Verizon’s relationship with Apple was the subject of an interview with Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg on Businessweek.com. Seidenberg’s comments give pause to the claims that Verizon spurned Apple, but in retrospect, it’s really not that important.
[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]Seidenberg claims the decision to work initially with AT&T was Apple’s idea.
“We had good discussions with them, but it was clear to us that they weren’t looking to make a device for both sets of technologies,” said Seidenberg, who claimed that Apple’s negotiation with Verizon weren’t serious “because we were never in the running.”
Seidenberg’s comments would seem to temper rumors that have long persisted that Verizon was the one who turned away Apple.
The question of who spurned whom is largely irrelevant in the greater picture, however. Looking at it in hindsight, Apple’s strategy was sound. Verizon’s 3G network utilizes CDMA technology. EDGE and GSM technology used by AT&T was compatible with the cellular networks that operate throughout Europe and elsewhere.
At the time the iPhone was unveiled, Steve Jobs called it a “world phone” and said that it would operate in “80 percent of the world.” Apple was motivated to create a product that would work for as many potential customers as it could.
During the Verizon press conference in New York this past Tuesday, Tim Cook mentioned that Apple’s arrangement with Verizon is “non-exclusive,” which suggests that other CDMA carriers will soon be able to sell the iPhone to their customers.
Verizon remains AT&T’s biggest rival in the United States and has more than 90 million subscribers that Apple will soon be able to cater to. But outside of the United States, the CDMA market is smaller than GSM.
That’s not to discount CDMA out of hand, however. There are several hundred million CDMA handset users around the world. Apple’s ability to sell a CDMA iPhone 4 will certainly add to their bottom line in a significant way, both in the United States and abroad.
But there’s also little doubt in the end that Apple absolutely did the right thing by focusing their efforts on GSM technology first.
That’s the key. Apple picks up access to 90+ million customers in the U.S. on Verizon, but there’s also Sprint with tens of millions. And there are several countries with markets of millions or tens of millions that are CDMA only or have operating CDMA networks. This gives Apple nearly the whole world, except China, which wanted a Chinese-led standard, TD-SCDMA. There are GSM carriers, like Unicom, but I don’t believe LTE (or even HSPA) was approved for use in China.
“EDGE and GSM technology used by AT&T was compatible with the cellular networks that operate throughout Europe and elsewhere.”
— This doesn’t really help the argument. The GSM frequencies used outside the US are incompatible with the ones used here. The iPhone accomplished global roaming by virtue of being a Quad-band phone that supports both band-pairings of GSM. They could have just as easily released it on Verizon with two radios (GSM quad-band + CDMA), as is the case with many other phones carried by Verizon (any Verizon phone labeled a “World Phone” or “Global” has two radios).
> They could have just as easily released it on Verizon with two radios
I don’t think Apple is the kind of company that would release a product like that. The first versions of their products are focused and are not laden with features that most people will use. You can see it in the Verizon iPhone – by your reasoning, Apple should have just added a CDMA radio on the GSM iPhone.
Nice try, but no cigar.
This is very true. Here in Australia, you see iPhones everywhere and Android appears nonexistent. We have 4 carriers, all GSM compatible. It was the right move for us.
Right on the money with that Jason. Australia is now 100% GSM with our CDMA network almost(if not already) gone.
I know of 2 people out about 20-30 who have an android over an iPhone and that was an image choice(“I don’t want to be like everyone else with their iPhone”).