched on briefly during Apple’s Q1 conference call yesterday was the prospect of a low-end iPhone, and Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook was quick to dispel hopes of that (and of an iPhone nano?) as well (text via Macworld):
Tim: We’re not going to build a low-end voice phone. Our objective is not to be unit share leader, it’s to build the world’s best phone.
Interestingly, however, Apple is still pondering what to do about unsubsidized markets (where, unlike AT&T, the carriers don’t foot part of the phone cost, making it initially much more expensive for buyers):
Largest example is India. Sales less in non-subsidized markets, obviously. Huge market opportunities and will make adjustments in future to play in a stronger way.
So what does this mean? No iPhone nano or iPod with phone features bolted on, it seems. But how will Apple increase sales in those non-subsidized countries? a 4GB SKU? Or when the iPhone hits 32GB, will the 8GB become a special SKU for those markets? Maybe if we get an iPhone HD this summer, the 3G itself will become that SKU?
The again, Apple is famous for denying (even bashing) things until the moment they release them…
Our forums are weighing in, so head on over there and let us know what you think!
We’re still considering these iPhone nano rumors to be way over on the far side of fetched, by they just keep on keeping on, so here’s the latest (via MacRumors):
DigiTimes highlights a report from Taiwan’s Economic Daily News stating that two chip manufacturers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and United Microelectronics Corporation, are expected to receive chip orders for Apple’s rumored iPhone nano. The report states that orders would likely come in March, leading to a June release of the iPhone nano at the earliest. [...] Meanwhile, American Technology Research analyst Brian Marshall believes that the iPhone nano will not initially be launched in the United States.
Marshall (via International Business Times) bases this claim on no word of AT&T testing an iPhone nano, and then leaps to the speculation that China would be a likely place to the launch the new device.
Aiya.
We’re coming up on MacWorld awfully quick now (TiPb will be there, natch) and so the rumors are flying. Expectations have been decidedly lower than in years past due to the absence of his Steveness, but there’s one persistent rumor that just won’t go away: the iPhone Nano.
The universal response to these rumors has pretty much been “Meh.” Engadget wants to know what the deal is. Macrumors thinks that it’s just case makers riding Apple rumor coattails. Gizmodo doesn’t believe either.
The rumor won’t die, though, so: what if it were true? What would an iPhone Nano look like?
Read the rest of this entry »
Not to be outdone by the Apple media server rumors, the iPhone Nano rears its tiny mutant form again, this time on the website of case-maker Vaja. Does this add weight to the rumor, or simply volume? MacRumors rightly points out:
While it may be that Vaja is simply taking advantage of the hype surrounding the iPhone Nano, the rumors have been persistent over the past few weeks. While Apple does not give case manufacturers information about unreleased products, Apple must contract out to factories to manufacture their hardware. It is believed that it is through these contracts that case design specs are often leaked ahead of time. As we’ve said before, case manufacturers have a huge financial incentive to have cases ready in time for new product launches.
Macworld is only a week away (though even if the rumor is true (and we’re still not holding our breath) we may have to wait until Apple — and Steve Jobs — hold another special media event to know for sure.
Are you getting convinced yet? Or just tiring of the rumors?
Blurry off-angle photo? Check. Recycled tag line? Check. Recycled hero artwork? Check. Photoshop? Check.
Yes, folks, Jon4Lakers appears to have iPhone Nano fakes just in time for Macworld? And could it be from the same fine folks who brought us the fake Mac Mini poster?
Sure, case makers have made iPhone Nano rumors all the rage again, but just shrinking down the screen’s physical size making capacitive targets difficult for beefy fingers to hit doesn’t make much sense, does it?
With Apple, anything can happen, so the only question is, what’s more likely? Phil Schiller whipping out an iPhone nano at Macworld, or tons more fakes before he ultimately doesn’t?
(Thanks to Kurt Lyon for the tip!)
