“Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. cellphone carrier, passed on the chance to be the exclusive distributor of the iPhone almost two years ago, balking at Apple’s rich financial terms and other demands,” Leslie Cauley reports for USA Today.
Cauley reports, “Among other things, Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, say over how and where iPhones could be sold and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, said Jim Gerace, a Verizon Wireless vice president. ‘We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn’t reach a deal that was mutually beneficial.'”
Cauley reports, “Verizon’s decision to pull the plug on talks sent Apple into the waiting arms of Cingular, which will be the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone. The multifunction device is expected to ship in June and cost about $500.”
“According to Verizon, Apple CEO Steve Jobs insisted that he have hard control over iPhone distribution,” Cauley reports. “The problem? While Apple and Verizon stores would have it, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and other Verizon distributors could have been left out.”
Cauley reports, “Cingular won’t talk about the financial terms or say how long its iPhone exclusivity lasts, but two people with direct knowledge of the deal say it’s a five-year contract. The exclusive is USA-only, leaving Apple free to market its iPhone globally.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
History will show that Verizon made a very big, very costly mistake. That they have a VP willing to explain all the details to a USA Today reporter only emphasizes Verizon’s general stupidity.
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