It’s one of the most burning questions in the wireless world, and it keeps getting more fuel: Will the fastest-growing smartphone team up with the largest U.S. wireless network? Verizon Wireless is keeping quiet about the latest speculation from a Barclay Capital financial analyst that it will offer Apple’s iPhone early next year.
“We are not commenting on this,” Verizon Wireless spokesperson Brenda Raney told us.
But with the iPhone 4 rolling out on Thursday and more than half a million pre-orders, it seems less likely that Apple will turn away the potential benefits of access to a second major network. Currently, AT&T is the exclusive U.S. carrier.
A ChangeWave survey of 4,040 wireless consumers in March found that about a third of current Verizon users were somewhat likely to buy an iPhone if it was available from their carrier, while 19 percent were very likely to do so. By comparison, only 11 percent each of Sprint/Nextel and T-Mobile subscribers said they were very likely to buy an iPhone if available through their carriers.
Keeping quiet about pending changes is standard operating procedure, but there is plenty of fodder for speculators. Earlier this week Verizon Wireless CFO John Killian said the company is considering tiered data pricing because of an anticipated “data explosion,” which some see as a hint about data-hungry, app-laden iPhones on the Verizon horizon.
In late March, The Wall Street Journal cited Verizon sources as saying an iPhone that runs on CDMA was likely. That would make it compatible with the network used by Verizon and Sprint.
Barclay analyst James Ratcliffe, in his widely published note citing research on component manufacturers, predicted nine million iPhones will be sold by the end of 2011. He lowered his profit estimate for Verizon Wireless because of expected subsidies for the iPhone.
Clock Ticking For AT&T?
Another…