Report: Apple Orders 10 Million CDMA iPhones

[Paul Daniel Ash]

In the latest chapter of the "will-they-or-won't-they" saga surrounding a possible second carrier for the iPhone in the US, a Taiwan electronics industry publication is claiming that Apple has placed an order for ten million CDMA-compatible iPhones. Of the four major US carriers, AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM technology, while Verizon and Sprint's networks are on the CDMA standard. While rumors about a Verizon iPhone have been floating around for some time, the number of them has increased lately, and they've been getting more and more specific.

AppleInsider, among other sources, promises us that the report (which is behind a paywall and almost as unintelligible in Google Translate as in the original Chinese) says that Apple has chosen Pegatron, the contract manufacturing arm of electronics kaiju ASUSTek, to build the CDMA variant of the 4th generation iPhone. No one has questioned the assumption that the GSM model will continue to be manufactured by Foxconn, which has built every iPhone since it was introduced, as well as the iPod, iMac and Mac mini. The size of the order was placed at ten million, which would indicate that Apple feels secure it can sell that many phones to a second (or maybe a third) US carrier as well as in international markets. While GSM has a 72% market share worldwide, only 12% of all phones support the CDMA2000 standard.

DigiTimes has a hit-and-miss track record in terms of scoops. The Taiwanese website/dead-tree journal predicted that Apple would be going to AMD for its CPUs (false, at least so far) and that the iPad would have a model with an OLED screen. However, they did correctly predict the release date for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and got both the manufacturer and the delivery time of the iPad right. And its often-derided rumor about the iPhone shipping with both a 3.2 and a 5 megapixel camera is looking like it might be true as well. So you pretty much have to flip a coin with this one.

[Truckerbear]

Its about flipping time we get a CDMA iPhone. If this actually ever happens I will drop AT&T like a bad habit. I am tired of substandard service and absurd phone bills for said substandard service. When my iPhone is connected to WIFI its the most useful phone I could have. (Skype for phone) When its connected to AT&T its sucks! I use my Motorola Droid if I want cell service almost exclusively. Lets hope this is true!

[computid]

Cool, I look forward to CDMA iPhones, i wonder if they will also be GSM compatible and wether the 10 million phones in question are 3GS's or 4G's?

[aceplayer97]

Will they discontinue making iPhones for ATT if one comes to Verizon?

[BOB of Boise]

Yes! This is the most proof I've seen so far!

[bigorangekitty]

ahhh rumors... 2nd or 3rd party carriers are probably inevitable since apple is in the business of making money. However, I'll believe it when I actually see it.

[TheOrioles33]

Will they discontinue making iPhones for ATT if one comes to Verizon?

Are you nuts?

I'm happy with AT&T but would like to see the iPhone expand its horizons.

[chrodriguezmarydown]

dude if the iPhone goes CMDA i think AT&T will loose lots of customers

[ecd5000]

when it happens then ill believe. until then i say the chinese are spreading rumors

[johnr9412]

I think it should stay with and only with att. I hate verizon and everything about it! Have fun with your 3G speeds being the same speeds as att's edge

[adsonjustin]

Interesting...

[Luppin]

So Apple comes out and explicitely states that at&t exclusivity will last AT LEAST until 2012, but instead of reporting on that, we're still listening to the rumor mill.

Gj

[Pitbull2o08]

I thought Apple signed an extension on their exclusivity until next year?!

Well anyway, if this happens, it's only going to be good for us, if you guys decide to stay with ATT or go to Verizon, the price of paying the contract will go down with either one in order to compete with the other.

[jdm.accord]

So Apple comes out and explicitely states that at&t exclusivity will last AT LEAST until 2012, but instead of reporting on that, we're still listening to the rumor mill.

Gj

This. If Apple were to break that contract, AT&T would likely get a VERY hefty sum of money for a buyout or Apple would face a breach of contract suit.

And there are court documents as well as legal depositions stating the contract is thru 2012.

[The Maestro]

I hope it's true

[jih128]

i really hope this is real and for the 4g. ive been waiting for this news for a while now

[xxscaxx]

i dont get why people claim that verizons 3g speeds are that of edge. maybe its just your area, but i was playing with the new droid the other day at the verizon store, and its 3g was faster than my iphone on my wifi at my house with 100 signal strength. maybe im missing something, but edge is slow as balls. i dont even bother doing things on the internet when im stuck in edge. every place surrounding where i live is edge other than a few places.

[Darkflame]

I'd love to see how this plays out. Google fixing to ramp up it's android user base with the incredible and evo. I think apple sees this as their golden opportunity to outshine their golden eggs right after they hatch. The iPhone is an amazing device and is sorely needed on a network capable of serving it. AT&T has always been the Achillies heel for the Jesus phone. Lol

Apple will surely gain market dominance once it divorces AT&T. Until then I'll just take my iPad and blackberry evrywhere I go.

Something to consider though is that if the iPhone is headed to CDMA is does complicate things because will it be a CDMA/LTE version which will eventually comply with AT&Ts network upgrades? This puts it on verizon or will it go solo on sprints wimax network? CDMA is a battery drain in the technology itself. This is why apple probably avoided it like the plague. To see which side of CDMA they go with will be interesting. I'm thinking CDMA/LTE.

[jdm.accord]

i dont get why people claim that verizons 3g speeds are that of edge. maybe its just your area, but i was playing with the new droid the other day at the verizon store, and its 3g was faster than my iphone on my wifi at my house with 100 signal strength. maybe im missing something, but edge is slow as balls. i dont even bother doing things on the internet when im stuck in edge. every place surrounding where i live is edge other than a few places.

Independent testing has confirmed AT&T's 3G is significantly faster. And if you were in a Verizon store, the phone was on wifi, not 3G

[Darkflame]

i dont get why people claim that verizons 3g speeds are that of edge. maybe its just your area, but i was playing with the new droid the other day at the verizon store, and its 3g was faster than my iphone on my wifi at my house with 100 signal strength. maybe im missing something, but edge is slow as balls. i dont even bother doing things on the internet when im stuck in edge. every place surrounding where i live is edge other than a few places.

Never fall for what you see in the store. They have repeaters that tie directly into their networks that make all of their phones seem amazing. Once you leave the area you get down to real world usage. That's where you can see the networks true colors.

That's why whenever you go in to have your phone checked for dropped calls they tell you everything looks fine on their end. Hehehe