Tuesday’s announcement Verizon will begin accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 4 only increases the pressure on Android, Apple’s biggest smartphone rival.
“This will put considerable pressure on Android which cannot be underestimated,” Shaw Wu, analyst at Kaufman Bros., wrote by e-mail. Although the announcement held little not already known, today’s announcement is “nonetheless big news as this doubles AAPL’s market opportunity here in the U.S.,” We added.
With the iPhone now on both Verizon (the largest U.S. wireless carrier) and AT&T (the second-largest U.S. carrier), Apple stands to gain access to 93 million subscribers, according to the analyst. However, the question of the impact on Verizon or AT&T isn’t the central question, Wu reasons.
“In our view, iPhone on Verizon Wireless will be the first true test for Android whether its share gains are real or just a temporary phenomenon due to weak competition from BlackBerry, Windows, webOS, Nokia, and others.”
The more interesting question “is how many Android users on Verizon Wireless decide to switch over to iPhone, now given a choice,” the analyst said.
