Why The Verizon iPad Is A Very Good Sign For The Verizon iPhone — And The Future
And The Future — This morning, Apple issued a press release where the first word in the title was one many of us have been waiting years for: Verizon. No, they didn't announcing a version of the iPhone for Verizon's network.
Context & Ripple Effects
The question hanging over Apple since the original iPhone launch has been when its US carrier exclusivity would break. The pressure has built all year: Verizon's chief executive said publicly in April that he had told Apple of his interest in carrying the iPhone, and by May commentators were openly asking where the Verizon relationship was heading.
Today's answer stops short of the phone but lands the first confirmed blow: Apple has announced a Verizon-bundled iPad — sold at Verizon stores nationwide from October 28, paired with data plans up to 5GB for $50 via a bundled hotspot device. No Verizon iPhone was announced, but for the first time an Apple product ships under both US carriers' banners, and the pickup across Apple-focused outlets suggests the market read it exactly as a signal.
First-order effects
- Verizon retail gets a flagship Apple device on shelves this month without building one new network product, while AT&T's status as the sole US outlet for Apple hardware ends with the iPad.
- Buyers choosing between carriers now compare $50/5GB bundles against AT&T's existing iPad plans, turning Apple tablet sales into a live pricing test between the two networks.
Second-order effects
- A working Apple-Verizon retail and logistics relationship removes the practical excuse that kept the iPhone exclusive to AT&T — the remaining barrier is contractual and technical (CDMA), not operational.
- If the rumored CDMA chipset orders for an early-2011 iPhone prove out, AT&T faces losing its most powerful churn-prevention tool just as Verizon can market the same device to its base.
Third-order effects
- US smartphone distribution shifts from one-device-one-carrier exclusivity toward multi-carrier launches, weakening the deal structure that made the original iPhone a single-network phenomenon.
- Carriers begin competing on data-plan pricing and bundling for Apple hardware rather than on access itself, moving negotiating leverage back toward Apple as the platform owner.
The trend: Apple is dismantling single-carrier exclusivity in the US device by device, with the iPad partnership serving as the proving ground before any iPhone decision.