I was sorta peeved that Apple went with Cingular when they announced the iphone. To have it locked into a service provider that has bleh coverage and who I’ve heard nothing but problems from didn’t seem like an Apple thing. And then I read this:
Verizon Wireless could have been the first wireless carrier to offer the Apple iPhone, but the mobile carrier passed on the opportunity because Apple’s financial terms were too steep, Verizon said Monday.
Denny Strigl, president and chief operating officer of Verizon Communications, said the iPhone will help draw attention to the whole mobile-music movement, but he said he was glad Verizon passed on the opportunity. Verizon Wireless is jointly owned by Verizon Communications and the European wireless carrier Vodafone.
“The iPhone product is something we are happy we aren’t the first to market with,” he said during Verizon Communications’ fourth-quarter 2006 earnings call on Monday.
USA Today first reported Monday that Verizon Wireless had passed on the iPhone two years ago. One of the big sticking points for Verizon was the fact that Apple wanted control of the distribution of the product. Specifically, Apple only wanted to sell the iPhone through Verizon stores or the Apple retail stores, locking out other Verizon distributors such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy.
“We have great distribution partners nationally, regionally and locally,” said Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for the company. “And the deal they (Apple) wanted would have frozen out those partners. So we said, ‘No thanks, not under those conditions.’”
[Continue Reading at ZDNet]
OK… just brushing off the the fact they turnd Apple down so peeve. But it sounds like some of the issues where sorta like either Apple wanted too much money, or Verizon was being stingy. It also sounds sorta like Verizon is justifying it, as they said Apple refused to deal with Verizon resellars. But Walmart is also an Apple Reseller for their ipods. So I can’t see them totally refusing to sell them through Walmart.
I just hope Verizon sees the error of their ways once Cingulars version is a huge hit… or enough Verizon customers switch. (I like Verizons service better)
Tags: Apple, Interesting, Telephone, Wireless
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