iPhone 5 Represented 21% of Verizon's 3.1 Million iPhone Activations in 3Q 2012

[duaneu]

Originally Posted by spazzcat

I had to reread this several times, they only sold 650,000 iPhone 5s.

"Only"? It seems like a lot considering it was only available the last 10 days of the quarter. They probably sold just about every phone they could get from Apple. The number could have been higher, but many people had their deliveries back ordered into October.

[Scrub175]

Originally Posted by Medic311

Unlike with AT&T, any Verizon customer who gets a 4G LTE phone either subsidized or un-subsidized will lose their unlimited data plan.

If anyone wins here, it will be Verizon by forcing off millions of its iPhone unlimited data customers to a tiered data plan. Combined with the higher efficiency of the 4G LTE spectrum and how 4G LTE chews through more data more quickly, this will be VERY lucrative for Verizon. 2GB will not be sufficient for an average user in 2012, the numbers of which we will know next year. In 2010, the average smartphone user was using 450MB/mo. In 2011, that number jumped to 1.4GB. In 2012, my educational guess is that it will easily exceed 2GB maybe even approaching 3GB.

The share everything plans help for people who use a relatively small amount of data on many devices. The break even point is reached fairly quickly though as you account for the fact that each phone is likely to chew through 2GB each month which means many families will have to get the 8GB family share plan.

Apple wins, Verizon wins, shareholders (me) win, customer (also me) loses

I am holding onto my iPhone 4S with unlimited data for dear life

I paid full price for my iP5 and kept unlimited data on VZW. Keep clinging.

[iansilv]

Couple of things:

1. You can upgrade and keep unlimited data, you just have to pay full price for the iPhone 5 (which is a change in contract terms worthy of a release from the ETF IMO.)

2. The true test will be relative subscriber additions compared to AT&T and Sprint this time next week.

[theBB]

Originally Posted by Thunderhawks

...............but, was it half empty or half full?

Wouldn't 21% be closer to 1/4 of sales?

46% of smartphone sales, yeah half full. Apple should not rest until it hits 100%. </sarcasm>

[hamkor04]

Originally Posted by KdParker

I believe that. Not bad for a phone others are calling 'old tech'.

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And what does that really say about the SGIII? I constantly hear about how popular this phone is, but the iPhone seems to be killing it.

I wouldn't use a work "killing", since galaxy ascending.

[Rogifan]

The Verizon store I visited on the weekend the iPhone 5 came out said they were sold out by 9am Friday morning. I'm sure a lot of sales numbers were pushed I to October because of supply constraints.

[Medic311]

Originally Posted by Scrub175

I paid full price for my iP5 and kept unlimited data on VZW. Keep clinging.

then verizon is lying to its customers and to me. are you sure you kept unlimited data or just your 2nd gen legacy tiered plan?

they ended all unlimited 4G plans after a very brief introduction on that Motorola Droid phone. after that was ended, it was impossible to ever get a NEW unlimited 4G data plan. if you were one of the lucky ones who got an unlimited LTE plan during that limited plan - you are grandfathered for life as long as you buy your phones at full retail

i was told by verizon that regardless of where i buy my iPhone 5, that since i was going from a 3G phone (iPhone 4S) to a 4G LTE phone that i would be losing unlimited data

[winston1236]

Originally Posted by jmcrutch

So iPhone 5 accounts for 21% of Verizon's quarterly iPhone sales, even though it was only on sale for handful of days of the quarter? I'd say that is strong. Strong to very strong.

But dont most iphone buyers buy at release due to the yearly refresh? I would think that 21% is near the cap maybe 10% off.

[Tiger8]

Guys,

Don't forget hundreds of thousands of people on Verizon who simply are NOT eligible for an upgrade; those who got the iPhone 4 when it was released in Feb 2011

[Medic311]

Originally Posted by iansilv

Couple of things:

1. You can upgrade and keep unlimited data, you just have to pay full price for the iPhone 5 (which is a change in contract terms worthy of a release from the ETF IMO.)

that's not what Verizon is telling me. they said if i pay full price for the phone, since i am going from an iPhone 4S 3G to a LTE phone that i would lose unlimited data and be forced onto the tiered plan. i don't have to get the share everything plan though, but i do lose unlimited data

[alent1234]

Originally Posted by winston1236

But dont most iphone buyers buy at release due to the yearly refresh? I would think that 21% is near the cap maybe 10% off.

no

[KdParker]

Originally Posted by Tiger8

Guys,

Don't forget hundreds of thousands of people on Verizon who simply are NOT eligible for an upgrade; those who got the iPhone 4 when it was released in Feb 2011

Yep, they are going to show up in the November sales.

[iamPro]

Is Apple doing anything about the anti Apple propaganda Verizon runs at its stores?

The sales people there weren't the slightest bit ashamed of blatantly bashing Apple.

[theBB]

Originally Posted by jav6454

That is weak. Taking into consideration how popular the iPhone 5 is and how much it was sold, weak. I bet AT&T took the whole grunt of the iPhone 5 activations. Sprint probably in 2nd.

For single accounts, Verizon's cheapest monthly plan costs $90 + taxes + (hidden fees?) whereas AT&T still offers a barebones $60 plan. I don't know how much of a difference that makes for the overall sales though. My guess is less than 2.5 million iPhone 5 sales in the US during those 10 days.

[bobobenobi]

Originally Posted by Medic311

Let's not overlook the important fact faced by AT&T customers in most major cities in this country - NO AT&T LTE SERVICE AT ALL

Sure, but it's screaming fast where it exists. I get 50Mbps downstream and almost 20Mbps upstream outside of Cleveland.

[BaldiMac]

Originally Posted by winston1236

But dont most iphone buyers buy at release due to the yearly refresh?

Nope. Just a few percent buy it on launch week (2-5%?).

I would think that 21% is near the cap maybe 10% off.

Cap of what? From previous reports, the newest iPhone is usually around 90% of all iPhone sales. I'd bet the the iPhone 5 will only be slightly less.

[Rogifan]

How are these sales weak when Verizon is currently showing a shipping delay on their website? You can't count an order that hasn't shipped as a sale, so most likely a lot of these sales were pushed into this quarter.

[Medic311]

Originally Posted by bobobenobi

Sure, but it's screaming fast where it exists. I get 50Mbps downstream and almost 20Mbps upstream outside of Cleveland.

why did you selectively quote my post, leaving out the below part?

Originally Posted by Medic311

Let's not overlook the important fact faced by AT&T customers in most major cities in this country - NO AT&T LTE SERVICE AT ALL

As far as your claim that AT&T's LTE network is faster than Verizon's LTE network. Yeah right - come to Philadephia and see for yourself

[Beezzy]

My family bought two of the 3.1 Million iPhones!

Verizon is awesome!

[seecoolguy]

Originally Posted by jmcrutch

So iPhone 5 accounts for 21% of Verizon's quarterly iPhone sales, even though it was only on sale for handful of days of the quarter? I'd say that is strong. Strong to very strong.

I wonder what the percentage is of users moving off of unlimited plan upgrades to tiered data plans. It was the only reason I canceled my order for the iPhone5, though it's a great phone, the only way to retain my unlimited plan w/ Verizon is to buy the phone outright :-/

[Medic311]

Originally Posted by seecoolguy

I wonder what the percentage is of users moving off of unlimited plan upgrades to tiered data plans. It was the only reason I canceled my order for the iPhone5, though it's a great phone, the only way to retain my unlimited plan w/ Verizon is to buy the phone outright :-/

i didn't even think you could buy the iPhone 5 at full price and keep unlimited data (but at LTE speeds). my understanding was that once you go from 3G to 4G you lose unlimited no matter what.

i use 6GB per month of data. it saves me money to buy the phone at full price than for me to buy 6GB of tiered data. while $729 is steep to drop down on a phone, just buy it on credit and make payments over 18 months which will roughly be $40/mo. 0% interest and you will build up your credit score big time with retail loans

[inkswamp]

Originally Posted by Thunderhawks

...............but, was it half empty or half full?

Wouldn't 21% be closer to 1/4 of sales?

I thought the same thing until I re-read it. There's nothing grammatically wrong with how this story is written but the lead got buried. The headline is about the specific iPhone 5 numbers but should have been based around this part:

Verizon revealed that it activated 3.1 million iPhones during the quarter, representing approximately 46% of its total smartphone activations of 6.8 million.

[Technarchy]

Blistering start for the iPhone 5.

650k in 10 days...

I keep hearing that the GS3 is this great big seller and iphone 5 killer yet no one ever wants to talk about its specific activations.

[bossxii]

Originally Posted by KdParker

I believe that. Not bad for a phone others are calling 'old tech'.

----------



And what does that really say about the SGIII? I constantly hear about how popular this phone is, but the iPhone seems to be killing it.

I think 20 million for one android based phone is a breakout for those devices. I highly doubt any other sigle android based phone has sold in those numbers so it's a big deal for them. I think the number of devices using android is somewhere north of 4,000 devices currently on the market. iOS is more like 12? or 20 tops? (I didn't count them up )

So 20 million says, they have a hit on their hands, at least by their standards.

[samcraig]

Originally Posted by bossxii

I think 20 million for one android based phone is a breakout for those devices. I highly doubt any other sigle android based phone has sold in those numbers so it's a big deal for them. I think the number of devices using android is somewhere north of 4,000 devices currently on the market. iOS is more like 12? or 20 tops? (I didn't count them up )

So 20 million says, they have a hit on their hands, at least by their standards.

20 millions units sold - no matter what device, manufacturer, etc is safely a "hit". In what world is it that someone selling 20 million of something - pretty much anything - doesn't equate to a big success?