Verizon Seen Owing Apple Up to $14 Billion for IPhones

Verizon Wireless may end up owing Apple as much as $14 billion in purchase commitments over time if the mobile carrier fails to sell an agreed number of iPhones, a report from Moffett Research LLC said.

Under a multiyear deal signed with Apple in 2010, Verizon Wireless is obligated to buy $23.5 billion worth of iPhones in 2013 alone, according to Craig Moffett, a telecommunications analyst who left Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. earlier this year to start his own research firm. Since the purchase commitment is more than twice what Verizon Wireless sold in 2012, the company may have a shortfall of $12 billion to $14 billion, worth $4 to $5 per share, Moffett said in the report. The report suggests sluggish demand for the iPhone, which accounts for about half of Apple’s sales. Other wireless providers around the world may be experiencing iPhone sales deficits as well, Moffett said. The sales shortfall bolsters analysts’ projection for Apple to report a 22 percent decline in net income to $6.87 billion in the third fiscal quarter.