Everyone is expecting a Verizon/CDMA iPhone at some point in the future. However, even if the wireless carrier offered the Apple device it would be a “mixed blessing” Bank of America analyst David Lynch told investors Monday.
“While clearly accretive to market share in our view, it is not accretive to earnings, even assuming steady pricing, until 2013,” Barden writes.
In other words, although the iPhone would boost Verizon’s market share, it wouldn’t see any money from the deal until another three years, according to a “Cult of Mac” report (http://www.cultofmac.com/analyst-the-iphone-could-hurt-verizon-earnings/37777). The iPhone would cost Verizon $3.3 billion in 2011, $4.4 billion in 2012, and $5.2 billion in 2013, according to Barden. Additionally, the iPhone would drag down earnings $0.24 in 2011, $0.02 in 2012, before boosting Verizon’s earnings per share by $0.17 in 2013, he adds.
For AT&T, the analyst thinks the loss of exclusivity would have the opposite effect. The carrier would see the biggest benefit the first year — a $0.13 earnings-per-share jump -, then $0.11 in the second, and $0.08 the third year, he adds.
Last week Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said it’s up to Apple whether or not his company will carry the iPhone. But he said he’s amendable to the idea. The “Wall Street Journal” claims Apple is developing a new iPhone to debut this summer and also appears to be working on a model for Verizon Wireless.