Apple iPhone No Longer Verizon's Bestselling Smartphone? [Update]

[iRumored]

The older I get, the more I realize just how much everything is about money. I have 3 close friends that all work at Verizon.. One of which is a manager. This is not a "he said she said" post either..

Verizon hates the iPhone because of the way that Apple has a lockdown on their products.

Motorola gives Verizon a bulk quantity deal on their phones and Apple doesn't. Motorola lets Verizon tag up their phones with the VZW logo and Apple doesn't. In addition to all that, Verizon, especially in my area has lost money because of the iPhone. It's a 3G phone when Verizon is trying push 4G and because of the huge amount of iPhone users, they are being forced to put up more and more 3G towers. They especially hate this because they will be rendered useless once 4G is everywhere so that's just money in the drain for them.

The manager that I know actually told me that, during a meeting they held, he was personally ridiculed for having the iPhone 4S as his personal phone and the reason being, Verizon has been losing money on the deal. He even went as far as to say the iPhone was the reason that you have to wait at least 20 months to be eligible for an upgrade because they pay out the nose for iPhones.

Do you want to know why they push the MAXX so much? This is why.

Do you want to know why the iPhone isn't on display in the stores anymore?

Money.

 

[Hastings101]

Oh darn, Apple might actually have to put some thought into the next iPhone now.

 

[PeterQVenkman]

Something tells me that 2x the 4g data at the normal price on Verizon will end as soon as the iPhone goes 4g.

That was a way to get people buy android phones and use 4g which costs Verizon 1/4 as much to deliver as old data technologies.

"The news comes by way of a research note from William Blair's Anil Doradla."

Anil Doradla... ...is an anagram for All Android... something's fishy...

Man, I LOVE that you saw that. Weird, creepy, and funny.

 

[JBaker122586]

No... you did not say that.

I'll quote you again...

That statement is incorrect.

Do you know what "about" means? It doesn't mean it is the SINGLE ONLY place. It means there are a few other places, but this is the main place.

On the contrary, a large percentage of iPhone owners buy their iPhones at the Apple Store. 29% of Verizon iPhone customers or something according to the front page post yesterday. Again, you seem to be avoiding the point I'm clearly making to try and call me out on semantics.

 

[NoStopN]

This isn't suprising. Had a relative go to a Verizon store to get an iPhone (not guided by me) and they actively turned her around into an android phone (which she eventually disliked for being glitchy, not sure if that was installed junk on it or what).

I still believe Android's biggest problem is not it's base software, but it's implementation by the device builders & cell phone providers.

However, I think everyone knew Apple wouldn't jump on 4G right away. Look at all the battery issues the first 4G Android phones had. However, fast forward to today, and we are sorely in need of a 4G iPhone. And I think it's safe to assume that if the iPad 3 has it, the iPhone 5 will probably have it too.

Those educated customers read articles about 4G not being on the 4S & decided to buy or not. I experienced the teething pains of an HTC Thunderbolt. Once I became accustomed to the OS, I was not dying to get another iPhone. However, HTC & Verizon's overlays (I strongly believe) ruined every software update for the phone. This is the overpowering reason that I wanted back to an iPhone. As someone linked an article earlier, Apple wants most new technologies to be thoroughly studied & engineered for their purpose. Apple may be slow to implement, but when they do, they have a better track record of successful deployment.

As a member of Verizon Management, I can tell you that this isn't because of Device quality, this is because one of our most forced KPI's in stores is LTE.

As a manager, I have to contantly be on my sales reps about selling LTE devices over anything, despite any actual qulification for an iPhone. Fact of the matter is, Verizon is pushing LTE harder than anything and this is evidence of it.

It's so bad on a store level, that it's to the point where I have to fire reps if they aren't selling LTE devices over the iPhone.

So as much as these articles may make you think, the real matter is that on a store level, Reps are strong armed into selling LTE over anything or their job could be on the line.

I know someone who works for VZW, and these kinds of stories are being told more often. As said earlier, 4G was new to mobile devices last year, so it had some growing pains (emphasis on pains). When the iPhone 4G, I mean 5, comes out, it will still have the same level of satisfied users as most other iPhone models. Maybe the employees can rest a little easier when that iPhone releases later this year?

 

[billystlyes]

Let's be honest... The iPhone has become kinda boring over the two years. It's a nice phone, but boring. Most people that I know are flocking to phones with a 4.5" or greater screen size. They also like OS customization and widgets. I also think there's a movement towards individuality. Who wants a phone that every soccer mom has? Sorry, but not me. JMHO

 

[Handsome Bacon]

Well in my own case, I can tell you last year I stopped into my local Verizon store I don't know how many times trying to buy an iPhone 4S and it was ALWAYS out of stock in the store.

Yes I know I could have ordered one but I am more or less an impulse buyer...and this just annoyed the crap out of me. When the time came where I had to buy a phone, I went with the Nexus....because it was in stock Very satisfied.

 

[iRumored]

I'm so tired of the Droid vs. Apple debate. Just get what you like. Personally, I have played with all my friends other phones and the newest droid (the MAXX) doesn't have diddly squat on the iPhone. It has way more hardware to make it run faster (so you'd think) but it's not even close to as snappy and smooth as the iOS device. The layout isn't as clean as the iOS device either. Everything is crisp and clean on the iPhone and I love it that way. Screen size is the very last thing I care about. Battery life and a good clean UI is what it's all about IMHO.

You have sales reps practically bending the customers arms to sell the droids and go away from the Apple product.. How pathetic.

Since Verizon only seems to care about their interests -- all I'm going to care about is mine. I'm not going to buy a plastic and sluggish droid so I can help a rep hit quota. Oh yea and I never buy overpriced accessories either. Isn't the quota 3.5 accessories per contract renewal now?

 

[ericrwalker]

Enjoy your iPhone

I know I am.

You might hate greed, but greed is what motivated Apple to make the iPhone, it's also what's going to motivate them to keep improving the iPhone. Maybe a little slower than some would like, but hopefully they don't make too many mistakes that way.

 

[Chase R]

Top-left corner.

If you buy the new iPad you can enjoy seeing "Verizon LTE" in the top-left corner. Currently, my iPhone 4S says "AT&T 4G" which is a nice improvement, but I am looking forward to "AT&T LTE". I buy Verizon iPads and AT&T iPhones to hedge my bets on coverage while traveling. Plus, I get a better corporate discount at AT&T and I have grand-fathered unlimited data. But with LTE hotspot on the new iPad, I can't imagine buying an AT&T iPad.

I think I might be dyslexic :-/

 

[iRumored]

4G kills battery life unless you have a pillow sized phone to compensate the massive battery like the MAXX. I live in a half agriculture/half city area and even I have no problem staying connected to Wi Fi. The only time I'm not is when I'm driving and good, I don't like to mess with my phone while driving.

If I wanted an iPad, i'd have an iPad. I am not a small guy by any means, but the iPhone is simple to use. The size of the screen has never once been an issue. You can sit there and count pixels on the MAXX screen and it's made of plastic and feels cheap in your hands.

Insurance on the iPhone is stupid. Apple OEM backs are $30 with the tool. The front is $99. The batty is $30-40. What is the deductible again? $175 I believe? No thanks. $10/month + $175 deductible is a scam. You can replace front/back/battery for less yourself. Or, just buy a semi-decent case and your done.

No free music OTA via the device but, never has stopped me from syncing my playlist from the computer.

Lastly, there are PLENTY of free turn by turn apps out there so I don't know what you're talking about.. iOS 6 has showed the new Maps app to have it built in, too.

One last thing, cel phones become outdated in a few months time in today's day and age. Look at the droid history.. It's terrible.. The MAXX came out a few months after the original Razr. They're on #4 of the droid incredible too aren't they?

 

[NewAnger]

The older I get, the more I realize just how much everything is about money. I have 3 close friends that all work at Verizon.. One of which is a manager. This is not a "he said she said" post either..

Verizon hates the iPhone because of the way that Apple has a lockdown on their products.

Motorola gives Verizon a bulk quantity deal on their phones and Apple doesn't. Motorola lets Verizon tag up their phones with the VZW logo and Apple doesn't. In addition to all that, Verizon, especially in my area has lost money because of the iPhone. It's a 3G phone when Verizon is trying push 4G and because of the huge amount of iPhone users, they are being forced to put up more and more 3G towers. They especially hate this because they will be rendered useless once 4G is everywhere so that's just money in the drain for them.

The manager that I know actually told me that, during a meeting they held, he was personally ridiculed for having the iPhone 4S as his personal phone and the reason being, Verizon has been losing money on the deal. He even went as far as to say the iPhone was the reason that you have to wait at least 20 months to be eligible for an upgrade because they pay out the nose for iPhones.

Do you want to know why they push the MAXX so much? This is why.

Do you want to know why the iPhone isn't on display in the stores anymore?

Money.

If I didn't have such poor Verizon service on my 4S, I would make sure I went down to the Verizon store to buy the next iPhone just to spite them. My service is so poor here at home that I had to keep my service with AT&T to insure that I can make calls at home when I need to.

My AT&T account has been contract free since May and I will be using the upgrade for the new iPhone. My contract with Verizon will cancel either when the contract is over or if I can get out of it due to poor service.

 

[peteypab2133]

One last thing, cel phones become outdated in a few months time in today's day and age. Look at the droid history.. It's terrible.. The MAXX came out a few months after the original Razr. They're on #4 of the droid incredible too aren't they?

There are 110,000,000 people on verizon. I think there are like 75 million with smart phones.

Now take this for what its worth...

Apple makes a great phone, but there is no variety. Verizon from a strategic selling position has to offer an ample amount of phones to make customers happy. Right now Verizon has a basic target to release a new phone every three weeks. Since apple does not offer more than one device, the others have to pick up more slack.

Now I will be the first to admit that the droids seem to come and go much faster. I hate the fact that I bought a Bionic and within 4 weeks a Razr was launched. But the Razr Maxx to the Razr is like the BMW 3 series to the BMW M3. They are the same car, but with more "options". Even though the Maxx has better battery life than the regular Razr, those who feel slighted from the later release may not have bought it anyways.


Battery life is subjective. If I can get certian functions out of my phone, I am willing to carry a car charger with me. Or while I am sitting at work just plug it in. Besides, everyone I know (apple,android,BB) charge their phones every night anyways.

HTC is known for bad battery life unfortunately, and the thunderbolt killed HTC's rep for VZW.

 

[iRumored]

There are 110,000,000 people on verizon. I think there are like 75 million with smart phones.

Now take this for what its worth...

Apple makes a great phone, but there is no variety. Verizon from a strategic selling position has to offer an ample amount of phones to make customers happy. Right now Verizon has a basic target to release a new phone every three weeks. Since apple does not offer more than one device, the others have to pick up more slack.

Now I will be the first to admit that the droids seem to come and go much faster. I hate the fact that I bought a Bionic and within 4 weeks a Razr was launched. But the Razr Maxx to the Razr is like the BMW 3 series to the BMW M3. They are the same car, but with more "options". Even though the Maxx has better battery life than the regular Razr, those who feel slighted from the later release may not have bought it anyways.


Battery life is subjective. If I can get certian functions out of my phone, I am willing to carry a car charger with me. Or while I am sitting at work just plug it in. Besides, everyone I know (apple,android,BB) charge their phones every night anyways.

HTC is known for bad battery life unfortunately, and the thunderbolt killed HTC's rep for VZW.

I qualify "good" battery life as a phone that can be taken off the charger in the AM and will last until you go to bed. I know there's a lot of room for variables in battery performance with the settings and usage and what not, but.. Normal settings and normal usage it should be able to do this no problem. 2 of my friends got the thunderbolt the day it came out and wow.. What a hunk of garbage. They had to buy those huge extended life batteries and it still doesn't last as long as my 4S. Not even close really.

I'm quite impressed with my battery life. I'm on my phone alllll the time and I've never ran out of battery life.

My mother on the other hands owns a regular iPhone 4 with the latest update and she doesn't live on her phone like I do and she can go 4-5 days without charging it. She loves it.

 

[Fatboy71]

We'll see what happens in October!

Just what I was thinking.

 

[NoStopN]

A) I'm so tired of the Droid vs. Apple debate. Just get what you like.
B) You have sales reps practically bending the customers arms to sell the droids and go away from the Apple product.

A) Then Apple should hire me for product planning. I want my next iPhone to have a 4.3" screen, 4G LTE (not the fake 4G that AT&T tries to bluff unknowing customers with), & have NFC as well as the equipment for mobile OTA TV broadcasts. At least a 4" screen & 4G LTE seem locked in right now. Those are noticeable improvements. I can be happy with that.
B) From a customer service call-in agents point of view, I bet they get fewer calls about crappy iPhones than they do about crappy Android phones.

4G kills battery life unless you have a pillow sized phone to compensate the massive battery like the MAXX.

This is one area where I understand Apple's thinking for being "late with new technology". They have been testing LTE for at least a year (whenever VZW launched LTE), so they've had all this time to make sure that the 4G drain doesn't destroy the iPhone experience. The 3rd gen iPad didn't lose very much in overall battery charge time.

A) Apple makes a great phone, but there is no variety. Verizon from a strategic selling position has to offer an ample amount of phones to make customers happy. Right now Verizon has a basic target to release a new phone every three weeks. Since apple does not offer more than one device, the others have to pick up more slack.

B) HTC is known for bad battery life unfortunately, and the thunderbolt killed HTC's rep for VZW.

A) The lack of variety works for Apple in some cases. Apple has not been shy about trying to make their products appear as a better quality device. This means that if someone wants a phone to just make calls & texts, they won't look @ Apple or any Droid. But, when Apple released the first iPhone, they shook the entire cell phone market to the core. So, people who wanted a phone that could do more, only had one option. Blackberry's at the time were more for the die-hard business types.

From another angle, fewer models of iPhone leads to less confusion on software updates. You know what will be available for what phone, & when it will be available to you. With Verizon/Android, you don't know when an update will come out, you don't know if your phone will be offered an upgrade to the next "dessert" version, and there is no option to update via a website (OTA only). While Apple may have worked backwards with software update (iTunes only first, also OTA now), it is still another option.

B) I had seen prior tests of HTC phones before I got a Thunderbolt & most had good ratings for battery life. Perhaps it wasn't a good starter phone for someone getting their first Android device. For as long as I had that phone, I was plagued by very low battery life (helped a little with the larger battery) & plenty of software bugs. I called no fewer than 8 times in 7 months about faulty mobile hotspot functionality. Each new update made it worse. And it's not like VZW can just push out an update for a new hotspot app. No, they have to wait for HTC to send a full update for other stuff as well. I wasted money paying for a feature of a phone & Verizon had only 2 options: keep it & deal with it or drop it. No, "I'm sorry sir, that's out of our hands." No offer to give me any billing cycles discount for that crap, nothing. If HTC couldn't get it right, & Verizon wasn't going to get in HTC's face about the problem, I won't buy any more Droids. I'll stick with what worked before & what has worked since.

 

[class77]

Why would you have to go to the Verizon store and deal with their salespeople to buy an iPhone?? Can't you just walk into your nearest Apple store and buy a Verizon iPhone from them??

 

[iRumored]

A) Then Apple should hire me for product planning. I want my next iPhone to have a 4.3" screen, 4G LTE (not the fake 4G that AT&T tries to bluff unknowing customers with), & have NFC as well as the equipment for mobile OTA TV broadcasts. At least a 4" screen & 4G LTE seem locked in right now. Those are noticeable improvements. I can be happy with that.
B) From a customer service call-in agents point of view, I bet they get fewer calls about crappy iPhones than they do about crappy Android phones.

I mean no offense here, but you must understand that what one person wants, another person isn't going to want. Me being one who doesn't care about a 4.3" screen, nor do I care about 4G.. Until they address battery life issues, especially with the 4G, I could care less.

I too don't care for the android phones. The iPhone 4 is still what other manufacturers aim to beat and it came out in June of 2010. Please show me a droid that holds literally ANY weight at all from mid 2010. You won't find it.

The Samsung Galaxy S came out the same year and month that the iPhone 4 did and since they just recently released the Galaxy S3 and it STILL aimed at trying to be better than the iPhone.

Everyone hyped up the Droid X2, the HTC Thunderbolt, the Galaxy series (all 35 variations of them... ), the Razr, the MAXX, the Nexus, the Rezound.. Whatever. These phones have a TON more kit than the iPhone and it still isn't as snappy. It's all about the operating system. Also, I unplugged my iPhone 4S this morning at 7:00AM and have been on the carrier network checking Twitter/Facebook/News Sites/Posting this response and am at 91% battery life and it is now 9:35AM where I live. I'm so content with this phone that I could care less if it takes Apple a whole year to come out with the new one. No, this is not a fanboy remark either. I've used all big 3 smart phones in my time (BlackBerry/Droid/Apple) and without a doubt, the iPhone destroys them.. At least IMO.

Verizon hates the iPhone because they aren't making as much money off of them as they thought they would and they're mad that Apple didn't allow them to tag up the iPhone with their stupid logos or tell them when the 4S was going to be released.

 

[NoStopN]

I mean no offense here, but you must understand that what one person wants, another person isn't going to want. Me being one who doesn't care about a 4.3" screen, nor do I care about 4G.. Until they address battery life issues, especially with the 4G, I could care less.

Verizon hates the iPhone because they aren't making as much money off of them as they thought they would and they're mad that Apple didn't allow them to tag up the iPhone with their stupid logos or tell them when the 4S was going to be released.

I agree that the OS is just as important as the hardware of the phone. This explains my story of displeasure with an Android. But, I will admit I would like a bigger screen & LTE. I've applauded Apple for delaying the use of LTE in their iDevices & I remember reading several articles about Apple waiting for certain chips to help the iPhone/iPad be as fast as any LTE Google device, but keep the iDevices' great battery life. Apple has a great track record of making new technology work, even if they were not the first to introduce that technology.

 

[linkgx1]

All I hear are excuses. If the title said ''iPhone still Verizon's bestselling phone'' you guys would be praising it.

The reason why Verizon is pushing LTE is plain and simple....MONEY. Who are you guys to say that Verizon shouldn't do that with THEIR business? They are trying to create the next big thing ahead of their compeitiors. I find it ironic how people were saying there's no point of LTE when the Thunderbolt came out but flocked to the new iPad with LTE.

Ironically, Verizon is why droid is the way it. They pushed a really big campaign. Verizon doesn't want to be stuck with Apple's draconian policies. They want to cater to as large of an audience as possible. And instill their own draconian policies.....

One of the reasons why VZW is pushing people away from iPhones (if they truly are) is so they will not be stuck with their pants down if something happens to Apple in the next few years. They were fine with out Apple before and will continue to do so. The great thing about Android is that they can come out with THEIR own branded phones and sell it cheaply.


Many people can't afford iPhones or want to pay that much for a phone. For a lot Android phones are an excellent alternative. You still can get a decent phone for $50 or less (w/contract).


I see why Apple is suing these cell companies. They only release yearly and might get drowned out if these companies, like Samsung continue to 1up them.

I'm afraid the iPhone is going to get to the point of a diminishing return of zero. On my Samsung Vibrant, for example, the app selection sucked. Fast foward to when I got the 4s. Still great. But I noticed my friends have a lot of apps now that are starting to compete or are the same .I was showing off Temple Run for the longest making my friend jealous and all.....until he got it on his evo!


However, if Apple continues to make solid products, then I don't really see them falling out.

----------

I mean no offense here, but you must understand that what one person wants, another person isn't going to want. Me being one who doesn't care about a 4.3" screen, nor do I care about 4G.. Until they address battery life issues, especially with the 4G, I could care less.

I too don't care for the android phones. The iPhone 4 is still what other manufacturers aim to beat and it came out in June of 2010. Please show me a droid that holds literally ANY weight at all from mid 2010. You won't find it.

The Samsung Galaxy S came out the same year and month that the iPhone 4 did and since they just recently released the Galaxy S3 and it STILL aimed at trying to be better than the iPhone.

Everyone hyped up the Droid X2, the HTC Thunderbolt, the Galaxy series (all 35 variations of them... ), the Razr, the MAXX, the Nexus, the Rezound.. Whatever. These phones have a TON more kit than the iPhone and it still isn't as snappy. It's all about the operating system. Also, I unplugged my iPhone 4S this morning at 7:00AM and have been on the carrier network checking Twitter/Facebook/News Sites/Posting this response and am at 91% battery life and it is now 9:35AM where I live. I'm so content with this phone that I could care less if it takes Apple a whole year to come out with the new one. No, this is not a fanboy remark either. I've used all big 3 smart phones in my time (BlackBerry/Droid/Apple) and without a doubt, the iPhone destroys them.. At least IMO.

Verizon hates the iPhone because they aren't making as much money off of them as they thought they would and they're mad that Apple didn't allow them to tag up the iPhone with their stupid logos or tell them when the 4S was going to be released.

This entire post is extremely ironic

 

[frankgn]

Apple really need to speed up, the last two iphone look like the same.
I think the iphone 5 is out, it will kick some android ass