At the moment, there are are two versions of the Apple iPhone 4 – a type of situation that Apple doesn’t really appreciate. Eventually, it seems that Apple will want to converge these into a singular device. Verizon’s CFO thinks that will occur with the iPhone 5.
CFO Fran Shammo, asked about the sluggishness of the company’s ARPU growth in Q1, when the iPhone was introduced – growth was just 2.2%, compared to 2.5% in Q4, remarked:
“The fluctuation, I believe, will come when a new device from Apple is launched, whenever that may be, and that we will be, on the first time, on equal footing with our competitors on a new phone hitting the market, which will also be a global device.”
If Shammo’s right, expect the lines to converge again in September, when Apple releases the iPhone 5, probably with a significantly different Antenna design.
