Apple may begin offering a CDMA version of the iPhone branded to Verizon sometime in 2010, according to a report at USA Today.
Citing apocryphal “people familiar with the situation,” the report claims Verizon began talks with Apple prior to Steve Jobs’ health sabbatical and says conversations have continued in the ensuing months. The report comes in the wake of news reported earlier in the month regarding AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson’s efforts to extend his company’s exclusive US iPhone distribution deal through 2011.
Sunday’s USA Today story also flies in the face of recent comments made by Tim Cook, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, who has been in charge of the company’s day-to-day operations in Jobs’ absence.
Speaking last week during Apple’s quarterly earnings call, Cook dismissed the idea of producing a CDMA version of the iPhone, asserting that it has no future, because many CDMA carriers plan to adopt the same 4G standard that will soon be used on GSM networks.
Whether Verizon is successful in closing a deal with Apple for 2010 or not, it only stands to reason, especially in the light of how the iPhone saved AT&T’s financial bacon in 2008, that iPhone’s luster continues to grow.
Every rumor like the one trumpeted Sunday by USA Today serves to increase anticipation for a certain (thus far unannounced) Tuesday event in June or July at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters.
