Verizon iPhone Sales Less Than Apple and Verizon Expected?

Verizon iPhone sales may be “performing a little under what Apple and Verizon anticipated,” according to BGR.com, which cites sales numbers apparently leaked to the site from one of its sources inside Apple.

The data reportedly comes from five Apple retail locations, “including two very, very prominent Apple stores,” and includes combined sales numbers for the first five days of the Verizon’s iPhone 4 availability compared to the first five days that AT&T’s iPhone 4 model was available:

Thursday: Verizon = 909, AT&T = 539

Friday: Verizon = 916, AT&T = 680

Saturday: Verizon = 660, AT&T = 471

Sunday: Verizon = 796, AT&T = 701

Monday: Verizon = 711, AT&T = 618

BGR.com further reports that the Verizon iPhone pre-order sales that took place before the handset became available in retail stores “amounted to around 550,000 units” between both Apple’s and Verizon’s websites.

And finally, the supposed source inside Apple relayed some interesting stats about which kinds of customers bought the Verizon iPhone.

Apparently 30% were Android users, 25% were BlackBerry users and 14% were former AT&T iPhone owners. “The remaining percent didn’t want to say, didn’t have a smartphone, or didn’t have a phone prior to making their iPhone 4 purchases last week,” according to the site.

It’s important to note that, if legit, these are merely initial sales numbers for a small subset of Apple stores. Verizon retail stores aren’t taken into account and there are other less tangible aspects at play. Most glaringly, plenty of potential Verizon iPhone owners may already be locked into a contract, and the iPhone 5 is expected to be announced in a few short months.

More on TIME.com:

Verizon iPhone Hits Stores

Verizon iPhone Pre-orders Sell Out, Break Record in Two Hours

Verizon Asks Employees Not to Buy iPhones Before Customers

roccojohnson

I hate Verizon. The quality of calls is excellent, and their customer service is superb, but Verizon is a ripoff. Several years ago when Motorola RAZRs were all the rage I bought one, based on seeing the one one of my friends had. He was on a different carrier than Verizon. When I received my RAZR it didn’t have some of the features his phone had, and I found out that Verizon had blocked those features! I was pissed, to say the least.

Verizon’s prices are too high. I’ve waited for years for a Verizon iPhone, only to find out that the price for the basic plan is $99. I already pay too much for service, for a family of three. I can’t justify the cost of the iPhone, and a hundred bucks a month in addition to my regular plan.

Verizon got it wrong this time, and it’s not the first time they’ve made strategic mistakes. Maybe one of these days they’ll finally “get it” but I’m not holding my breath. I want an iPhone so bad, but I refuse to play Verizon’s game. Sorry boys.
http://schlien.wordpress.com schlien

Verizon is consistently ranked by Consumer Reports as the best service provider in the market. If you have a problem with prices, they will match any offer you find online. I walked into my local strip mall Verizon representative and bought a $200 Fascinate for $100 after finding a similar bargain at CostCo.com. It will take a while for the marriage to gel, but eventually Apple/Verizon will take out the competition completely.
thebonafortuna

I would – and have – and will again – argue they (Verizon) made a serious strategic mistake by sticking with CDMA technology when at&T/Cingular/T-Mobile took their lumps transitioning from TDMA to GSM. The voice quality on Verizon phones is demonstrably lower quality than that offered by GSM, and it’s not a technology that travels well anywhere except South Korea. The higher battery life upside is nice, but I don’t think it makes up for the other shortcomings of CDMA. That’s just my opinion, though.

With regards to the story, I’m surprised to hear this. When the iPhone was released on AT&T, people were more than willing to break contract and pay crazy fees to get their hands on the iPhone. Personally, I was hoping there would be a mass exodus of people leaving AT&T for Verizon, so it could free up some bandwidth for those still on AT&T (me). Regardless, at least nobody can reasonably whine about AT&T’s signal anymore.