Verizon: No iPhone “In Immediate Future”

Leander Kahney ()

Verizon spokesman John Johnson says the company will not have the iPhone any time soon.

“No plans to carry the iPhone in the immediate future,” he told Beet.TV. Instead, Johnson makes a plug for “incredible Android devices.”

The news has got to come as a disappointment to Verizon customers hoping to get their hands on Apple’s gear, as well as AT&T customers hoping to switch to what’s considered the best network in the U.S.

Verizon has been long rumored to get the iPhone, but those rumors now look like wishful thinking. Unless, of course, Verizon has taken to Apple’s tactic of denying interest in a product right up until they launch it.

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Via 9to5Mac.

14 comments »

About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in iPhone, News, Top stories |

  • http://www.grinningidiot.com JAYnLA

    In related news, I just cancelled my AT&T service an hour ago. I can’t tell you how good it feels.

  • William

    No!!!! I really wanted to leave AT&T. You do not know how bad I wanted to…

  • Patrick

    Who is this John Johnson guy? Why have we never heard of him before?

  • Brian

    He’s the director of corporate communication for VZW…

  • MarkByrn

    Having a Verizon MiFi and an iPad/iPhone, I can tell you that Verizon’s reliability is far superior than AT&T’s 3G, at least here in Central Florida. Having said that though, since WiMAX is coming here this summer, I’m going for cutting edge and getting a Sprint EVO 4G to replace the iPhone – it’s bye bye to AT&T and as long as Lord Jobs tethers his iPhone to AT&T, no amount of iPhone 4HD will convince me to stay with the platform.

  • 4phun

    By guys. I am hoping your departure from AT&T frees up more band width for me and my 3G iPad. I love streaming those Netflix movies day and night. I have one of the world’s thinnest and lightest portable movie players.

  • Musicofourheart

    No big whoop

  • http://www.free-trial-offer.com Thomas

    Well i guess i stick with at&t for now. might try out the test and keep a free 4G ive seen a little bit about to save a few dollars. If you havent seen it check it out at http://free-trial-offer.com/technology/62-iphone-4g

  • Paul

    For all those leaving… thanks for freeing up the bandwidth. I personally haven’t had a single problem with AT&T in the 3 years that I’ve been with them. Enjoy the sucking battery life on those Flash running Android phones especially the EVO 4G. I’m sure you’ll all be whining about that soon. I don’t think that there is a company or a device that can make some of you happy…ever!

  • Jamie B

    “theres not plans to carry the iphone in the immediate future” but, but, but…WAIT – we do have android! and its exciting! :D good try to save it thought :) not really the same however

  • Garrick

    I get it, Verizon. You don’t want to cannibalize sales of your current “hot” handset by encouraging people to wait for the CDMA iPhone.

    Have you considered that, by and large (& as you know), iPhone users are “phone loyal” vs “carrier loyal”? AT&T is currently scrambling to get every iPhone user into NEW 2 year contracts; they’re going so far as to accelerate “upgrade eligibility” for subsidizing the new iPhone this month. That’s a whole BUNCH of customers to lose for the next couple of years, Verizon.

    If we “would be” Verizon iPhone users don’t have some credible reason to believe that you have one coming soon (like THIS year), then there’s NO reason for us NOT to lock into another couple of years with AT&T.

    If you can’t talk about it due to some sort of NDA, then say so: “There some arrangements that we can’t discuss due to contractual obligations.”

  • PaullTT

    Verizon = NO DATA and VOICE at the same time! Sorry! New iPhone will be introduced in 4 days!

  • Um No

    Apple has said their exclusivity deal with AT&T is for 5 years, which puts it down the road a bit. Nothing to do with Verizon at this point, though I’m sure they’re kicking themselves for not taking the offer from Jobs when he offered it to them…

    AT&T has been worse than horrible here, despite not moving nearly as much data as Verizon. Frankly, putting the iPhone on AT&Fail is like buying a Ferrari and then taking its wheels off and putting it up on blocks in your front yard. Pretty to look at, but not very useful.

  • Drizzle

    Whew….thats awesome news! Verizon is better off selling “incredible” phones than subpar crippled ones.