Apple to make world-phone?
While the controversy over poor service from AT&T continues to swirl, Apple has said very little. Now rumors saying that Apple is planning to introduce a world-mode phone may end that silence.
Analysts and industry mavens have been asking for perhaps as long as two years why on Earth Apple selected AT&T to be its partner on the iPhone. Over the last year, these questions have intensified as Verizon and other wireless providers left AT&T in the technological dust. It has become almost reflexive. If you ask an iPhone user about problems with their phone, most will immediately begin to complain about AT&T coverage and service.
Now rumors are beginning to make the rounds that Apple is working on a so-called “world-phone,” a cell phone capable of using both CDMA and GSM/UMTS technologies, according to a PC World story. Such a phone would allow Apple to end their exclusive deal with AT&T and move to wireless providers with better networks, especially Verizon. Many pundits have been wondering what would happen if the iPhone (arguably the world’s best smartphone) was paired with Verizon (arguably the best U.S. cellular network). Some have answered that question by saying that Apple could double its handset sales.
Such a world-ready iPhone could also make life easier for Apple in ways other than quieting the complaints about AT&T service. An iPhone capable of both CDMA and GSM/UMTS connectivity could allow Apple to make a single handset for all of its markets, presumably lowering manufacturing complexity and costs. Simpler is generally better in these matters. And the move would, of course, allow Apple greater flexibility in how and through whom it chooses to sell worldwide, an equally impressive bonus.
One must believe that any single road that would lead to increased sales, greater flexibility, reduced manufacturing costs, and silencing customer complaints would be a road that Apple would be anxious to get onto. Sometimes, when a rumor is persistent enough and makes such good sense, it is very easy to believe. Such is the case with rumors that Apple would soon make a deal with Verizon, and the construction of a CDMA- and GSM/UMTS-capable world-phone could make that rumor stop smoking and catch fire.
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