Verizon iPhone Inventory Ramp?
By TheStreet ran a report from Rodman Renshaw which claimed that Apple appeared to be ramping inventory for a possible November launch for a Verizon version of the iPhone.
The Mac maker has also told its manufacturing partner Asustek to plan on starting full-scale production of a CDMA version of the iPhone to be available at Verizon as early as November, Kumar says. The report is yet another confirmation of Apple’s long-awaited Verizon iPhone, which still awaits final approval from the two companies that have not always seen eye-to-eye.
As continued troubled employee conditions develop at the current partnership with Foxconn/Hon Hai (current Apple manufacturer for GSM-based iPhones), many reports have pin pointed Austek as the possible manufacturer for a Verizon version.
If Verizon did get the iPhone this November, many indications and a recent survey of Verizon customers (17% said they would buy iPhone if it was available today), estimates that would have Apple producing over 40 million phones this year.
Despite the hopes of many users (myself included), that Apple might make a Verizon iPhone announcement at the WWDC conference in June, most will agree that such an announcement is unlikely and that AT&T’s recent iPad pricing for network access ensured that Verizon would not get its hands on the iPhone until 2011.
