Rumors circulate that Verizon and Apple are talking about an iPhone deal
If the rumors are true, people who desire an iPhone on a network other than AT&T may soon get their wish fulfilled.
You would be hard pressed to find a company that has more rumors circulate about their every move than Apple. And, to be more specific, even harder pressed to find a more rumored about gadget than the iPhone. Just the other day there was talk that AT&T and Apple were in talks to extend the carrier’s iPhone exclusivity through 2011, but now there are rumors that Verizon may be trying to woo the Cupertino-based company into letting them in to the party also.
According to a report in USA Today, talks between Apple and Verizon began a few months ago while Steve Jobs was overseeing all operations at the company. With Mr. Jobs currently on medical leave for an undisclosed reason, sources close to the situation say that the talks have continued. The unnamed sources also say that the talk are of a “high-level” nature, but as with all rumors, Apple is refusing to officially comment that they are indeed happening.
While this would certainly put an end to the exclusivity that AT&T currently enjoys, it doesn’t mean that the phone would leave that carrier all together, it would just finally give consumers in the United States a choice in which network they used. Seeing as Verizon is partially owned by Vodafone, a company that Apple already enjoys a relationship with in Europe, and the carrier has 80 million subscribers in this country, it could be a massive windfall of new sales for them in the USA with a company they already like.
Verizon passed on the iPhone while it was in the development stages years ago due to Apple wanting too much control over pricing and marketing. That was when Apple finally talked, and struck a deal with, Cingular, that was bought up by AT&T after all the paperwork had already been signed.
The only loser in this scenario would be AT&T as they would lose their cache as being the only place you can get the much desired phone, but it would certainly be a win for Verizon and consumers at large.
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