Let the Games Begin: More Details Emerge on Verizon's iPhone Plans

Verizon has big plans for PDAPhones / Smartphones and the iPhone is a big part of that plan. In a Q&A at Verizon's earnings call on Monday, analysts learned that Verizon intends to take their penetration rate of PDAPhones to 50% this year. That is a lofty goal given that the 2010 share of these devices was 26%, up from 15% the year prior. Reaching 50% would show an accelerated growth rate and their goal of 11 million Verizon iPhones will help them get there if successful.

Verizon is pulling out all the stops for this one. In addition to its lineup of iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone 7, it is introducing aggressive marketing to sweeten the deal for potential converts. They have never let up attacking AT&T with their larger wireless footprint and higher user satisfaction with the network. With the coming of the iPhone, they are hitting AT&T again by offering an unlimited data plan for $30/month. AT&T recently started phasing out unlimited data plans on the iPhone following ongoing issues with network overloading since the iPhone's introduction several years ago. This is a bold move for Verizon, but with the competitor's iPhone just two weeks away, AT&T isn't taking it lying down. Reports today surfaced that AT&T is responding by privately offering iPhone users who had lost their unlimited plans an opportunity to get them back.

Verizon is also offering a Trade-In Program to entice potential subscribers to grab up a new Verizon iPhone. Under the program, a 16GB iPhone 4 from AT&T will get you a $212 credit. In addition, Verizon is also rolling out a new "Special Upgrade Offer" that will let existing customers trade in a Verizon phone they've recently purchased (between November 26, 2010 and January 10, 2011) for a Visa debit card ($200 for a smartphone trade-in, or $75 for a feature phone). Granted, most would opt to sell their used iPhone 4 for much more through Craiglist or Ebay, but it does show that Verizon intends to gain a significant share of the iPhone pie in 2011.

Competition is great and the thought that PDAPhones would make up the majority of mobile devices sold by Verizon is something that shows how far we've come. The iPhone competition between AT&T and Verizon is sure to get brutal during 2011, and this is not even considering the iPhone 5 which will be coming later in the year. The odd men out, Sprint and T-Mobile will be exploiting the lack of 4G to try and slow down the momentum of this battle. As we reported last week, T-Mobile has been running very clever ads that resemble Apple's long running "I'm a Mac" campaign, touting their network and value. This will be an exciting year and the biggest ever for the PDAPhone market, by a wide margin. The stakes are high because as mentioned in Verizon's earnings call, they fully understand the higher value of a PDAPhone subscriber that consumes much more data.