Verizon iPhone Coming in Q3 2010? [Report Suggests that Hybrid UMTS/CDMA iPhone Is in the Making]

As you are already aware today, is a Droid day and the subject can’t be avoided. Even when talking about the competition’s intentions and actions these days everything seems to be related to the Droid, at least in the USA.

AT&T is rumored to launch an 8GB iPhone 3GS, T-Mobile is announcing Samsung Behold II announcements, Sprint promises Android 2.0 for the Hero, but what is Apple doing? Does Cupertino really care that much about the Droid or is the company going about its business undisturbed by all the Droid-related buzz in the air?

It would definitely be a mistake for Apple to ignore the Droid. If Motorola’s second Android handset is now the Android flagship phone for now, better Android smartphones will follow soon. That means the iPhone will have better and better adversaries. What would be Apple’s next move in this giant back-and-forth chess game that the mobile business can be? Apple has to continue upgrading its iPhone and launch a more and more competitive version every year. There’s no other alternative as Apple doesn’t have any other phones to sell.

And it looks like the next logical step is launching a hybrid UMTS/CDMA iPhone which could be sold by both AT&T and Verizon in the USA. Reports are coming in saying that Apple is definitely going to launch the Verizon iPhone in the third quarter of 2010. That’s consistent with what we heard before about the rumored iPhone LTE tested under Verizon colors.

The hybrid chip will come from Qualcomm and the iPhone will be compatible with both CDMA networks and with current UMTS 3G networks. The new builder of the Verizon iPhone seems to be Pegatron, an Asustek subsidiary.

The Verizon iPhone is reported to be a smaller version of the current iPhone 3GS which is pretty disturbing. The 2.8-inch iPhone will remind us about all the iPhone Mini talk we’ve seen earlier this year but one thing is certain. We definitely don’t want smaller iPhones, do we? Everyone else out there is making bigger and bigger touchscreen phones which would let us better enjoy surfing the web, using various apps and games, not to mention watching movies while on the go. Other features haven’t been leaked at this point so we’re looking forward to see what lies ahead.

These rumors have neither bee confirmed nor denied by Cupertino and we don’t expect Apple to reveal anything. But everything seems to be consistent with what’s happening around the world. iPhone exclusivities are being terminated and Apple is looking to other carriers to sell the iPhone for them. It’s the only possible approach if Apple wants to keep staying atop the smartphone business. Otherwise newcomers like the Droid could simply sweep us of our feet and make us choose the Android side.