Who Benefits Most From The Verizon iPhone?

Image via CrunchBase

February 10 marks the fist day the iPhone will be available for Verizon subscribers. As the months go by and Apple nearly doubles its sales of the popular smart phone, I wonder who will be happiest from this long anticipated carrier addition:

1) Verizon - I read somewhere that Verizon will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in the first year for subsidizing the iPhone. I understand it's all about the long vision, but I know Verizon is holding their breath about their stock numbers and whether or not it was a good idea to include the iPhone in their lineup.

2) Apple - No doubt they will double their sales of the popular device and break into the Android market share, but I think they too are holding their breath a little. The iPhone may be the most popular smartphone on the planet, but it is not without it's flaws. The most popular problem is the antenna and the dropped calls. AT&T blamed Apple for the unreliable signal quality while Apple sat back and pointed the finger back. If the iPhone continues to drop calls on Verizon then Apple has a big problem on its hands.

3) Google - Android is a Google product, the biggest opponent to Apples iOS that runs the iPhone. I know Android phones are building market share at a surprising rate, but no doubt having the iPhone on Verizon will slow that increase. I liken this mobile race to that of Microsoft and Apple for the last 20 years. Apple focused on quality and design while Microsoft dominated most of the world with affordable products that everyone had access to in all shapes and sizes. I wonder if Google even cares about this Verizon/Apple partnership, further I wonder if Apple learned from it's mistakes with the Microsoft fight.

4) AT&T - These guys are probably giving a sigh of relief with the scores of people that plan to make the switch to Verizon, especially all those bitter people with terrible service in San Francisco. Still those people who are left over might see a bump in service with all the heavy users off the network. I heard AT&T has been working for years to build up their network from all the iPhone users, now they're poised to offer the best service in the U.S..

In the end the real winner will be the consumer. The battle for cheaper devices will bring the prices down along with the competition for cheaper and faster mobile Internet service. Consumers will read the online reviews and wait until summer when the next iPhone will debut. If it's a winner the eyes will be on the carriers, if it's a dog, Android will have the biggest smile.

Related articles

• AT&T May Lose 26% of iPhone Owners to Verizon, Survey Shows (pcworld.com)
• Verizon iPhone To Have Major Impact on Wireless Carriers (AAPL, VZ, VOD, T, S, DTEGY, GOOG) (247wallst.com)

Tablets At CES - Will They Bring Down the iPad?

The popularity of the iPad brought a slew of tablets hoping to get a piece of market share from Apple. Engaget has a great article including a comparison of the tablets featured at the Computer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Regardless of the manufacturer or features, one thing is fore certain, personal computing is about to make a big change.

Years ago personal computers were large and disconnected. Before the Internet sharing information was limited to a few kilobytes on floppy discs that had to be physically brought to the other person, the process was as slow as snail mail.

A few years later in the 1990's the Internet was born and file sharing became so much easier. We could email messages in moments and share images created by our new digital cameras. The problem was most people still found computers to be confusing and difficult to use.

Apple computers tried to make the process easier by creating the iMac computer, a more user-friendly device that wasn't prone to viral attacks or constant crashing. That computer ultimately came in the form of the iPad, a computer that is not about creating or managing content and more about consuming all that the Internet can offer in the form of text, video, and photos.

Now companies like Sony and Dell are working to become the #2 tablet maker with a host of features that might trump that of the iPad, but still has to match the incredible user interface that Apple developed.

My prediction? The race for tablets will be similar to the fight for smartphones. Apple creates a better product and makes calculated upgrades (with the exception of the latest iPhone 4). Other manufacturers  work hard to compete but they end up competing with themselves. In the end Apple's market share in the tablet market will decrease, but their sales will double what it was last year.