In a note to clients — as reported by “AppleInsider” (http://www.appleinsider.com), J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz says the Verizon iPhone could carry a slightly higher price tag than the AT&T version when it’s announced on Tuesday (keep in mind that Apple hasn’t confirmed this).
In order to be compatible with Verizon’s network, the redesigned device must include an internal CDMA radio, which the analyst says is a more expensive component than the UMTS technology found in the current AT&T-compatible iPhone.
“The key differentiator is the cost of CDMA-related components,” Moskowitz says. “While the acquisition price of the iPhone could be slightly more expensive for subscribers on Verizon, we think that there will be offsets, specifically network performance … If Verizon can avoid network performance issues during and after a potential iPhone roll-out, then we expect a multi-year growth spurt in U.S. iPhone sales, as meaningful levels of AT&T iPhone subscribers could migrate to Verizon for improved performance.”
CDMA and GSM are the names of competing cellular phone standards. They’re about equal in the U.S. in terms of users, but overseas there’s only GSM other than a few places like Japan, India, and Korea. Out of the four national carriers in the U.S., two — Sprint and Verizon — use CDMA, the other two–AT&T and T-Mobile — use GSM.
Moskowitz also thinks Verizon will offer an unlimited data plan for iPhone customers. Earlier this year, before the iPhone 4 launched, AT&T halted new “unlimited” data plans, and new customers are capped at a maximum of 2GB of data per month.
— Dennis Sellers
