Verizon Communications (VZ) Provides Smartphone Variety

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is nothing if not an open market for competition among smartphones. It has been a busy couple of days of announcements for the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., as the company announced that will carry several of the new models of smartphones and handsets carrying various operating systems – giving consumers plenty of options to choose from for their new smartphone.

The news recap for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) inventory of phones starts with Motorola Mobility, which launched its first smartphones as a subsidiary of Google Inc. (NSDAQ:GOOG) this week – the same day as Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) announced its new Lumia smartphones – and Motorola Mobility noted that it was not looking to have its RAZR phones sold anywhere other than Verizon for the time being. At least that was the word from Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside. His direct quote: “We have no plans to bring the Razr elsewhere.” Well, that’s not very clearly vague.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) then added a third operating system to its lineup when Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) was able to align its newly minted Lumia smartphones which will run the Windows Phone 8 operating system by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) with Verizon. The only other Windows phone that Verizon has had in its lineup was the HTC Trophy. For Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK), it marks the third wireless carrier to offer Nokia Lumia phones, joining No. 1 carrier AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and No. 4 T-Mobile USA.

The OS options kept coming for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), as it recently announced that it would offer at least one BlackBerry 10 device from Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) when that new OS launches, expected to be the first quarter of 2013.  Research in Motion has announced plans to launch two devices – one with a touchscreen and the other with a full QWERTY keyboard – with the speculation that Verizon will likely offer the touchscreen version at launch.

And of course, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) latched on to the iOS from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the Android from Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) from the early going, and the company plans to offer the latest handsets with those OSs as well.

Competition and choices, plus the ever-expanding 4G LTE network, have contributed mightily to the heavy market-share lead Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) enjoys in the wireless market. This can certainly be looked upon favorably by the investors in Verizon stock – including hedge-fund manager Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates.