Today the Wall Street Journal published an article announcing that Apple has already started producing a CDMA model of the iPhone 4 terminal that it will officially launch at the beginning of next year. The article indicates that this new iPhone model could be produced specifically for the Verizon network in the US, but in reality Apple could produce it for sale on the rest of the CDMA networks in the world. In the USA, Apple has an exclusivity contract with AT&T for the sale of the iPhone 4 and it is not hard to believe that after so many years Apple will decide to give up the exclusivity to sell the iPhone 4 through another operator. Many Verizon customers can't wait for the iPhone 4 compatible with CDMA networks, so Apple would have a lot to gain from such a deal.
Apple Inc. plans to begin mass producing a new iPhone by the end of 2010 that would allow Verizon Wireless to sell the smartphone early next year, said people briefed by Apple.
The new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T Inc. but would be based on an alternative wireless technology called CDMA used by Verizon, these people said. The phone, for which Qualcomm Inc. is providing a key chip, is expected to be released in the first quarter of next year, according to the same people.
Separately, Apple is also developing a new iPhone model, said people briefed on the matter. One person familiar with the new iPhone plan said the fifth-generation iPhone will be a different form factor from those that are currently available. It was unclear how soon that version will be available to Verizon.
In Romanian, there are still CDMA only networks, but if Apple releases such a model of the iPhone 4, you will have to be very careful not to be deceived by those who bring them from abroad and could sell it to you as one compatible with the networks GSM. On the other hand, there were rumors that this new mode could solve the problem with the antenna, but I doubt that Apple could do such a thing because it would greatly upset many iPhone 4 owners.
