Verizon predicted to offer iPhone in 2011
6/23/2010NEW YORK — Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile-phone carrier, is expected to begin selling Apple Inc.'s iPhone in early 2011, Barclays says.
Sales of the device could boost Verizon's subscribers by 900,000 for a total of 2.8 million, James Ratcliffe, a Barclays analyst, said in a research note yesterday. He said his forecast was based on research by Barclays semiconductor analysts on activity in that industry.
Verizon is battling AT&T Corp., the exclusive U.S. seller of the iPhone, for smart phone users willing to pay for mobile Internet access in addition to phone calls. The iPhone had the second-fastest growth worldwide among smart-phone platforms in the first quarter, trailing Google Inc.'s Android, according to Gartner Inc. of Stamford, Conn.