Analyst: CDMA iPhone Talk Aimed at Countering Android

If you’ve heard those rumors of Verizon selling the iPhone this summer, don’t hold your breath, suggests an analyst. The talk is just the latest gamesmanship by Apple in an attempt to throw Google’s Android phones off-stride.

Although Verizon’s 90 million customers would allow Apple to directly confront the growth of Android-based phones, there remains some major sticking points before any agreement between the Cupertino, Calif. company and the carrier are signed, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu told investors Wednesday.

Both Verizon and Apple seem customer control as a top priority. Among the areas Verizon would likely need to cede control is price. The carrier would likely need to pay up to triple the amount it provides other smartphone makers in order to offer the iPhone, Wu said. Such complications prompted Wu to join a chorus of other analysts expecting AT&T to retain exclusive U.S. iPhone sales for the rest of 2010.

A more likely scenario, if Apple does decide to produce an iPhone for a second U.S. carrier, is for the company to pick T-Mobile or Sprint, carriers both apt to agree to Cupertino’s requirements. Wu suggests T-Mobile would be the quickest route. Although the carrier’s 3G network uses a different 1700MHz spectrum, Apple could easily adapt it’s current iPhone.

Wu’s comments are just the latest appearing to raise doubts about a Wall Street Journal report that appeared Monday seeming to suggest Apple would produce two new iPhones, one CDMA-based for Verizon. Several analysts said a CDMA iPhone likely would first appear in China or Japan.

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[via AppleInsider]

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