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Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Oh, they have. Remember that the iPhone was originally offered through an exclusive deal with AT&T. I know folks who would have liked an iPhone, but wanted Verizon as their provider because of the broader service area. I believe that exclusive deal is ending. If Verizon can cut a deal with Apple, I think the analysts see a lot of iPhone users jumping ship when their AT&T contract runs out.
This is ultimately about market share for carriers, and popular cell phone models are tools to get share.
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Yes, it is. This explains why AT&T is suddenly getting all sorts of brand-new hardware on an exclusive basis such as the BB Torch and the upcoming Winphones. They're looking to bolster their offerings when they lose the iPhone exclusivity, which is supposed to be at the end of 2011 but Uncle Steve is makin' plans...
On that note: Other than a couple of misleading WSJ headlines and wishing really hard, what makes anyone so sure VZW has a lock on a CDMA iPhone? Sprint uses CDMA too. The WSJ article also says the new phone will use the latest cutting-edge network; yes, that could mean VZW's upcoming LTE but it could also mean Sprint's Clearwire-based 4G which has been around in some markets for about a year now. Sprint has maybe half the subscriber base of VZW but almost the same 3G coverage; they currently only have one halo phone (the excellent Evo 4G, 1st cousin to the Droid X) and thus be more likely than VZW to roll over in the event of a Steve Jobs tantrum. Reps for VZW at the CTIA+ show this last week said this whole thing is nothing more than the same rumor that goes around every few weeks. Thoughts?