iLounge

Apple plans to announce a Verizon-compatible iPhone sometime before Valentine’s Day 2011, according to a new report. Citing “a person familiar with Apple’s plans who is not authorized to discuss them publicly,” Businessweek reports that neither Apple nor Verizon will be announcing the phone at next week’s 2011 CES in Las Vegas; it says the former is “likely” host a special press event to announce the device. The report notes that analysts estimate between one and six million AT&T customers will switch to Verizon once the latter is able to offer the iPhone, a move that on the large end could cost AT&T as much as $6 billion in lost annual revenue. Notably, the report also claims that by easing the cost of upgrading to the iPhone 4, AT&T got 15 of its 23 million iPhone subscribers to sign new two-year contracts, while hiking its early contract termination fees from $175 to $325.