The same old rumor — unsourced as usual — dusted off and sold as new
Verizon (VZ) bucked a broad market decline and shot briefly into positive territory Tuesday afternoon.
The trigger?
A report on the Bloomberg business wire — citing two unnamed sources — that repeated what the
Wall Street Journal
reported nearly three months ago: that the iPhone is coming to Verizon next year, ending AT&T’s (T) exclusive hold on Apple’s (AAPL) smartphone.
The Journal’s story was also unsourced and actually offered more detail, including the name of the manufacturer (Pegatron Technology Corp.) and the wireless protocol to be used (CDMA, as opposed to the current phone’s GSM).
But that didn’t stop the tech press from picking up the story as if it were new and speculating about why it might have resurfaced at this time.
“We wouldn’t be surprised if this was Verizon’s doing in an attempt to get people to wait before upgrading to the iPhone 4 and extending their AT&T contracts another two years,” wrote Silicon Alley Insider‘s Dan Frommer. “The carrier has a history of leaked information during sensitive times for its competitors.”
No spokesperson for any of the companies involved would touch this story for love or money.
Verizon lost some territory in late trading and closed at $28.62, down $o.09 (0.31%). Apple lost $12.13 (4.52%) and AT&T was down $0.49 (1.96%) for the day.
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[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]