Verizon to Offer Palm Pre in Early 2010
I think this news, simply translated, means the iPhone won’t be announced on Verizon as soon as many hoped it would:
There is still no official word about when or if Verizon Wireless will ever get Apple’s iPhone, but the wireless operator has confirmed it will be getting the Palm Pre early next year.
The company’s chief operating officer, Denny Strigl, spilled the beans on the impending smartphone availability during a conference call with analysts and investors discussing the company’s second-quarter earnings on Monday. The Palm Pre, which was highly anticipated for several months, is currently only available on Sprint Nextel’s network.
Since Sprint and Verizon use the same underlying cell phone technology, it shouldn’t come as a huge shock that Verizon would be getting its own version of the Pre. But it’s somewhat surprising that the carrier will be getting the device so soon.
It’s not that surprising. With the analysis in that the Pre can’t offset Sprint’s mounting subscriber losses, the Pre needs to find high ground, and soon. Both Sprint and Verizon are CDMA networks, and Verizon is the best network going. The problem is that Verizon’s biggest knock that is that its phones suck, and the Pre is an instant vaccine to that ailment and a move that should make many Verizon customers happy. It’s a symbiotic fit.
The more I think about this, coupled with talk of a mothership, Verizon-controlled app store, the more I think the iPhone isn’t going to see Verizon until its LTE infrastructure is in place. If then.
If I’m wrong and Verizon gets the iPhone and the Pre next year, heads up on two counts. One, Verizon better hope its network is truly the most reliable around, because it’s going to see unprecedented data levels and demand from high-end smartphone customers. And two, heads up to AT&T, because it will see subscriber defections like there’s no tomorrow.
