What will Verizon mean to Apple and iPhone?

After reading repeatedly in recent days what the Apple iPhone will mean to Verizon, this writer began to think about the obverse question (what Verizon means to Apple), with the following results.

One may as well think of something interesting on 1-11-11, and the question of what Verizon will mean to Apple is a fascinating one. We all know that Verizon will add million of users to its network (and balance sheet) now that the iPhone will be theirs, that the iPhone is expected to be better for Verizon than either RIM or Android, and that there are probably some Verizon network load issues to be put to bed, one way or the other. We know as well that AT&T, who is losing iPhone exclusivity, says it will not hurt them a bit, which we all also know is a crock.

But what about Apple in all of this? They already have the best-selling and most cherished smartphone, so what more can they expect out of this deal. Well, of course, they expect and will almost certainly get more of the same. Sales will go up by a few millions of handsets as all of those users who refused to go to AT&T rush or trickle into Verizon, depending on which scenario you subscribe to. That, of course, will translate into revenue to keep the Apple financial rocket climbing, making for better sales, revenue, and a further climb in their stock price.

It will also, slowly or otherwise, bring into the Apple fold some current Android users who really wanted an iPhone but would not leave Verizon to get one. It gives Apple a whole new (to Apple) technology to unleash on the world in the form of CDMA. And that technology should translate quite nicely into the same situation for the iPad, which will almost certainly follow suit into CDMA-land. It is very hard to see a downside for Apple, unless the unthinkable happens and the Verizon network folds under the pressure of the iPhone.

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