Verizon iPhone sales - Good but less than expected

[akugami]

BGR Report

So the article confirms what we know. Verizon did pretty well in iPhone sales. However, after the initial rush it seems that things tapered off unlike when Apple has released new iPhones on AT&T's network. The obvious answer is that a lot of people have been anticipating and wanting an iPhone on Verizon's network but likely many aren't in a huge rush to buy a phone from 6 months ago. One interesting tidbit is that of the iPhone buyers polled, 30% were Android owners and 25% were Blackberry owners. I think that with the release of the iPhone 5 we'll really see how well received the iPhone is on Verizon's network.

 

[rcpratt]

Nobody could have ever predicted this. /sarcasm

 

[zerocool84]

Of course it's tapered off. 99% of people that wanted an iPhone already got one long ago. Once June comes around that's when we're going to see the full effect of Verizon.

 

[Pliablemoose]

If you extrapolate chikita's data, it looks like they sold about 750K iPhones, my local Verizon store is sold out, but local BB has a large stock of unsold Verizon iPhones, I stopped on Mon night and checked. The CSR looked surprised when I asked how many, and when prompted, she said "a lot"

 

[Judgement]

Of course it's tapered off. 99% of people that wanted an iPhone already got one long ago. Once June comes around that's when we're going to see the full effect of Verizon.

Even when 5 comes out there are going to be tons of people locked into contracts still from the rush for 4

 

[Fingolfin269]

Have any of you been an owner of both the ATT and VZW iPhone 4?

 

[zerocool84]

Even when 5 comes out there are going to be tons of people locked into contracts still from the rush for 4

If you haven't noticed over the past 4 years, tons of people sell their iPhones on eBay or Craig's list and buy new ones full-price. This is not going to change.

 

[Judgement]

If you haven't noticed over the past 4 years, tons of people sell their iPhones on eBay or Craig's list and buy new ones full-price. This is not going to change.

Maybe the people who frequent these types of forums do that, but I'm willing to bet its actually not even a double digit % of the launch sales that are generated from that kinda stuff

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Maybe the people who frequent these types of forums do that, but I'm willing to bet its actually not even a double digit % of the launch sales that are generated from that kinda stuff

Add this to the fact that people got tired of waiting and jumped on Android already. Even if they would pick an iPhone 4 over their Android device today, they might be locked in or just too lazy to switch.

 

[Castiel]

It would be a lot more if you could do a 1 year contract with it. 2 year only is pure bullshit. Thunderbolt will be getting my money instead.

 

[her209]

Honestly I don't know which release cycle is best/worst.

Releasing a new version of a phone only every year like Apple does by one manufacturer... or... releasing a new version of a phone every 6 months by many manufacturers like makers of Android phones do.

Some people, like me, keep putting of buying that Android phone because a newer better more powerful phone is always on the horizon.

 

[BigDaddyD]

It would be a lot more if you could do a 1 year contract with it. 2 year only is pure bullshit. Thunderbolt will be getting my money instead.

This combined with the fact that the new iphone is on the horizon is the answer. I would have gotten the Iphone if one year was an option, but 2 yr being mandatory is just stupid, especially on old technology, with new phones a 1-3 months aways and a new Iphone approx 4-5 months away. It literally makes zero sense.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

yes i would like iphone 4 but just wont get it under those terms. i would however pay 400-450 for one outright with no contract and im sure a lot of other people would as well. i dont know why they force contracts it prevents people from buying multiple phones. contracts are good for carriers but bad for manufacturers and customers

 

[Axon]

I'm off contract and could have switched, but where does that leave me when the new model iphone launches this summer? Locked into a contract or poorer after reselling a six month old phone, that's where. If the iphone 4gs/5 has LTE capacity, I'd really be kicking myself. There's no reason to make a move until they announce the new hotness, no matter how much the AT&T network fails in NYC.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I'm surprised that Iphone/Apple hype still even remotely exists.

When I stopped at the Verizon store yesterday I did notice that NOBODY was there.

Also not many people will dish out $$$ to switch over to Verizon...I wouldn't. Orders will come in as people's contracts end.

 

[Red Storm]

I will say one thing, Apple products do have one nice thing about them... they keep their value for quite a while. People still pay around $300 for the 3GS, while just about any other brand of cell phone drops in value quickly. Keeping that in mind, you actually wouldn't take that big of a hit if you bought an iPhone now and then sold it in the summer when the new phones come out.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I will say one thing, Apple products do have one nice thing about them... they keep their value for quite a while. People still pay around $300 for the 3GS, while just about any other brand of cell phone drops in value quickly. Keeping that in mind, you actually wouldn't take that big of a hit if you bought an iPhone now and then sold it in the summer when the new phones come out.

As long as the hype lingers around, yes

 

[Red Storm]

As long as the hype lingers around, yes

I don't see any hype over the 3GS, and it still sells for a very high price considering how old the phone is. You can bet the same thing will happen with the iPhone 4.

 

[dsm]

There is way too much hype on the iPhones. I like my android.

 

[shortylickens]

I don't see any hype over the 3GS, and it still sells for a very high price considering how old the phone is. You can bet the same thing will happen with the iPhone 4.

The 3GS is actually a much better phone. When anandtech did their review on smartphones recently they showed iPhone 4 has a considerably worse transceiver and antenna. That affects both calling and 3G data use. People still buy and carry the old one cuz its overall more reliable. I suspect if the iPhone 5 is shown to be much more reliable, the bulk of consumers will dump their iPhone 4's by the truckload.

 

[QueBert]

So the iPhone was the most successful launch Verizon's ever had numbers wise, yet it still didn't sell as well as expected. That's pretty crazy.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

The 3GS is actually a much better phone. When anandtech did their review on smartphones recently they showed iPhone 4 has a considerably worse transceiver and antenna. That affects both calling and 3G data use. People still buy and carry the old one cuz its overall more reliable. I suspect if the iPhone 5 is shown to be much more reliable, the bulk of consumers will dump their iPhone 4's by the truckload.

not to mention that 100% of the iphone 4's have the antenna defect and a glass backing(?@##$$$)

 

[NaOH]

not to mention that 100% of the iphone 4's have the antenna defect and a glass backing(?@##$$$)

Antenna defect is blown way out of proportion

 

[akugami]

yes i would like iphone 4 but just wont get it under those terms. i would however pay 400-450 for one outright with no contract and im sure a lot of other people would as well. i dont know why they force contracts it prevents people from buying multiple phones. contracts are good for carriers but bad for manufacturers and customers

The phones would more likely be in the $600-700 range without contract. No stupid complaints from some of you people about how pricey that is and the Apple tax. That's how much Nokia's premium phones go for back in the day. And yes, I have bought a few phones from Nokia at that price range.

The reason we have these stupid contracts is because of the way the US cell phone industry works. People are so used to the "free" phones that they get on contract. These same people never bothered to do the math and figure out that they're not actually getting a free phone. The worst part is if you have your own phone, or are off contract, you're still paying the contract price which in part adds in a percentage to cover subsidized phones.

The 3GS is actually a much better phone. When anandtech did their review on smartphones recently they showed iPhone 4 has a considerably worse transceiver and antenna. That affects both calling and 3G data use. People still buy and carry the old one cuz its overall more reliable. I suspect if the iPhone 5 is shown to be much more reliable, the bulk of consumers will dump their iPhone 4's by the truckload.

Verizon's version of the iPhone 4 has fixed the antenna issue for the most part. It's very difficult to get the "grip of death" now. You have to sorta hug it in two hands in order to get the same signal loss.

Anand also praised the AT&T iPhone 4 overall and said the antenna is mostly a non-issue and that the only time calls or data are affected is when signal is very weak to begin with. Pretty much what most reviewers said.

 

[purbeast0]

i personally know 5 people who have the verizon iphone myself included, and 3 or 4 people who are waiting for their contracts to run up so they can upgrade at the discounted price. i'd bet a lot of people who are currently under contract are also waiting until their contract runs out before they jump to an iphone, whether it is the 5 or 4.