Sprint

We've heard it all before, Apple is adding T-Mobile and Sprint to its roster of iPhone carriers, but Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen and analyst Shing Yin of Citadel Securities believe 2011 is the year Apple will actually make the move.

Most analysts seem to agree that if Apple wants to compete with the growing Android Market, they will have to make their products more accessible. The days of Apple exclusivity are over, and Larsen's crystal ball says the iPhone being offered by all four national carriers will increase Apple's market share by 30 percent.

"While we remain uncertain regarding the next-generation iPhone's specs and features, we believe the most noteworthy change could be the device's ability to run on more networks, specifically Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S.," Larsen wrote in his analyst report.

Every possible future iPhone scenario has already been theorized this year, but what about a new iPhone carrier? Starting tomorrow Sprint will be one of the last U.S. carriers to offer unlimited data plans, and with the rise of the Android Market, the days of Apple exclusivity looks to be coming to an end.

Analyst Shing Yin of Citadel Securities believes we will see an iPhone added to Sprint's arsenal by the 2011 holiday season. Out of all the analyst predictions and rumors this one seems quite plausible, however, there are no known talks between Apple and Sprint about an upcoming deal.

When asked about a possible future Apple/Sprint team-up, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said, “What is this — like the 55th time I’ve been asked that one? Something like that. And of course, we can’t comment on any potential discussions with any of our suppliers.”

Industry checks by analysts have concluded that the fifth generation Apple iPhone will be a souped-up version of the iPhone 4, with improved hardware in a similar form factor. Sprint is also rumored to be the next major carrier to receive the device, as Apple has posted a job opening for a carrier engineer.

The job posting was originally listed with a location of Kansas City, Missouri which is only 20 miles from Sprint headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. Since the post was first revealed by Stop it, AT&T the job location has been changed to Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. Sprint's network operates with CDMA, similar to Verizon Wireless which received the iPhone 4 earlier this year.

Where will Apple bring its iPhone next? Most of the speculation revolves around Verizon Wireless, the largest cellular carrier in the US. There are new rumors that Sprint could also benefit from an end to the the exclusive iPhone agreement Apple and AT&T have had since 2007.

Any move to Verizon or Sprint would make a CDMA iPhone necessary, while service on T-Mobile and AT&T already work with the current GSM model iPhone. Several sources have told MacRumors that Sprint is preparing for an iPhone 4 release on its network in September 2010.