The Rumors That Won’t Die! Verizon iPhone 4 in Production?
It’s becoming a bit like a B-movie monster that can’t be killed. We speak, of course, of the persistent rumors that a CDMA, Verizon-compatible iPhone is “coming soon.” But now, with only a week to go before the handset launches in the U.S. and a handful of international GSM carriers, a new report claims that a CDMA iPhone 4 is actually in production.
AppleInsider is reporting that not only does Apple indeed have a CDMA iPhone 4, but the handset is in production with a fourth quarter release this year. The news come courtesy of Taiwanese publication DigiTimes, who is reporting Thursday that Pegatron Technology has actually received orders from Apple for a CDMA iPhone 4, according to those ever-reliable industry sources.
"Pegatron will also start shipping a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 to Apple in the fourth quarter and is currently using its plants in Shanghai, China to produce the products, the sources noted," the report claims. "The company is also working on gaining orders for MacBooks and iPads from Apple."
Pegatron is a major Chinese manufacturer for a variety of consumer electronics, including both notebook and desktop computers as well as TV set-top boxes, cable modems, game consoles, LCD televisions, digital music players and e-book readers.
If this latest rumor sounds familiar, it’s because something similar was already reported back in March by The Wall Street Journal, who claimed that Apple was already hard at work on two variations of the iPhone 4 -- one for GSM carriers such as AT&T and most of the rest of the world, and a new model for CDMA carriers, who include both Verizon Wireless and Sprint here in the United States. The same WSJ report also named Pegatron as the manufacturer of the CDMA model.
DigiTimes reported last month that Pegatron had won the contract from Apple to produce a CDMA iPhone, prior to the device actually being announced on June 7 at WWDC 2010. Foxconn has built all of the previous iPhones, including the new iPhone 4, and also assembles Apple’s Mac mini, iPods and the iPad.
A CDMA iPhone is widely seen as being necessary for Apple to continue its smartphone dominance in the U.S., where the wireless market is fragmented into competing technologies. While T-Mobile is another GSM carrier here, their 3G service uses bandwidth that is incompatible with the existing iPhone, making them an unlikely partner until at least the next hardware refresh. That leaves only Verizon and Sprint (along with their subsidiaries), who are using the currently incompatible CDMA technology.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
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haam
June 18, 2010 at 7:41am
TWO.QUESTIONS...
1. What's wrong with your keyboard? No space bar or un-caps lock?
2. Why are you so much more believable than any rumor on the internet?
Rohardi
June 17, 2010 at 5:58pm
THER.IS.NO.VERIZON.IPHONE.COMMING.FOR.THE.FORSEEABLE.FUTURE.... DON'T BELIVE THE RUMORS.... THEY HAV BEEN GOING ON FOR 3 YEARS NOW AND IT JUST AINT HAPPENING.... THERE IS NO CDMA IPHONE ON ANY INTERNATIONAL CARIER. CDMA IS MAINLY USED IN THE U.S.A. WITH VERY LIMITED USAGE IN OTHER COUNTRIES WORLD WIDE....
christophsullivan
June 17, 2010 at 2:31pm
I'm not sure on this, but I've heard that the iPhone is on some CDMA networks internationally, meaning there is a version somewhere that can be used for CDMA. I'm not sure, I just overheard this. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
haam
June 17, 2010 at 12:13pm
"...regardless of what adobe says, none of this is a 'business decision'..." lmao
randoo53
June 17, 2010 at 9:48am
You didn't allow for the fact that there is a huge area that AT&T does not cover. Their ad showing how much area they cover is a huge lie. I live in the midwest and according to their map, we have coverage but I'm here to tell you now that NO ONE that has an iphone here can even keep a phone call connected. Don't even think about 3/4G services. I for one DO HOPE that this rumor is true so I can at least be part of the iphone experience. It may not be perfect (God knows AT&T sucks at this point), but at least I won't have to look at the competition for a smart phone. I've been holding off and will continue to do so for the rest of 2010. If nothing happens by then I guess I will be stuck looking around.
kiwi_nz
June 17, 2010 at 8:33am
You know something that comes to mind about these constant rumors and where they are coming from... Every time there is a new iPhone or product that AT&T is getting another rumor comes out that Verizon is getting the iPhone really soon. What people don't realize is the iPhone experience will not be perfect on the Verizon network as their 3G data speeds are slower than AT&T's. But I hear you all say, "But they will have 4G first"... and yes they will in a few markets but their 4G speeds will not be as fast as the faster 3G speeds that AT&T is rolling out.
So while yes Verizon has a wider network across the country, but for the sake of a dropped call from time to time I am happy to live with faster data services.
stevengu
June 17, 2010 at 8:02am
There have been so many rumors about the Verizon iPhone, and so far, not one of them came true. Steve Jobs has not revealed an iPhone for Verizon yet. As much as I would like to believe this rumor, I just can't, given the past trends. All I'm saying is, I'll believe when I see it.
scottybiggs
June 17, 2010 at 7:44am
If T-Mobile's network use of a different "bandwidth" makes them an unlikely partner wouldn't that make Verizon and Sprint even more unlikely??? And besides whatever happened to the exclusive contract between at&t and Apple?
k_squared2
June 17, 2010 at 7:10am
If only betting on sports were as easy as betting on hearing a Verizon iPhone rumor as launch day approaches. Go figure....
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