While everybody outside of the US has been able to mix and match iPhone and wireless operator, the iPhone was still tied to a single carrier in the US. Today, Verizon and Apple announced the much-hyped Verizon iPhone 4. While the rest of the world collectively yawns, this is good news for American consumers, since there will be more competition, and thus, more choice. Edit: Eh, the other way around. First choice, then competition.
I have to say, I thoroughly enjoy the coverage of this. Summarised:
“VERIZON IPHONE FIRST HANDS-ON! IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS EVERY OTHER IPHONE 4! EXCEPT IT CAN’T CALL AND RECEIVE DATA AT THE SAME TIME! WE ARE SO EXCITED!”
“AT&T IPHONE 4 VS. VERIZON IPHONE 4: WHAT’S CHANGED? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.”
I didn’t even have to change this one:
“VERIZON’S IPHONE 4 HAS A CDMA-SPECIFIC ANTENNA, NO OTHER CHANGES MADE.”
As I said it: “STOP THE PRESSES: America has released a phone that can work on _two_, count them, two networks. What a marvel of cooperation.”
Are you kidding me?
They doubled the number of supported networks overnight.
Your move Europe.
Well, something big is happening you know…
No longer will Apple fanatics be able to invoke arguments of the form “Well, iOS’s market share is doing pretty well when you consider that only one carrier in the US is selling one single device featuring it”.
That’s HUGE !!!
(Well, in practice they’ll just truncate the sentence to “iOS’s market share is doing pretty well considering that only one device is featuring it”, but we can dream right ?)
Nice to see non Apple fanatics so fanatically comment about Apple.
I’ve got some things I like about Apple, and some things I don’t like. But the worst product Apple have ever delivered is by far platform evangelism.
I don’t really care what the market share is of the phone I use, nor the computer I use. I’ve never quite figured out why anyone else outside of market analysts and the companies themselves would care either.
Does it make you feel better knowing a lot of people use the same phone as you?
It doesn’t really matter who’s number one, but it does matter that a lot of other people use the same phone as you (or at least the same OS) because without the numbers, there will be fewer apps and fewer accessories. One of the main reasons to use the iPhone is the vast support for the music playing aspects in cars, audio equipment, etc. If it were a niche device, there wouldn’t be that benefit.
I think we’re beyond the point of caring though with the iPhone, no?
The fact that Android outsells and outnumbers iOS is of little consequence to iOS users at this point, which was the point I was making.
I agree completely. At this point, it’s pretty much an emotional response. On the one hand, I’d compare it to the “Go Team!” emotion that people have for their preferred sports team, but I’d say for long-time Apple fans it’s probably a bit deeper than that even. Having suffered for so long being adherents to a niche platform always under the heel of Microsoft’s domination, Mac fans have been enjoying a brief moment in the sunshine being on top with iOS. So losing the top spot stings a little.
If you really don’t care, then you’re simply not the target audience of this comment. No need to feel offended.
See John Gruber ? The kind of people who will try to follow and justify evry single move from Apple even when they are inconsistent ? Who would be able to defent Apple even when they’re advocating inconsistent user interfaces – which is the paramount of irony after all these years preaching usability and good design ? Do you imagine someone who’s able to follow such a blog and agree with it without feeling the slightest bit schizophrenic ? That’s the kind of people which I had in mind.
Edited 2011-01-12 06:17 UTC
Reminds me of something I read in Cracked. It was about political talk shows, but I think it applies.
What they should have done is released it in a special color. That seemed to work with iPods. I’m thinking Charteuse would have been good. Also, it should have just had one big button for dialing. Also, they could have advertised it as the “iCanHearYouNow” phone.
I’m switching to marketing!
CDMA-specific antenna doesn’t even make sense. UMTS (3G) is also CDMA-based. It sounds more like a new revision of the iPhone4, this time with the general antenna bug fixed.
Sites have been keeping this hype machine going on for about two years now.
If anything I’m happy about iPhone now being on Verizon so sites like Engadget, BoyGeniusReport, WSJ, etc.. can now stop generating articles about the rumored iPhone on Verizon that contain no real substance but exist only to generate page views for revenue.
If you love iOS then this gives you choice between 2 monopolistic service providers. I love Android but Verizon has been so damn pushy about shoving their bloatware crap on their phones lately that if I weren’t able to root my phone and remove such crap, I’d probably switch to iPhone just on the fact there’s no VCast shit on it (for now).
Hopefully someday LTE phones be allowed to work with any LTE network in the U.S. as long if you have a SIM card. Yes Verizon is using SIM cards on newer LTE phones.
Edited 2011-01-11 18:30 UTC
“If you love iOS then this gives you choice between 2 monopolistic service providers.”
Er…
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
– Inigo Montoya
I think he meant that the two carriers have monopolistic tendencies.
They are not monopolies, especially as sprint exists as well, but damn it if they are not trying to be.
Haha – yeah, I know what he/she meant
I think most companies, regardless of size or industry, or current market share within said industry, would jump at the opportunity to be in a “monopolistic position.”
It just seemed a little disingenuous to even bother using the term “monopolistic tendencies” – you might as well say “two large companies who each independently would love to dominate the industry they compete in”.
I’m definitely a he.
Gotcha – sorry, I didn’t want to make the assumption.
I hope I didn’t come across as a pedantic jerk re: the monopoly thing… As an Australian, I’ve had some experience with monopolist telcos.
Until the mid-1990’s, we basically only had one national carrier for landline/mobile – Telstra (originally government owned and just called Telecom Australia).
On paper, Australia now has 5 ‘national’ mobile carriers, but in reality Telstra still effectively owns the landline market (copper), and the lion’s share of the mobile market.
The other 4 players – Optus, Vodafone, Three and Virgin Mobile – are in reality only 2 players. Virgin Mobile is a wholly owned subsidiary of Optus down here (Sir Richard gets some nice licensing fees for the branding), and Voda and Three merged their Australian interests last year.
Fortunately, they all use the same 3G UMTS/WCDMA tech (mostly), and thus all carry the iPhone (and many Android-based handsets obviously).
They will all unlock the iPhone for you for a fee (Optus and Virgin don’t charge anything). In addition you can buy the iPhone unlocked directly from Apple – both online and in their bricks and mortar stores.
The interesting thing is the difference between the Australian smartphone market breakdown compared to the US, with regards to the whole iPhone versus Android schtick – it’s around 40-45% iPhone, versus 2-4% Android.
That’s with all carriers using the same network tech, all carriers willing to unlock handsets, and both iPhone and Android handsets readily available (legitimately) unlocked from manufacturers for a price…
Australia may be a much smaller market than the US (pop 20,000,000 vs 300,000,000), but our mobile phone uptake averages to something like 1.5 to 2 handsets per capita!
It’ll be really interesting to see what happens in the US when the big 4 carriers ALL carry the iPhone…
A completely non teckie work colleague went to get a new phone the other day. She went to Orange in the UK. They carry iPhone, Android and Win Phone 7. She came back with a Win Phone 7. Why? Sales guy. She was told “No, you should get this one over the iPhone because it is newer.” True. Subjective? At any rate, when this is the was average people make decisions, I’d say that the miniscule niche that we tech people live in is no real indication of which phone will do well. It’s all word of mouth, what your friends have and general public reception. That is why iPhone still creams most other smart phones in the city of London.
As a Tasmanian, I have found that despite Apple dominating in the past, and still having a far greater share of the smartphone market, things are rapidly moving towards android.
I have noticed that quite a large percentage of people now have smartphones, and seeing people with HTC Desires and Galaxy Ses is now commonplace, with maybe a quarter of the people I see with a smartphone sporting an android.
Anecdotal, I know, but when there are that many people using android that seeing them is commonplace, it should indicate a marketshare well above the single digits that you mentioned.
When iPhone 4 was released it didn’t have 4G while other phones out at the time did (Sprint’s Evo).
Now they come out with a Verizon version that is exactly the same which means its now even more behind.
Depends on how you define 4G:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/htc-evo-4g-is-sprints-android-po…
Given how casually ‘4G’ is thrown around, and the specifications for that said phone, I most certainly wouldn’t call it a 4G device any more than AT&T trying to claim that its HSDPA+ network is some how ‘4G’. Sorry, just because you really like the sound of 4G and slap it on anything you see fit it doesn’t change the fact that it isn’t 4G. The said device uses CDMA for its data and voice, it has the capacity to use wimax but it is still using CDMA 99% of the time for what it needs to do.
Not really an issue for me, since 4G (at least on Verizon) is ridiculously expensive, and 3g currently does everything I need it to do. If I can view Google Maps and stream Slacker radio (which I can on 3g), I’m pretty happy.
Considering 4G from ANY provider is nowhere near me and won’t be for awhile, count me out for giving a crap.
Wait, Verizon is CDMA? What is this 1997?
I read this somewhere but haven’t found confirmation so this info may be incorrect.
The first generation (or few) LTE phones on Verizon will be hybrid devices.
CDMA for voice + SMS
LTE for data
Not everyone around the world is able to “mix and match” as you put it. In Korea, Japan, China, and a number of other countries, including some in Europe, the iPhone is available on just one network.
Hopefully that will change there as well. But as for now, there are plenty of markets where it isn’t true, and people there are wishing it will come true.
Yes they use that old myth – “all markets other than America offer iPhone on multiple carriers” – to bolster their arguments about Android’s meteoric rise, just as they ignore the fact that there are many people who will never buy anything but a Motorola (or insert your preferred brand here) phone, or will only ever go with Vodafone (or insert your preferred carrier here), or conversely would never go with AT&T (or insert the sole iPhone carrier from your country here), or would never buy an Apple product, or that around 20% of Android users would prefer an iPhone (5 – 6% the other way around).
Generalisations and statistics can be used to prove whatever you want them to…
Yes, that’s correct. And you can see that I’ve already been marked down one point in that post by those who don’t want to read the truth. Android fanboys are much worse than iPhone fanboys.
So what? It obviously makes very little difference in sales.
I suspect the Verizon support is incidental to the market potential in Asia for a CDMA iPhone and the rising Android tide in those markets. I really couldn’t see Apple producing a model for Verizon alone, wouldn’t fit their MO.
The timing seems odd though. Refresh is coming up in 6 months, after waiting all these years, I’m surprised they didn’t hold off until the next product launch to bring Verizon into the fold. Seems to me they’re limiting launch appeal this late in the product cycle.
But then again, Apple’s sales are somewhat cyclical too, and typically drops towards and into Q2, so maybe this is an attempt to bolster those numbers heading into the product refresh. And I certainly can’t see them delaying the refresh to accommodate the Verizon launch.
Guess we’ll see.
In Canada, Rogers, Telus and Bell all have the iPhone.
And the two CDMA providers, Bell and Telus, made the intelligent business decision to install a HSPA network instead of being dependant on the CDMA network which meant less phone choices
I believe AT&T has been the worst rated wireless provider for something like 8 years straight now, Everybody think their service sucks. I think the i-phone was keeping their wireless business afloat. Now that the i-phone will no longer be exclusive to AT&T I would not be at all supprised if they take a big hit in revenues (especially since verizon is one of the top rated wireless providers in the US).