Verizon iPhone Announcement Expected Jan 11

by Jordan Yerman | January 10, 2011 at 02:49 pm

1073 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Apple Stock Soars on Verizon iPhone 4 Buzz

We've all expected the iPhone to come to the Verizon network: the rumors have been flying around for nearly a year. Ahead of the 1/11/11 Verizon iPhone announcement, Apple's stock has shot up.

CDMA iPhone: Brave New World

A CDMA iPhone is an entirely new build, which gives Apple the chance to correct the antenna problem. However, there is no real expectation of an iPhone 5 at this point: it will be an iPhone 4, and won't take advantage of Verizon's 4G LTE network. Early adopters be warned: Apple has always announced new iPhone versions in June. iPhone plans come with two-year contracts. Do the math.

Hey, will Verizon be offering the so-far-phantom white iPhone? Our guess is no, but still. One can hope.

Color of the iPhone aside, Verizon will find itself staggering under a whole new level of network load as app-happy users take full advantage of their new toys' capabilities. Is Verizon ready to get slammed by the download deluge? We'll find out soon enough.

Investors’ reaction to the Verizon iPhone news is not all that surprising. Estimates vary widely, but analysts believe that Americans will buy between 5 million and 12 million Verizon iPhones this year.

Those sales will come at AT&T's expense, though: these new sales will be made to existing Verizon customers, or mobile users who want a more reliable network: American mobile phone subscribers have made their opinions on AT&T very clear.

What does this mean for the locked-down nature of the iPhone? as long as Verizon is the only CDMA provider and AT&T is the only GSM provider, then probably nothing. Subscriber numbers don't lie: iPhone users are mostly okay with their phones being locked to a particular netowork. Meanwhile, those who use data while roaming abroad have two choices: Jailbreak/unlock/void warranty, or Android/Palm/Crackberry.