The Verizon iPhone is coming February 10 and some of the big questions are — who will leave the AT&T iPhone for the Verizon iPhone, and who will leave the Verizon Droid for the Verizon iPhone. More importantly, what will the next huge wave of Verizon feature phone upgraders choose?

AT&T’s reception, or the lack thereof in some areas, will certainly propel some current iPhone users to switch networks (our poll currently shows about 19% of TiPb readers are considering doing just that). Some wanted the iPhone badly enough that they tolerated a poor network experience for years but now that they have the choice they’ll switch to a network that better suits their needs as soon as contract and/or cash allow.

On the flip side some wanted the iPhone but just couldn’t or wouldn’t live with AT&T service in their area so stuck with Verizon and got BlackBerry Storms or, especially lately, Verizon Droids. I’m deliberately sticking to Droid and not Android because, like it or not, Android is not a mainstream brand. And no matter how much market metric companies like to graph it, it’s not a phone any consumer can buy. Droid is, in several models, and thanks to Verizon’s massive advertising campaign coupled with Google’s powerful software, it’s a phone that gained some mainstream mindshare.

(Samsung’s Galaxy S, while popular, has a fragmented brand with different names on every carrier so despite incredible sales it collectively doesn’t enjoy the same level of mainstream mindshare.)

No doubt many people bought Droids because they love Android. They’re probably the same people who know what Android is and specifically why it’s great at what it does. They also know Galaxy S and the other models. Many others just wanted a smartphone and Droid did — original, Pro, 2, Incredible, Bionic, etc. They went into the store and it was a brand they recognized thanks to Verizon’s advertising and, with the only other recognizable brand being BlackBerry, they probably picked one or the other (increasingly Droid based on the share numbers).

Now those same customers will walk in and see iPhone. Money Verizon used to spend on marketing Droid is now also being used to market iPhone on Verizon. Apple is also marketing iPhone on Verizon. AT&T will continue to market iPhone (Verizon and AT&T will be competing not just for users but for iPhone users and that benefits the iPhone brand). No one else is marketing Droid.

Some who previously bought BlackBerry Storm or Droid will switch to iPhone, also when cash and/or contract allows. Some will stay with both (productivity mavens and power users), but those who wanted the iPhone and couldn’t get it will switch when they can.

Existing smartphone users are also only the tip of the iceberg. The giant, ship-crushing base of the iceberg is feature phone users who either waited for the iPhone or see the iPhone as just another phone they’ll enjoy using (as opposed to other, more complicated even if more powerful smartphones). The partial migration of AT&T iPhone users and Verizon BlackBerry and Droid users is one thing. The inevitable migration of mainstream feature phone to mainstream smartphone users is another. Because right now iPhone is almost synonymous with mainstream smartphone.

Right now Verizon customers going into a Verizon store to get a new phone might recognize BlackBerry or Droid. Next month they absolutely will recognize iPhone. Just look at how Verizon is positioning it:

• iPhone is front and center on the Verizon home page
• Click on Verizon’s Phone menu and what choices do you get? iPhone, smartphone, feature phone.

Not only is iPhone listed first, Droid and BlackBerry aren’t listed at all. You have to dig for them. [Daring Fireball]

The number of Droid users — of all Android users — on Verizon today is small compared to the number of iPhone users on AT&T. Collectively, across all US networks, Android phones have numbers that equal or beat iPhone just on AT&T. [New York Times]

Next month iPhone will be on Verizon as well. How many will switch to iPhone from Droid? How many will switch to the Verizon iPhone as their first smartphone? No one knows for sure but the number will pass 1 million very quickly, probably in the first week, and several million, probably the first quarter.

Up until now the choice may have been iPhone on AT&T or Droid on Verizon. It also may have been iPhone on AT&T or no-iPhone on Verizon. We’ll find out which next month but my suspicion is Apple’s investment in brand will pay huge dividends and will be something other OS makers and manufacturers will have to start taking much more seriously.

Brand power — or was iPhone’s competition Android or no-iPhone? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Italian hacker Zibri went digging through iTunes and turned up some more hints that Apple just might be going with Qualcomm’s hybrid GSM/CDMA hybrid chipset for iPad 2 and iPhone 5.

In the picture above you see a “chunk” of code from the latest iTunes. Maybe, for the most of you, names like “partition.mbn” or “AMSS.MBN” means little or nothing. For me and a few others that means only one thing: QUALCOMM. Those files are the building blocks of any Qualcomm baseband.

So I can tell you that the next wave of iProducts will be using a QUALCOMM baseband. Which one I don’t know… maybe the iPad2, maybe the iPhone5 most probably all of them.

Our buddy Mickey Papillon broke news of the Qualcomm chipsets back at CES 2010 so it’ll be interesting to see if Apple finally pulls the trigger on them. It will be especially interesting to see if that means iPad 2 and iPhone 5 will be a dual-network releases, AT&T and Verizon in 2011?

[Zibri via AppleInsider]

More hints Apple is going with Qualcomm GSM/CDMA chipset for iPad 2, iPhone 5? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple has begun releasing beta versions of iOS 4.3, the next update for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and we’re here to take a look at its biggest and best new features. That’s right, Wi-Fi personal hotspot, multitasking gestures and the return of the orientation lock switch are the topics for this episode of TiPb TV!

The personal hotspot will ship with the Verizon iPhone but we don’t know how much they’ll charge for it yet. AT&T and other GSM iPhones should get it as well with iOS 4.3 but carriers may or may not support it and may charge for it if they do (like tethering now). Given what they charge for Mi-Fi already will it be worth it to you?

Multitasking gestures are just a developer preview right now and Apple has said they won’t actually ship for consumers any time soon. I have to admit they’re really fun but they might not be ready for prime time yet.

Rene thought Apple would never give us the orientation lock switch back. I thought they may just give us a choice. Guess what they’ve done? That’s right. This time choice wins!

Watch the video for the full tour and check out our complete iOS 4.3 walkthrough for detailed descriptions and screenshots. If you have any questions let us know!

TiPb TV 13: iOS 4.3 preview is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple’s iTunes App Store has hit 10 billion downloads. Launched alongside iPhone 3G in 2008 it’s grown to over 300,000 apps, with an install base of roughly 159 million iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices sold to date.

UPDATE: Apple has made it all official-like by announcing that Paper Glider was the magic app and Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, UK is the $10k iTunes gift card winner.

"With more than 10 billion apps downloaded in just two and a half years—a staggering seven billion apps in the last year alone—the App Store has surpassed our wildest dreams," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "The App Store has revolutionized how software is created, distributed, discovered and sold. While others try to copy the App Store, it continues to offer developers and customers the most innovative experience on the planet."

Apple also stated that have more than 350,000 apps including 60,000 iPad-specific apps, available in 90 countries.

Bummed you didn’t win? Hey, what would you have bought with $10k in iTunes bucks anyway?

[Apple PR]

UPDATED: Apple’s iTunes App Store reaches 10 billion downloads is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog