NEW YORK — You can stop asking, “When will Verizon get the iPhone?” One of the longest lock-ins in the technology business ended Tuesday when Verizon chief operating officer Lowell McAdam told a crowd of invited journalists and analysts that Verizon Wireless would begin selling its version of Apple’s iPhone 4 on Feb. 10.
Customers had been hoping for the news since not long after the iPhone’s debut as an AT&T exclusive in summer 2007. Few gadgets have been tied to a single service provider in one market for that long, and few have been as coveted as Apple’s smartphone.
Apple’s move breaks open a monopoly that had drawn criticism among consumer advocates, terminates AT&T’s most-favored-carrier status with the Cupertino, Calif., company and elevates Verizon as a new long-term partner for the maker of the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac computers.
“Today, two industry innovators are coming together to deliver something that consumers have been hungry for for years,” McAdam said as he opened the event.
Apple COO Tim Cook returned the compliment a few minutes later.
“We have enormous respect for the company this team has built and the hard-won loyalty they’ve won from their customers,” he said. “This is just the beginning of a great relationship between Apple and Verizon.”
AT&T has a great deal to lose, with published estimates putting its potential subscriber losses to Verizon as high as 5 million to 6 million over the next two years. Its spokesman put out a consistent message Tuesday: “For iPhone users who want the fastest speeds, the ability to talk and use apps at the same time, and unsurpassed global coverage, the only choice is AT&T.”
The arrival of the iPhone 4 on Verizon also resets the competitive equation between Apple’s mobile devices and smartphones running Google’s Android operating system.
Users who wanted a Web-capable device with access to thousands of add-on applications but did not want to sign up with AT&T have often gone with Android phones. Verizon pushed Google’s software especially hard. NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin estimated that 70 percent of the carrier’s third-quarter smartphone sales consisted of Android models.
But Rubin noted that Verizon is leaning on Android phones to launch its 4G — short for “fourth generation” — LTE mobile broadband service, while the iPhone 4 will be able to connect only to its much larger but slower 3G network. (Apple’s Cook said during the news conference that LTE support would “force some design compromises that we wouldn’t make” and would have delayed the iPhone’s arrival on Verizon.) Rubin also suggested that Android could get more support from an unexpected quarter.
“AT&T will dive into Android as they lose their iPhone exclusivity,” Rubin said.
Verizon, based in Basking Ridge, N.J., will start selling its version of the iPhone 4 on Feb. 10, although its current customers may pre-order it as of Feb. 3. A version with 16 gigabytes of storage will sell for $199.99 with a two-year service contract, and a 32-GB model will cost $299.99, almost exactly the same prices AT&T charges.
Would-be iPhone users on Verizon will need to sign up for a voice plan, starting at $39.99 a month, and data service, though the carrier isn’t saying what that will cost. Most of its smartphone users now pay $29.99 a month for unlimited data access.
The Verizon-Apple deal leaves open the possibility of the iPhone’s appearing on other carriers. Although Cook described the arrangement as “strategic” and running multiple years, he added that it’s nonexclusive.
Verizon-iPhone marriage: the particulars
Availability: Pre-order for Verizon iPhones is Feb. 3 for existing Verizon customers; for others, it begins Feb. 10.
Cost: $199.99 with a two-year contract for the 16- gigabyte version, $299.99 for the 32-gigabyte version — the same as AT&T’s pricing; data-plan prices still to come.
Network: Verizon uses CDMA technology, as opposed to the GSM technology used in existing iPhones.
Deal: Multiyear and nonexclusive.
Wall Street’s reaction: Verizon down 69 cents to $35.23 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading; AT&T down 55 cents to $27.79; Apple down $1.80 to $340.66 on the Nasdaq.
Sources: Denver Post news services
Smartphone market share
While Apple manufactures and maintains strict control over handsets that run its software, Google supplies Android to a range of phone-makers, placing it among industry giants:
33%
BlackBerry
26%
Android
25%
iPhone
