Wait, what? Are you saying that Verizon is given a final version of a mobile 18 months before it is sold? And what does the phone manufacturer do in the meantime?
And wouldn't that mean that on Verizon you would get the same phone that is sold on AT&T (or around the world) one year later? Or is the manufacturer supposed to wait one year after AT&T has approved it but Verizon hasn't, and cannot even sell it to AT&T?
Sorry, you seem to know what you are talking about, could you explain your point a bit better? Thanks.
1) Yes. Verizon gets them earlier than most, so I assume they get early builds that use more of the core network features - most of the testing done is network testing, E911 compliance, etc. They're not making sure 'Angry Birds' works.
There are direct relationships between the spend on QA and testing early in the process to the spend on customer support later.
2) Different large carriers typically get different phone variants. See, for instance, the Samsung Galaxy. In many cases, because of the CDMA/GSM issue, Verizon gets a wholly different phone than AT&T.
Each carrier has a different strategy and is looking for different things. Many carriers even have specific product managers for each carrier, ensuring the phone is in line w/ their unique requirements.
Because of their size and clout, Verizon gets theirs earlier than most (I think - not sure on this).
Exclusivity arrangements are negotiated between the OEM and the carrier. Generally you're working with lots of different SKUs that are relatively similar.
The iPhone turns most of this on its ear, in both a) there's one, and b) Apple is not good at working with other companies, because only one person at Apple's opinion matters. Verizon is also famously difficult to work with and used to dictating terms to partners, generally around making all of the mobile content 'V-Cast' this or that, and putting their logo on everything.
As you can see, there are conflicts. I imagine they've been working on them.
Oh, and as a side note, since I've moved out of San Francisco, I have had 0 problems with my iPhone.
corrections:
...on customer support later, so this is viewed as mission critical for reducing costs and increasing customer satisfaction. This is not a web app where you can do continuous deployment.
many OEMs have unique product managers for each carriers...
And wouldn't that mean that on Verizon you would get the same phone that is sold on AT&T (or around the world) one year later? Or is the manufacturer supposed to wait one year after AT&T has approved it but Verizon hasn't, and cannot even sell it to AT&T?
Sorry, you seem to know what you are talking about, could you explain your point a bit better? Thanks.