“A new report citing sources in the Taiwan handset supply chain says Apple has contracted to produce a UMTS/CDMA hybrid iPhone due in the third quarter of next year that will enable the company to sell a single global handset to all carriers, and specifically to Verizon Wireless in the US,” Prince McLean reports for AppleInsider.
“The report by OTR Global, provided to AppleInsider by an industry analyst, says the new ‘worldmode’ iPhone will gain compatibility with CDMA2000 networks (including Verizon’s US network, which is currently incompatible with existing iPhone models) while retaining compatibility with UMTS 3G networks globally using a new hybrid chip produced by Qualcomm,” McLean reports.
“According to OTR’s sources, Asustek subsidiary Pegatron will build the new hybrid phone devices for Apple rather than Hon Hai, the iPhone’s current manufacturer,” McLean reports. “This decision was reportedly made to prevent the company from being ‘constrained by a single-source assembler.'”
McLean reports, “The research note also identified the new phone as having a 2.8″ screen, which is significantly smaller than the current iPhone’s 3.5″ display.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn W.” for the heads up.]
Wow. What a bunch of ignoramuses.
You just can’t let go can you? You can’t tHInk DiffErent can you. You think you’re in lockstep with Steve Jobs but he’s already given his blessing to Apple’s road map to the future.
He’s not going to nit-pick how the work gets done.
I told you Verizon is getting an iPhone. Apple has closed the divide between two platforms once again.
All the naysayers have done is to prove they can’t tHInk DiffErent because they’re still waiting for retribution.
Within a year the iPhone will be on all carriers with models and plans starting for little more than a Benjamin.
Now the Blood Flood* can begin.
* It’s mine. I meant to use the trade mark symbol but my Touch is missing that keystroke.
@G4Dualie: Nice angry rant with little content. I see you didn’t bother to rebut any of the arguments as to why a CDMA iPhone would make no damn sense. I’m going to guess that’s because you can’t.
I’ll believe in a Verizon iPhone the day one is announced. Until then, all the evidence — from Verizon’s use of CDMA to their anti-iPhone Droid ads — points away from the possibility of a Verizon iPhone.
This is just as likely FUD designed to keep people from considering the Droid. Not that it’s really necessary, but maybe a Taiwanese manufacturer is a little nervous about future business.
——RM
@ G4Dualie
Everybody “thinks different”. The trick is to “think different” with intelligence.
This report is certainly suspect. The “smaller iPhone” rumor has already been shown to be false earlier this year, and as other commeters here have noted makes no sense anyway. So, you’d be foolish not to view this story with at least some skepticism.
P.S. The app you want is “Glyphboard”, which allows you to copy/paste the trademark symbol and other similar characters.
@G4Duallie
Sorry, it’s not Steve Jobs thinking but rather global marketing. Tell me are the Iphones sold in China CDMA? I don’t thinks so. Over 80% of the world market is GMS less that 20% CDMA. Why make a phone for 20% fof the Global Market?
Verizon will get the Iphone in a few years, when everyone converges on a single global standard. GSM + or whatever.
T-mobile will get the Iphone before Verizon does as they are already GSM. And T-mobile carries the Iphone in Germany. No technological leap for them other than more capacity and coverage.
@ Stiff Ballme
That’s a good one – Moto’s Froid.
Whether you meant it to sound like “fraud”, or were intending the French froide for cold, both are very funny.
Hey MDN, pick up on this one!
CDMA is dead end!
You think size matters? Resolution is the word of the day.
Qualcomms hybrid is a bridge not a doorway.
The trouble I think is you guys get locked into a paradigm and you won’t budge.
Hell would freeze over before Apple goes anywhere near Microsoft or windows!
Let’s review what you all said about that cannard.
As I see it, you’re all still looking for the puck.
This is business gentlemen, and anyone who doubts Apple is bringing the iPhone to every carrier on the planet, raise your hands!
Apple NEVER built their phone with a single carrier in mind. EVER!
They snickered under their breath when he said one percent. No one imagined for a moment that he’d ever be content with one percent.
Admit it, you’ve wondered how is he ever going to gain real traction or marketshare with a couple of SKUs and a single carrier?
Suddenly it was announced a deal has been made with several carriers outside the US, including two in Canada that are CDMA only, but they managed to bridge the gap between two competing technologies.
Your problem is you can’t find the real truth among the lies and false leads.
What if I told you there is no smaller phone? It matters not because you would carefully craft another obstacle.
Personally, I wish Apple would just licence the OS to the carrier and turn every smart phone on the planet into iPhones over night, but unfortunately there just aren’t enough of them yet.
Perhaps Apple is waiting for the manufacturers and carriers to obtain parity with the iPhone before the OS will provide the optimum experience across the board. Hopefully, multi-touch’s impact on the consumer will cause the handset makers to consider licensing the tech from Apple.
Either way, I say it’s simpler for Apple to invest in a hybrid chip as a temporary solution, pending the death of CDMA, rather than waiting for Verizon to drop CDMA or LTE.
You know, many of you live here but you’re always the last to know!
@grognard
Why make a phone for 20% fof the Global Market?
Indeed, why build a computer for 3 percent of the global market?
I was with Apple when their computer market share was probably as high as 90 percent of the global market in the late Seventies and early eighties and stayed when it shrunk to less than 3 percent.
Imagine the balls it took to continue making computers and charging twice what its competitors were charging for theirs! But more importantly, I and many like me, were still buying macs because we knew there was more to the story.
Coke/Pepsi LTE/GSM
@Robin
I see you didn’t bother to rebut any of the arguments as to why a CDMA iPhone would make no damn sense.
Bingo! I don’t suffer fools.
Breeze stumbled and Mac tony tripped over him, followed by driver.
Everyone focuses, nay, gets hung up on a single detail and immediately the entire topic is suspect.
captain kirk declares “Absolute hogwash!”
Some of you however, have kept an open mind about Verizon acquiring the phone even after discounting the idea of a new phone.
That’s all I’ve done, really. Is focusing on the HOW of it, not the why.
Would anyone here walk away from this experience just because Apple chooses to do business with Verizon?
And what do you care whether Apple manufacturers a phone capable of operating on CDMA or LTE anyway? How does this impact you and your life?
What, Apple couldn’t possibly make the transition seamless for developers? They INVENTED this! They are champions of the transition.
How many of you screamed and stomped your feet because Apple moved to OS X and dropped OS 9 support? Or from Moto to PPC?
How many of you left Apple because they went Intel? Or Microsoft?
The same people scoffing today are the same who could have never imagined Apple doing business with the devil.
I heard Jobs loud and clear at expo when he declared the war is over, and Microsoft won. That war was not the war to end all wars, get it?
Jobs just went ninja!
@G4Dualie
Get your facts straight…
“Suddenly it was announced a deal has been made with several carriers outside the US, including two in Canada that are CDMA only, but they managed to bridge the gap between two competing technologies.”
You haven’t been reading the reports, including the ones posted on this site. Bell Mobility and Telus have both been quickly and quietly upgrading their networks. I forget the name of the new technology they’ve used, but it is GSM compatible, and *THAT* is why they will start selling the iPhone. (In fact, Telus will start this month.)
Imagine how angry they’d be if they’d invested this much money to install a new network only to find out Apple changed its mind and is now making CDMA-compatible phones.
None of that makes sense, and your arguments don’t hold any water.
akido said,
iDon’t want to see the iPhone on Verizon’s network.
Why? Because you don’t want them to enjoy the same experience you receive from ATT?
In other words, you want to punish Verizon, right? Tell me I’m wrong and your reasons are more noble that I had imagined?
@ mr_matalino
iPhone nano maybe?
Thank you for invoking that image.
I remember when the boards kind of creamed themselves at the thought of an iPhone Nano. Then the idea was crushed by the naysayers. A nano would only pollute the waters, adding an additional phone to support.
Suddenly, the thought of another small phone, invokes the wrath of the myopic once again. Because they’re fixated on size. Never mind resolution independence.
Apple couldn’t build a smaller laptop because the optical drive was an insurmountable hurdle so what does Apple do, they removed it from the drawing board. And boom: Mac Book Air with an optional drive.
They dropped the floppy drive, the optical drive, and they won’t be happy until they can remove every impediment keeping them from putting a computer on my wrist!
@db
I don’t have any facts! No one does. You can’t even remember the name of the technology that enables Tellus to deploy the iPhone but the fact is they ARE going to get the phone and they ARE currently CDMA.
Besides the point I was making is that ATT doesn’t have exclusivity to the phone outside the US.
It wasn’t all that long ago when ATT was the ONLY carrier. Now how many are there?
@db
Let me get this straight, you were even part of the discussion nor have you said anything that hasn’t been said already, and instead of refuting what the author is saying, or injecting your thoughts on the matter, your first order of business is to whack me? What, like I’m some kind of troll?
Did I hit a nerve? Apparently, you speak for everyone here, is that it? Your loyalty is showing.
I’ll tell you what db, you defend them and I’ll defend Apple. K, cupcake?
@robin
This is just as likely FUD designed to keep people from considering the Droid.
If it is, its genius!
@lee
Sigh… the whole point of the platform (iPhone, iPod touch) is that there is one form factor for us and developers. This is obviously a bogus report.
Tell us, how does this impact you as a user or a developer?
Do you really think Apple would allow the app store to suddenly start stocking two different kinds of applications; one for the hybrid and one for 3G?
Aren’t they doing exactly that now with apps for 3GS and the first-gen SKUs?
Where’d everybody go? go go go echo echo echo
Oh, I see. You’ve moved on already.
Dismissed the idea of a Verizon iPhone. Just like you dismissed OS X, PPC, Intel procs, Windows on Mac, and wait for it… glossy screens.
I’m just sayin’
Verizon will get iPhone next year, followed by Sprint, and T-Mobile and the transition will be seamless for everyone, including the developers but here’s the real mayo; the developers are going to become filthy rich selling ninety-nine cent apps to world.
After that you’ll all return to doin’ what it was you were doin’ before Apple turned your heads. Phhffft
G4Dualie:
For a while there, it looked like you were having a conversation with yourself there. Isn’t there anything you could do on a Saturday afternoon…? Well, I’m here as well, so there.
I can see you really, really hope (and cross your fingers) for Verizon to be allowed to sell and iPhone. It won’t.
Hybrid CDMA/GSM chips have been available for a long time. Other handset makers have been making dual models of their phones forever (GMS and CDMA variant). Regardless of the grim future of CDMA and small global market share, it would be trivial for Apple to build CDMA. That is NOT it.
Apple is now receiving a MASSIVE subsidy from AT&T. No other carrier is paying $450 per device; the maximum subsidy for high-end smartphones is never more than $250. This subsidy is normally recovered over the period of 18-20 months. This is why carriers require two-year contracts; so that they can recover the subsidy from monthly plan payments. Once 18-20 months expire, you are allowed to get a new free phone (and extend the contract for two more years). With iPhone, AT&T cannot recover that subsidy during that two year contract. In order to get the extra $200, it takes another 15-18 months. Even though you are still only required two-year contract on an iPhone, the subsidy won’t be completely covered until after three years of use. This is because AT&T is the ONLY carrier in the US, and practically EVERY old iPhone where two year have expired will stay on AT&T (it has nowhere to go). Due to a different subsidy model on the EDGE iPhone, many of those have already recovered their subsidy (which was lower, due to the higher up-front price of $400). For the past year and a half, though, the iPhone’s retail up-front price was $200.
If Apple decided to extend iPhone to other carriers, AT&T would IMMEDIATELY have to drop that subsidy down to $250 or so. There would be no chance they would be willing to take the massive risk of customers bailing out immediately after two years and switching to another carrier (Verizon, T-Mobile, whichever). And as we know, dissatisfaction with AT&T isn’t all that trivial, so these numbers could potentially be huge, so they can’t afford that risk. Same would go for the other carrier; NOBODY would be able to risk the $450 subsidy, unless they require 3-4 year contracts.
Outside of US, iPhone is offered on multiple carriers in many countries. However, if you study their plans, it is clear that the carriers is subsidising the device heavily, locking the consumer in a long-term contract, or requiring an expensive monthly plan. There just ain’t such a thing as free lunch, and nobody would be getting it here via Verizon either.
Apple simply CANNOT afford to go with multiple carriers today, unless they are willing to cut their profit margin on an iPhone by some 60% (i.e. by $250 per device). The benefit of multiple carriers (possibly larger addressable market) is insignificant compared to the massive loss in profits it would have to absorb by so dramatically cutting that margin.
Until iPhone becomes significantly cheaper to make, there will be no Verizon (or T-Mobile, or Sprint) iPhone in the US. And CDMA has very little to do with it.
In other words, Apple has painted themselves in the corner with the current iPhone hardware platform and AT&T as a carrier. Until the paint dries, they’re stuck (and it might take years to dry…).
@Predrag
Okay then, there it is. You’ve put that canard to rest. No point in beating a dead horse, right?
CDMA is dead and LTE will die on the vine because Apple won’t support Verizon’s effort to offer an alternative to GSM. Perhaps that’s a better strategy, kill off LTE by ignoring it and side with the rest of the world to use a single platform like GSM.
Apple will get by without Verizon’s, Sprint’s and T-Mobiles business anyway.
I’ll let it go.
After all it’s just my opinion, supported without any facts whatsoever. I’ve been wrong before. Hell, I’m probably wrong about manufacturing in the US as well.
Thanks for taking the time to spell it out for me.
Hey Predrag, do us a favor and hit the lights on your way out.
Cheers!
Translating the story:
This message is from Verizon, but we don’t want anyone to know that, so we planted a rumor. Our real aim is to keep our customers from switching to AT&T;to get an iPhone (which they are now doing in droves), now that we fear the Droid is not an iPhone killer. So yes, our story is we’ll be getting the iPhone really soon! And we’ve added some details to make the story seem plausible. So there’s really no reason to consider switching to AT&T;. Really! We promise!
“Dualie”
Does that mean what I think it means? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
You fan boys crack me up. I remember how y’all pissed yer panties over the rumers that Apple was going to Intel procs. “Intel is the worst piece of crap in the world!” You remember, huh do ya?
Now yer prancin around all a twitter over the very idea that someone besides AT&T;might carry iPhones. Really, you guys crack me up.
@macerroneous
Probably not, but are you the same “50-year-old forum provocateur” who works in the medical field and who said this over in the MacWorld forums back in August of ’08?
Chipset shmipset
I’m just an idiot, but I don’t think Apple is leaving Intel just yet.