Five new questions that stem from Bloomberg's Verizon-iPhone report
For years, it's been one of the biggest questions in consumer tech: When will Verizon get the iPhone? And now that Bloomberg has answered that question - and we await confirmation from Apple and Verizon - consider the new questions to ponder on the heels of this latest according-to-sources report.
What might happen to AT&T's sales and subscriber numbers? Clearly, there have been people who weren't willing to switch to AT&T, so those are customers that AT&T wasn't going to get anyway. But there were also a fair amount of customers who switched solely to get their hands on an iPhone. Will AT&T suffer from a mass exodus of unhappy customers?
What would this do to AT&T's network quality? The worst thing that could happen to AT&T's network has already happened. Apple sold 1.7 million iPhone 4 devices in its first few days on the market, creating yet more strain on the network. If all iPhone sales stopped today and users even started to defect, one might think that the AT&T service would get better. Maybe?
What would this do to Apple's sales of the iPhone? A few months ago, Larry Dignan wrote that news of a Verizon iPhone would freeze all smartphone upgrades. If that's true, I suspect that would include iPhone upgrades, as well. So, maybe it's a good thing Apple beefed up sales of the iPhone 4 before news of a Verizon deal got out. AT&T will surely continue to sell iPhones between now and January, but they're also sure to lose sales as some potential customers hunker down and wait to get the phone they want on a better network.
What could this mean for Android adoption? That's a bit of a wild card now because Google has had some time to really make Android sparkle, while HTC and Motorola have pulled off some amazing designs for phones running Android. Consumers - myself included - have become fans of Android. But is Android strong enough to stay competitive on a Verizon store shelf next to the iPhone?
Can Verizon's phone really manage the demands of iPhone users or will it buckle the way that AT&T's did? If Bloomberg is right with its story, we'll know the answer to that question this time next year.