With the Windows Phone structure in hand, Verizon may be prepared to take its chance with Microsoft. Fran Shammo, Chief Financial Officer of Verizon, said that in light of the need of a third mobile platform in the market, he wholly supports Microsoft’s Windows Phone endeavour. The above statement emphasises the growing need for wireless network carriers to lessen their reliance on Android and iOS. Apple, particularly, has managed to get large support payments from carrier companies, leaving them with no option but to look to diversify in order to offset the huge subsidies they incur for the iPhone.
Microsoft and Nokia, who have been placing all their resources behind the launch of the Lumia 900, will immensely benefit from Verizon’s marketing superiority and huge subscriber base. Todd Rosenbluth, an equity analyst at Standard & Poor’s predicted the appearance of a Nokia model on the Verizon system very soon.
Shammo further stated that Verizon was integral in making Android the platform it is today through its Droid series, and believes it can repeat the same with Windows Phone mobile phones. Verizon, however, wasn’t with Android from the start. While T-Mobile USA’s G1 from HTC was the first carrier Android phone, Verizon’s partnership with Google and its marketing prowess brought success to the original Motorola Droid, and just like that, Android went mainstream. Even AT&T, when the on the verge of losing the distinctiveness of its iPhone, embraced Android.
These statements, however, have been made in the midst of mixed reactions to the Lumia 900; with sales of the device being quite strong in U.S.A. despite minor problems, while giving hardly any competition to iPhone and Android phones in Europe. Nokia reported an insubstantial first quarter, though it didn’t include the results of the Lumia 900 as the device was released in the present quarter.
Verizon executives told CNET that the company is going to wait and watch in the near future, as it has only a solitary Windows Phone in its line-up at the moment. AT&T’s early tryst with the Lumia 900 may ignite a spark, but the subsidies that Verizon pays to Apple to bring out the iPhone are more likely to drive them towards Windows Phone. The more iPhones Verizon retails, the greater slash it takes to its earnings, a phenomenon that affects all iPhone carriers alike. The company saw its earnings and revenue both go up in the first cycle of the year, partially due to a fall in iPhone sales. Truth clearly lies in Rosenbuth’s statement that a third set of devices will definitely help the carrier balance the subsidy losses.
