While the first article this week was met with indifference and laughter from the fine folks who run the gadget blogosphere, a second analyst has now stated that T-Mobile is a prime candidate for the iPhone. I can appreciate the arguments that without Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint are the only logical choices, but those obvious facts aren’t what is truly important. The opportunity for consumer choice, and the removal of the iPhone from the mighty AT&T’s death grip is the real issue here and if T-Mobile gets the iPhone, great. If they do not, that’s just fine as well as any carrier will have inevitable success, but more importantly, consumers will have more choice. With all this in mind, our forums have proven to be a battleground for what is the finer OS, Android or iPhone? Even if you don’t fall into one of those corners, the argument sure is fun to watch.
All that being said, Kaufman Bros. analyst was the second this week to predict the iPhone possibly winding up on magenta. “While we believe VZ is likely inevitable at some point when 4G technology rolls out in 2012 or so, we believe Sprint and/or T-Mobile are more willing partners for Apple in helping maintain margins and customer controls,” he said. “From a technology perspective, we believe T-Mobile may have an advantage with a similar 3G UMTS/WCDMA network as AT&T.” Nothing is for certain and surely this will be met with a collective sigh from most of the blogosphere as just rumor mongering with no factual evidence and in that sense, they are absolutely right. Still, the iPhone on T-Mobile is a prospect that should be considered, regardless of whether or not it will drive Android fanboys crazy.