The Story
Google and Verizon are to hold a joint press conference today, during which the companies will announce a new partnership: Android phones are coming to Verizon. According to some other information, this means at least one handset as early as the second half of this month.
Procuring Android-powered phones for sale will finally give Verizon what many in the tech community consider to be a “real” smartphone. Right now, AT&T has the iPhone, T-Mobile has a few Android phones, and Sprint has the Palm Pre, though they’re slated to get their own Android phone soon. But Verizon only has BlackBerry phones, which are not exclusive products.
Verizon is coupling its new smartphones (which we will know more about later in the day) with a heavy 3G advertising campaign. The ads are aimed at convincing consumers that Verizon has the best 3G coverage, presumably in hopes to get people out of the AT&T-iPhone camp.
Verizon Needs This More Than You Think
Verizon may be the biggest carrier in the United States right now, but that could change very quickly if the company does not provide consumers with a good reason to keep with their services. And if AT&T’s growth in the last three years has taught us anything, it’s that customers can be made to care far more about cool phones than they do about the actual network.
In a way, getting some desirable Android phones is a way for Verizon to bandage a wound. It’s the nation’s biggest carrier, but it loses a lot of customers to AT&T and other companies because it still doesn’t have any phones that people care about. If someone’s contract with Verizon expires, and he wants something that’s not a BlackBerry, he’s going to abandon his old carrier. But given the option of an Android phone, maybe that person will stay on Verizon
