2 hours into the first day of launch and Verizon has run out of its initial supply.  No numbers were disclosed but Verizon expects to sell 11 million units for 2011.  Verizon’s iPhone will be selling at retailers such as Apple stores, Best Buy, and some Wal-Marts on February 10 including 2,000 of its own stores.

Of course, with people jumping to Verizon, what will they do with that old AT&T iPhone?  Will people use it for a music player just like an iPod Touch?  Or will you sell it?  If a mass amount of people start selling, we could see the price of used iPhones drop significantly.  What will you be doing with your iPhone should you make the Verizon switch?

Getting ready for work today, I’m very amused by this comic found on p. 6 of the January 24, 2011 edition of ComputerWorld.  Talking with some co-workers, many are ready to jump ship from AT&T.  Verizon, which has an excellent network should be ready for the influx of traffic.   Learning from all of AT&T’s mistakes should and deploying later should help for a very successful launch.    Verizon launches its iPhone on February 10 with preorders for existing Verizon customers starting on February 3.  But if you are planning to make that switch so you can get a rate of $30 a month for unlimited data, you better do it soon as according to NetworkWorld:

Verizon’s McAdam said that the $30 unlimited data plan for the iPhone 4 would be a temporary offer, and that the company would, like its rival AT&T, shift to a more granular tiered pricing model soon.

"This is part of the play by Verizon to get customers to move to the iPhone quickly, and to give AT&T customers a reason to jump ship," Gold said. "It’s not a bad move."

Many believe that Verizon will raise the price of the unlimited data plan to $120 a month.  Current Verizon rates are $15/month for 150MB and $30 for unlimited data with voice plans of $40 for 450 minutes and $69.99 for unlimited minutes.  Couple an iPhone with a service like Line2 for $10 a month or some other VoIP alternative and TextFree for unlimited texts and you have a potential winner – (Line2 I have not tried with a cellular network only my local WiFi but the results are mixed).  So for a potential $80 a month with a VoIP solution or $100 a month for unlimited data and voice (and with TextFree add unlimited texts)!  This deal seems perfect for the IT professional especially with the mobile hotspot where you can get internet linked out (hopefully without further charges from Verizon for tethering but extremely unlikely as they charge for Droid tethering at an extreme rate) to a machine when a client location doesn’t have internet yet.

I’m seriously considering getting an iPhone.  Right now I’m relying on my iPod Touch for everything such as banking deposits, VoIP, credit card processing, texting, Google Maps (load maps first and then leave WiFi area),  contacts, and scheduling.  With Verizon’s deal, I may just be enticed enough to switch carriers and go with an actual iPhone rather than my iPod Touch 4g.

Verizon Wireless is about to put a dent in AT&T ‘s profits.  AT&T is no longer the sole network provider for the iPhone.  Beginning February 3, 2011 some of Verizon’s customers can begin pre-ordering.  With the official launch date being available on February 10, the new iPhones will sell for $199.99 for a 16GB model while the 32GB model will go for $299.99 (both models at this price is with a 2 year agreement).  Getting stuff later gives Verizon a larger edge – seeing all the mistakes of AT&T and properly setting up their network for a potential doubling of their customer base.  The Verizon models of the iPhone will also have the ability to setup a personal hotspot allowing it to be a mobile router for up to 5 additional devices.  All in all, great things for Apple.  They make the iPhone and provide it to both carriers…so even though it’s a battle of the carriers, either way, Apple will profit.  For us consumers, it will mean more choice and better service with this new healthy competition.

Will we see the iPhone on Verizon..?

I know some of you that have been following my iPhone chronicles either here or at Gear Diary are likely wondering if I’ve lost my mind.  I mean, wasn’t it me who has been saying over and over again that a Verizon iPhone was never going to happen..?  Well, the answer is yes and no.

In my last note about this, I said that Verizon getting the iPhone was unlikely as long as the current version device stuck with its current radio.  Verizon uses a QUALCOMM designed CDMA-based chipset for its radio. There are very few countries that have carriers that use this type of radio – the US (Verizon), very small parts of Asia, and (I think) Indonesia/Australia, and that’s about it.  The rest of the world is on GSM.  So, until a "universal" chipset or network (like LTE) became available AND until Apple made use of that universal chipset, there would be no iPhone on ANY CDMA network, Verizon or otherwise.  This has more to do with the costs associated to reengineering and redesigning the entire device and Apple having to support two different devices than anything else.  Stevie J. just doesn’t do that. 

One phone to rule them all… and that kind of thing.

My good friend, Matt Miller has come out with a bit of a dissenting piece on this, given all the rumor mongering, and its worth a read. His point – Verizon has an awesome network (and they do; but  I think they’re expensive) and regardless of whether or not VzW has LTE, any kind of 4G, the VzW iPhone is white or not, whether you can surf and talk at the same time or not or even if they ARE very expensive, they are still going to sell a lot of iPhones.

Matt is dead on right about that.  They WOULD sell a lot of iPhones.  The question is whether the millions of iPhones they would sell would offset the costs associated with the redesign, retooling, extra manufacturing lines, support costs, etc. and generate enough profit for Apple to do it BEFORE LTE hits in wide distribution on Verizon.  My point has NEVER been that there will NEVER be an iPhone on Verizon, but that there wouldn’t be as long as Apple has to maintain more than one version. 

Tomorrow’s announcement should be interesting. I, for one, will be keeping close to the internets tomorrow, waiting for the news to hit. Like Matt, I am interested in answers to the following questions (I’ve paraphrased/modified the first two a bit.  The other two are Matt’s, simply quoted here):

• How many iPhones [does] Verizon [think they will really] sell?
• How many AT&T iPhone users [does] Verizon [think  will switch to their] iPhone?
• How well can Verizon’s network handle the iPhone [with/without LTE]?
• How much will a customer have to pay monthly for a Verizon iPhone?

Keep your peepers pinned people!  Tomorrow is going to be an INTERESTING day!

HTC Incredible

 Waiting can be oh so painful.  I ordered my HTC Incredible on Friday May 14, and I have about a 2 week wait for it to arrive.  At the very latest, it should be here by June 3.  When it comes to gadgets, I want my instant gratification…next day shipping…and my phone in my hand.  So, what could be holding up the shipment?  It seems that HTC has a shortage of the components that make up the Droid Incredible.  The main issue is the OLED display produced by Samsung Electronics.  I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed that they didn’t anticipate the demand.  Knowing the marketing world, being sold-out always sounds good, but that doesn’t help consumers.  On the positive side for Verizon, they sold 100,000 Incredibles in the first two days.  

Please Incredible Ship SOON!!!  I need a fabulous phone to compete with my honey’s iPhone!!!

Via Product-Review News