iPads sold at the Verizon Store is not the same as iPad (or iPhone) ON Verizon

> Still, that’s a compelling data point. Apple had been expanding the range of iPad retail outlets beyond Apple Stores and AT&T all this quarter; you can buy them at Wal*Mart, for instance. But Verizon is the first mobile wireless store that will have it…and barring another Interesting email, the online. > > So! Rumors of a “sooner rather than later” Verizon iPhone have just clicked one stop higher on the credibility scale. Mind you, it’s still firmly in the “I won’t believe it until I hear an official announcement” zone. Andy Ihnatko is right, as usual. This new deal for Apple to sell iPads at Verizon stores (even if they are WiFi-only iPads) is a sign that at least the two companies are capable of making a successful deal of some kind. But it’s not a smoking gun for the illusive Verizon iPhone, by any means.

But forget the iPhone implications. The real story here is that Apple is preventing the iPad from suffering at the hands of the only force that has hurt the iPhone: Verizon. After all, if customers are eventually going to see Android tablets in Verizon stores, Apple might as well make sure that iPads are sitting there right next to them on the table.

This move in effect kills the only opportunity Android had for making any significant inroads in the tablet form factor. Subsidized tablets tied to a service provider contract seemed to be the only way Android manufacturers could at least APPEAR to be price competitive. Now, the sales rep at Verizon is going to be forced to explain that a month-to-month MiFi is actually a better deal over the life of the device.

This is all about plugging the holes in the market share armor. It will be interesting to see how Android manufacturers react.