Both Verizon and AT&T are out with their quarterly numbers and while AT&T proved that it can thrive even after losing iPhone
exclusivity, Verizon showed that it on its way to repeat GSM iPhone success story with its CDMA model. However, financial numbers are not the only things which tumble out of these conference calls. The calls are generally full of juicy tidbits and in Verizon's case, the company CFO has once again ignited the 'World iPhone' rumor.
Not a long time back, we heard the rumors about iPhone with GSM and CDMA radios. The company executive was defending the decline in Verizon's average revenue per unit growth rate, when he let it slip that the new phone hitting the market "will also be a global device". This would mean that Apple does not need to manufacture two different type of iPhone and instead it would build just one phone which would work both on AT&T's GSM network and Verizon's CDMA network. So, now we can mark this particular rumor as 'semi-officially' authentic.
The move is likely to be more beneficial to Verizon than it would be for AT&T. GSM network already has more broad based support globally, while CDMA global network is not equally robust. This poses a big challenge when you go out of the US and all of a sudden you find your precious phone about as useful as a brick. The new iPhone is also expected to be 4G capable.
Earlier this year, when CDMA iPhone was launched, trade pundits pointed to the fact that it could not attract never-ending lines of frenzied fans outside of the stores. However, the latest numbers released by Verizon show that the phone is equally successful on CDMA network. Verizon reported 2.2 million activations during the quarter, while AT&T tallied 3.6 million iPhone activations. However, the point to remember is that Verizon achieved its number in almost half the time period. Verizon iPhone was launched in February 10th , when the third quarter was already half way over. Well, we just got to love the cascading effect, iPhone not only is filling not only Apple's coffers but is doing the same for carrier partners as well. Well done, iPhone!