Bloomberg: iPhone On Verizon, January 2011

Tweet

Bloomberg is a respected media outlet when it comes to financial news and so this story should be taken seriously. They’re citing “two people familiar” with the situation that are saying that the iPhone will be on Verizon in January 2011. This would be huge.

The CMDA iPhone rumors are nothing new. Such rumors have been going around since the iPhone first came out in 2007. I think mostly because AT&T isn’t exactly the most popular carrier out there, and partially because there is some truth behind the rumors.

When Bloomberg went to Apple, Verizon Wireless and Verizon’s parent company for comment. Both Apple and Verizon Communications has no comment, while Verizon Wireless declined to return Bloomberg’s phone call (we know how that is). Previously at the D8 conference in San Francisco, a Verizon spokesman said that Verizon had no plans in the future to carry Apple products.

Would an iPhone on Verizon work? Verizon has been going heavily Android – with them licensing the ‘Droid’ name and trying to create a common branding around Android phones. Seems like they’re trying to promote Android as an alternative to the iPhone. Regardless, Verizon (like any company) loves money and if Apple offered them the iPhone, they’d surely take it – even if it meant somewhat cannibalizing their Droid line.

Not good for BlackBerry – if true. Their attempt at an “iPhone killer”, the BlackBerry Storm, is carried exclusively by Verizon. RIM’s stock dropped 6 percent on the day this came out – however the whole NASDAQ was down 3% – can’t really blame that solely on the Verizon news.

Analysts have said that Verizon would sell 3 million iPhones a quarter (3 months) if the iPhone was on Big Red. Some have also suggested that 40% of iPhone customers on AT&T would flock for Verizon if they carried the iPhone. Would you be one of them?