With Android rapidly on its way to becoming king of the smart phone world, Apple is upping its production of iPhones for the first quarter of the year, with many of those phones likely destined for Verizon Wireless.
Apple is increasing its planned shipments from 19 million phones to between 20 million and 21 million, Taiwan-based component suppliers tell DigiTimes of Taiwan.
Of that new total, between 5 million and 6 million phones will be CDMA iPhones, most of which are likely to run on Verizon's network (but could, technically, run on Sprint's). AT&T, the exclusive provider of the iPhone in the United States, uses GSM technology, as does T-Mobile.
"Global iPhone shipments in fourth-quarter 2010 are estimated at 15.5 million units, resulting in a total of 47 million units for the entire 2010, the sources indicated," according to DigiTimes.
Mind you, Verizon Wireless has yet to confirm the iPhone is coming, but several reports throughout this year indicate that in early 2011, the phone will make the debut at the nation's largest carrier. Some even think it will be announced next week, possibly at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, when Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg gives a keynote address.
Getting the iPhone out to Verizon Wireless — and to other providers — is crucial for its continued success. Android phones, which use Google's operating system, and are sold by all four major carriers in the U.S., became the second most-popular operating system worldwide, according to Gartner Research. (First was Nokia's Symbian.)
And at Verizon Wireless, Android is even decimating sales of BlackBerrys, the carrier's previously vaunted flagship products. Between 75 percent to 80 percent of the carrier's smart phone sales in the third quarter this year were Android phones, Gartner said.
