iPhone from Verizon

Verizon iPhone rumor strikes 

again, courtesy,

Rumors concerning the possibility of the iPhone running on the Verizon Wireless network have struck the market again, thanks to a report published by Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

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Citing unnamed sources, WSJ claimed in a report published October 7 ( click here ) that Apple is gearing up to launch a CDMA-based iPhone in early 2011 on Verizon's network.

Incidentally, Bloomberg also carried a story earlier this year, saying a Verizon iPhone is in the offing and could hit stores as early as January 2011.

Other media also carried reports that the Verizon iPhone would come with a "fixed internal insulator on the antenna." The external antenna of the current iPhone 4 suffers from a design flaw, resulting in weak reception and causing sudden, dropped calls.

But WSJ goes a bit further and claims Pegatron Technology Corp., a contract manufacturer subsidiary of Taiwanese electronics giant Asustek Computer Inc. had won the contract to make the phone while Qualcomm is reportedly providing the CDMA chipset for the new phone.

Though the WSJ report could not be corroborated, market analysts said they would not be surprised to see the iPhone hit Verizon shelves.

According to Barclays Capital analyst James Ratcliffe, Verizon would stand to gain by having the iPhone in its smartphone line-up as the iPhone could boost the carrier's subscriber base by 900,000 in 2011.

Apple also stands to gain, according to Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi, as Verizon could add more than 10 million U.S. iPhone customers and help arrest the rapid adoption of devices that run on rival Android OS.

However, Lowell McAdam, president of Verizon Communications Inc., the company that runs Verizon Wireless jointly with Vodafone Plc., has refused to confirm or deny the rumors.

"These rumors roll out every few weeks whether there is a basis for it or not. We expect that at some point in time our business interests [with Apple] will align, and LTE is another great reason for a device like the iPhone or a tablet [on Verizon]. But we don't have anything to say about the timing of it right now," McAdam said during his keynote address at CTIA in San Francisco.

McAdam added that Verizon would unveil new products for Long Term Evolution or LTE network at Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2011 but refused to say whether it would include the iPhone.

However, LTE-enabled iPhone makes sense as Verizon's current CDMA network doesn't allow smartphone users to make calls and surf the Web simultaneously unlike AT&T's GSM network network.

Moreover, LTE is the fourth generation (4G) global wireless network standard that Verizon says will be capable of broadband-like speeds, which are about 10 times faster than 3G speeds.

Apple refused to comment on the matter.

(source:wsj.com)