Apple's introduction of an iPhone for use on Verizon's network will come sometime after the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January, according to a person familiar with Apple's plans who is not authorized to discuss them publicly.
The article surmises that the blow to AT&T may not be as bad as suggested, mainly because most customers are either locked into a contract or will not want to go through the hassle of switching carriers.
Still, even if AT&T loses more than twice as many customers as Hodulik projects, the carrier will not suffer a fatal blow. If 6 million of its customers defect, the $6 billion in lost annual revenue would amount to about 10 percent of AT&T's wireless sales in 2011, according to UBS projections. The $6 billion would be 4.8 percent of its total projected sales of $126 billion in 2011.
Earlier this month, AT&T started moving up iPhone 4 eligibility dates for some customers in what was seen as an effort to lock down as many contracts as possible before Verizon gets the device.
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