Is the Verizon iPhone Really Happening in Early 2011?

The Wall Street Journal is claiming that the Verizon iPhone is imminent. Again. They say that Apple will start mass production of a CDMA iPhone by the end of 2010, starting sales in early 2011. However, there's something weird here.

Originally, the Wall Street Journal vaguely reported this story early in the morning, but they have just updated the article explicitly stating that the Verizon iPhone is happening. However, they haven't changed a couple of points that raise a red flag.

First, the introduction date is weird. Apple always introduces their new iPhones in the middle of the year. It seems unlikely that Apple will break that yearly cycle trend, although you never know. Perhaps this new phone will be an exception.

Then, the WSJ claims that it will be a CDMA iPhone, even while Verizon's CEO Ivan Seidenberg specifically categorically told the WSJ that there will not be a CDMA iPhone in 2009. In fact, Seidenberg told the WSJ that, if the Verizon iPhone happens, it will be for theirnew 4G LTE network. Last month, Seidenberg said that the iPhone will not come in the near future.

But maybe Apple changed his mind and he just doesn't want to spoil the surprise. Perhaps the fabled Verizon iPhone will appear once and for all (hopefully, with a fixed antenna design). Perhaps the Wall Street Journal is right this time, but they really meant that the new iPhone will run on Verizon's newly deployed LTE network. Whatever it is, we will know in a few months.