App-tastic: Verizon Reportedly in Talks for iPhone

Apple looking to make a deal, report says

Want an iPhone, but don't want to leave Verizon? You may not have to.

Apple is apparently in talks to develop an iPhone for Verizon, according to USAToday.com, meaning that AT&T won't be the exclusive provider for the popular do-it-all phone.

AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights for the iPhone into next year, but the specifics of the deal aren't known, USAToday.com reported.

Why would Apple try to expand? Verizon has a large base of current cell phone subscribers that Apple could take a bit out of. And at the same time, Verizon can try to win back some of the customers it lost when AT&T became the exclusive provider.

Or, this might just be a ploy by Apple to get a better contract with AT&T, which by all accounts would want to keep the exclusivity deal, the Web site reported.

Should Verizon succeed, it would be a big loss for AT&T, says Roger Entner, head of telecom research for Nielsen. "Breaking the (iPhone) exclusivity with AT&T is a huge thing," he says. "That would send shivers into AT&T's stock and senior leadership."

And then there are the new Google Android phones and the new BlackBerry Storms. Is Apple trying to snuff out any competition before it gets rolling?

But one thing is clear:  More competition should mean better prices for consumers.

Can you hear that?  That's the resounding cheer from current iPhone users unhappy with the cost of their current plans with AT&T...

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