According to two nameless sources “familiar with the plans,” Verizon Wireless users will be able to switch to the Apple iPhone starting next year, finally ending AT&T‘s exclusive reign over the mobile product in the U.S. market, reports Bloomberg.
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam previously said they were building a high-speed fourth-generation network, and would reveal devices that employ the new technology at the Consumer Electronics Show this January. Assumedly, this is when the official announcement would be made.
The iPhone has been exclusively under AT&T’s hold in the U.S. since June 2007, when Apple and AT&T jointly announced the product launch. Numbering 92.8 million customers at the end of the first quarter, Verizon is currently the largest U.S. mobile phone company. As of May 2010, however, Verizon only captured 30% of the smartphone market, in comparison to AT&T’s 32%, 16.1% of which comprised iPhone sales.
Once Verizon begins offering the iPhone, UBS AG analyst John Hodulik estimates that 3 million could be purchased a quarter, giving the company a decent foothold in the smartphone market. “It’s hard to ignore the quality issues that AT&T has faced,” he said. I, for one, am constantly victim to such “quality issues,” and am beginning to regret my decision to switch from Verizon to AT&T.
A spokesperson for Verizon Wireless did not return Bloomberg’s call seeking comment, and spokespersons for both Apple and Verizon Communications Inc. declined to comment.
(via Bloomberg; title image via Technogasms)
