P.E.D. reports, “In any event, Wu is convinced that something is about to happen: ‘From our checks with industry and supply chain sources and a recent SEC 10-Q filing by AT&T mentioning that exclusivity with ‘”a number of attractive handsets’ could end, we have conviction that the iPhone could likely finally be at another carrier besides AT&T here in the U.S. in 2011 and potentially at Verizon in 2011 or 2012… We believe the argument for AAPL to pursue Verizon sooner than later is to address the growing presence of Android. What better way to do that than where Android has seen the majority of its success?'”
P.E.D. reports, “But, he adds: ‘From our understanding, the Verizon negotiations are not finalized with important details still being ironed out, including technology and economics. We think it is premature to rule out T-Mobile or Sprint (who also uses CDMA but WiMAX for 4G). In addition, there is the possibility of multiple U.S. carriers being signed.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: In the article, Elmer-Dewitt reports that Wu thinks “Android would likely be impacted more by iPhone being carried on Verizon than BlackBerry [because] the features sets are closer and Android phones are being positioned as ‘iPhone alternatives.'” In Wu’s view, “the BlackBerry demographic is different where customers prefer physical keyboards and messaging applications like email and Twitter are most important.”
He is correct that Android would take a bigger hit from an iPhone on Verizon (Android’s claim to fame is the toehold it’s been temporarily gifted in the U.S precisely because people want iPhones, but iPhone is stuck exclusively on AT&T), but that does not mean the news is good for RIM. BlackBerry is failing on its own with an antiquated OS and hardware festooned with mechanical plastic buttons. The vast majority of customers who think they prefer physical keyboards are luddites who’ve not yet spent more than five minutes with an iPhone. RIM’s BlackBerry can’t even compete with Android. RIM’s failure to buy Palm – their one real chance, however slim it may have been – remains as appalling to us as ever. RIM is a dead company walking regardless of whether iPhone comes to Verizon or not.