Comments on: Will Verizon’s iPhone Shake Up the Mobile Market? Not So Much.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 07:53:24 +0000

Minor point of the article (which was a good read), but I don’t think the next iPhone is going to be called the iPhone 4G. The next iPhone is the 5th iPhone. If they call ti the iPhone 4G, then in 2012 the next iPhone will be the iPhone 6, which will be odd because there was no iPhone 5x.

It made sense to call the 2nd iPhone the iPhone 3G because that was the lacking part. But then you couldn’t call the 3rd iPhone the iPhone 3 because then it seems like you’re leaving something off, so you call it the 3GS, and then you have the 4. The naming issue with the 3rd iPhone was that Apple had jumped to calling the 2nd iPhone something with the number 3 in it. 4G doesn’t jump the gun, it actually backtracks by calling the 5th iPhone something witht he number 4 in it. Apple isn’t going to do that.

By: Curtis Carmack

Curtis Carmack — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 20:44:10 +0000

Dwayne, I already asked AT&T about this late last year. The answer was that the minute you port your number out you’re done. Even if you want to keep the line, it’s a new contract. Doesn’t make much sense to me, but that’s what I was told.

By: Verizon iPhone: Should You Buy It Now? | Just For You

Verizon iPhone: Should You Buy It Now? | Just For You — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:28:19 +0000

[...] and writes, “Although it’s purely speculative, with some educated guesswork on my part, I expect a summer announcement of iPhone 4G, not iPhone 5.” And for that reason (plus 4 other reasons), Technolog recommends not buying the Verizon [...]

By: Dwayne Kilbourne

Dwayne Kilbourne — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 03:07:04 +0000

I also noticed that “non-exclusive” aspect of the agreement and hope that all carriers get to have the best of all platforms in the near future. This will allow the end users to (ultimately) win! I am a loyal Sprint user who has moved from Blackberry (World Edition) to Palm WebOS (Palm Pre) to Android 2.1 (Samsung Epic 4G with hopes of an upgrade to at least 2.2 Froyo in the very near future). Each offered great options and some disadvantages! Hence, I remain hopeful for the day wherein all customers have the option of all platform, no matter the carrier!

By: Dwayne Kilbourne

Dwayne Kilbourne — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 02:57:51 +0000

I am curious how many people will port over their numbers to Verizon and then potential (if it is possible) switch their phone numbers on their AT&T iPhone account, lower their plans (removing data, for example) and figure out a way to ride out the contract without having to pay such a large amount to terminate the contract.

By: Kriis

Kriis — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:17:50 +0000

“that is even more reason to spend $199 up front on the best phone in the world” But then nothing changes… Verizon has had Droid phones for over a year now, so people already had that option.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:26:25 +0000

“ditch their plastic Android phones”

Ouch!

By: Bob Shaw

Bob Shaw — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:39:41 +0000

Apple having waited 3.5 yrs to bring their iPhone to Verizon should have come to Verizon with iPhone with 4G even if it meant a delay of 6 months. The fact that smart phones with 4G are going to be available at Verizon at the time when iPhone with 3G will become available at Verizon will have some impact on the uptake of iPhone at Verizon. Finally one would expect that customers at Verizon who have waited so long for iPhone would rather wait few more months and get iPhone with 4G rather than purchase iPhone with 3G right now.

By: r00fus

r00fus — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:01:26 +0000

Very interesting, Gary.

Do you have any numbers or percentages to help me grok what you’re saying?

By: Gary

Gary — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:56:09 +0000

Thanks for reasonable balance Kevin.
You may want to compare this exclusivity change in the US to what happenned in Canada about a year ago. One of the large carriers had exclusivity for the first 2 years of iPhone products. The exclusivity ended last summer with new network builds and the iPhone 4 and subsequently there has been a re-balancing of net new adds. All three carriers offer iPhone and Android devices.
Very similar to the pending shift in the US and a similar social-economic.