Verizon hints at iPhone in cryptic tweet
updated 12:50 pm EST, Tue November 16, 2010
Verizon Twitter update alludes to iPhone
Verizon's careers Twitter account posted an unusual response to a user yesterday that may have hinted at iPhone plans. When a user asked if Verizon's iPad availability and a mention of "more to come" was a hint of an iPhone plan, the staffer manning the Verizon account replied only "yes that is the latest scoop." The message wasn't deleted and also wasn't followed up by commentary or corrections.
The post doesn't amount to an official statement but is unusual given the company's past public statements. At CTIA, wireless CEO Lowell McAdam was consciously evasive on the subject, not denying plans outright but also steering journalists towards Apple for any possible news. Verizon's iPad commercial may have been a significant clue as Apple let Verizon produce a TV ad itself, which it has never allowed for AT&T. The concession implied that Apple has gone beyond its usual insistence on control for the sake of getting Verizon deals that would most likely center on the iPhone.
Many sources, though unofficial, have now said that a Verizon iPhone is virtually certain for early 2011, likely timed to occur just after AT&T's exclusivity ends. Apple had once declared CDMA networks like Verizon's "dead" but has had to rethink the view both due to the time carriers need to switch to more universal 4G and the safe haven made for Android by the decision to limit the iPhone to GSM. Without an iPhone, Verizon has had to devote nearly all its marketing effort to Android and has highlighted phones like the Droid X that wouldn't have received as much attention otherwise.
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That was the hint that I was given for the arrival of "an" iPhone at Verizon. The hint was followed immediately by a question about my ability to leave AT&T at that time, and a heavy push to switch back ahead of time with a Droid phone...
This struck me a bit like Microsoft's hype campaigns to suppress potential customers buying competitor's software, way in advance of an actual release.
-- Len