Verizon Activates 3.9 Million iPhones in Q3 2013, Just Over Half of All Smartphone Activations

[avanpelt]

Here's a question for you Verizon guys...

I'm thinking of making the jump from an iPhone 4 on AT&T to a 5s (or next year a 6) on Verizon's LTE network. When you're on LTE, can you do simultaneous phone & data? I use that all the time.

What happens if you lose your LTE signal? Does this happen often?

Any help is appreciated.

No, you cannot do simultaneous voice and data over cellular on the Verizon iPhone. That's the only drawback to using the iPhone on Verizon compared to AT&T, in my opinion. Although, I've been with Verizon for the last three years so I'm used to it by now. If your Verizon iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi, you can do simultaneous voice and data, obviously.

If you're in an area without LTE, the iPhone falls back to Verizon's 3G CDMA network for data. I was in middle of nowhere Mississippi recently and actually saw the 1X (Edge) symbol on my iPhone for the first time in years; but it was while I was in an "Extended" (roaming) area and not on Verizon's network.

 

[TallManNY]

5s, just like the 5, will not live more than one year.

5c will, and they will probably release a 'new' iPhone 5Sc with 5s internals and a plastic package.

That is my guess as well. I think metal shows you bought the premium flagship, plastic is budget (sort of) but fun and you don't take your phone that serious.

 

[kdarling]

Not really, because the new iPhones were only available for a week of the quarter. The iPhone 5 and 4 were also available for the majority of the quarter.

Good points. So the 5S and 5C sales would've been... what do you think?

 

[OC40]

I was one of them... I switched from Sprint's unlimited-but-unusable data plan to a tiered Verizon plan shared on my wife's account; turns out I don't use as much data as I thought I did, but it's nice to have a data connection that actually works when I need it to.

I'm in the same boat. I was with sprint/nextel for 13 years and switched to verizon. 4GB shared is plenty for us.

 

[BaldiMac]

Good points. So the 5S and 5C sales would've been... what do you think?

With big assumptions and guessing?

I'd guess Verizon activations were around 10% of global sales for the launch week. Take the 9 million from launch week out to 10 days and I'd guess around 15 million 5C & 5S sold in the quarter. So maybe 1.5 million activations at Verizon. Split 3:1 (early estimates had the higher usage ratio) would be 1.1 million 5S and 400,000 5C.

Does 45% of all iPhone activations happening in the last 10 days of the quarter seem reasonable? I'm not sure.

 

[giantfan1224]

And to think, it wasn't that long ago Verizon didn't even have the iPhone

Just think how many more iPhone's would be sold/activated by Verizon if they actually pushed for iPhone sales.

----------

No, you cannot do simultaneous voice and data over cellular on the Verizon iPhone. That's the only drawback to using the iPhone on Verizon compared to AT&T, in my opinion. Although, I've been with Verizon for the last three years so I'm used to it by now. If your Verizon iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi, you can do simultaneous voice and data, obviously.

If you're in an area without LTE, the iPhone falls back to Verizon's 3G CDMA network for data. I was in middle of nowhere Mississippi recently and actually saw the 1X (Edge) symbol on my iPhone for the first time in years; but it was while I was in an "Extended" (roaming) area and not on Verizon's network.

Supposedly LTE in the future is supposed to support both voice and data simultaneously. Haven't heard much lately if that's still in the plans. Or maybe that's an LTE-A thing?

 

[scaredpoet]

Supposedly LTE in the future is supposed to support both voice and data simultaneously. Haven't heard much lately if that's still in the plans. Or maybe that's an LTE-A thing?

A key issue with deploying Voice over LTE on Verizon is that there's no CDMA fallback mechanism. If you're on VoLTE and leave LTE coverage, the call will drop, even if there's a strong CDMA signal. So, Verizon has to come close to matching LTE coverage with that of CDMA.

And by "matching" I mean, match the site density and signal coverage. Which is far different from the current way Verizon has managed to "cover 99%" of their current 3G coverage map.

On networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, it's possible (with quite a bit of work) to do a fallback from VoLTE to HSPA+.

In any case, I think it'll be some time before VoLTE gets rolled out, IF the carriers are in any way interested in making sure the experience is a smooth one. If it's done too quickly, complaints about dropped calls are going to skyrocket, and voice calling will get worse before it gets better.

 

[croooow]

bummer that they didn't provide a breakdown of 5C and 5S.

This is for the 3rd quarter of 2013 which ended on September 30th, so only 10 days of it included the iPhones 5s and 5c (But, given those are the first days of availablity on those phone, they make up a large part of the quarter)

They would have to break down iPhone 5, 4s and 4 sold as well during the 3 month period.

 

[rhett7660]

I know Verizon is making a pretty good sum of money off the iPhone but it probably pains them since they are pushing other phones. Yet is continues to be their number one phone.

 

[3lite]

Here's a question for you Verizon guys...

I'm thinking of making the jump from an iPhone 4 on AT&T to a 5s (or next year a 6) on Verizon's LTE network. When you're on LTE, can you do simultaneous phone & data? I use that all the time.

What happens if you lose your LTE signal? Does this happen often?

Any help is appreciated.

Using the internet while you talk on the phone is overrated.

 

[V.K.]

This is for the 3rd quarter of 2013 which ended on September 30th, so only 10 days of it included the iPhones 5s and 5c (But, given those are the first days of availablity on those phone, they make up a large part of the quarter)

They would have to break down iPhone 5, 4s and 4 sold as well during the 3 month period.

good points but it would still be nice to see a more detailed breakdown. That would provide at least some firm data on how 5S and 5C were selling if only for the last 10 days of the quarter. as it is all we have is a lot of speculation by various analysts. I understand why Apple might not want to break down the sales by different iphone types but I don't see why Verizon would be so constrained.

 

[croooow]

Here's a question for you Verizon guys...

I'm thinking of making the jump from an iPhone 4 on AT&T to a 5s (or next year a 6) on Verizon's LTE network. When you're on LTE, can you do simultaneous phone & data? I use that all the time.

You cannot use voice and data at the same time on Verizon's networks (Well, at least not on an iPhone, some other phones do allow this) I use this feature a lot (when I am not on WiFi, just out with my phone talking to someone and looking up something that we are talking about: movie plans, directions, etc)

That (and the unlimited data plan I still have from AT&T) are the only things keeping me from moving to Verizon. If AT&T ever decides to bump grandfathered users like me I would make the switch.

----------

Using the internet while you talk on the phone is overrated.

Unless you want to look up something while talking to someone on the phone. Maybe the other person has that ability and can look it up for you.

I use this feature all the time, so do many others. I do know a lot of people do not (many rarely use their iPhones as phones, so this does not matter to them) but I do not assume everyone should do as I do and would hope those who do not don't assume that of me.

 

[kdarling]

A key issue with deploying Voice over LTE on Verizon is that there's no CDMA fallback mechanism. If you're on VoLTE and leave LTE coverage, the call will drop, even if there's a strong CDMA signal. So, Verizon has to come close to matching LTE coverage with that of CDMA.

Right, which is what they're doing.

On networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, it's possible (with quite a bit of work) to do a fallback from VoLTE to HSPA+.

Yep, circuit switched fallback. The downside of which is that the call+data then stay on 3G until the data session ends. (There's no automatic return to LTE in the middle of the session.)

 

[giantfan1224]

Using the internet while you talk on the phone is overrated.

I use it all the time on AT&T. In fact, I use it all the time I'm sure without realizing it. If I had to switch to Verizon, that's when I'd notice how much I use it.

Me on my iPhone on AT&T with my brother: "What time is the game tomorrow? Oh wait, let me check. It's at 5:00 PM. What time should I pick you up?"

Me on my iPhone on Verizon with my brother: "What time is the game tomorrow? I'll check and call you back".

Lame.

 

[croooow]

I use it all the time on AT&T. In fact, I use it all the time I'm sure without realizing it. If I had to switch to Verizon, that's when I'd notice how much I use it.

Me on my iPhone on AT&T with my brother: "What time is the game tomorrow? Oh wait, let me check. It's at 5:00 PM. What time should I pick you up?"

Me on my iPhone on Verizon with my brother: "What time is the game tomorrow? Wanting to know that while we are talking with each other is overrated".

Lame.

Fixed that for you

 

[HMI]

3.9 million?

Not bad, Verizon!

That's an easy million subscribers more than Adobe managed to lose all of its Customer information for.

 

[giantfan1224]

Fixed that for you

Ironic how Verizon takes the brunt for that disadvantage when it's Apple that won't provide the dual radios like other smartphone manufacturers have.

 

[DougTheImpaler]

They likely have a couple of low end android or windows phone models that don't have LTE also, I just tried to look through their devices but they have so many and the layout is so odd its hard to do it

All the post-paid smartphones that they currently offer other than the 4S have LTE. Even their other free-on-contract phones have LTE. The only exceptions are their prepaid devices. So if they're counting prepaid then yes. If they're not, then that's it.

 

[djtech42]

Verizon's LTE coverage is amazing

 

[Popeye206]

Using the internet while you talk on the phone is overrated.

Not in my world... I love this feature and use it often while talking.

Anyway... looking good for Apple on the sales end... should be a good earnings announcement this month.

 

[lpoulain]

Here's a question for you Verizon guys...

I'm thinking of making the jump from an iPhone 4 on AT&T to a 5s (or next year a 6) on Verizon's LTE network. When you're on LTE, can you do simultaneous phone & data? I use that all the time.

What happens if you lose your LTE signal? Does this happen often?

Any help is appreciated.

No on the simultaneous voice and data. I almost never lose LTE in my corner of the Bay Area, so I can't offer anything useful there.

 

[croooow]

Ironic how Verizon takes the brunt for that disadvantage when it's Apple that won't provide the dual radios like other smartphone manufacturers have.

I did mention that in a post just above the one you quoted:

You cannot use voice and data at the same time on Verizon's networks (Well, at least not on an iPhone, some other phones do allow this)

 

[giantfan1224]

I did mention that in a post just above the one you quoted:

My point is, it tends to be viewed as a negative in Verizon vs. AT&T and not a negative in Apple vs. other smartphone manufacturers. I wonder if there is a whole lot of persuading on AT&T's part to not have Apple include dual radios.

 

[D.T.]

Here's a question for you Verizon guys...

I'm thinking of making the jump from an iPhone 4 on AT&T to a 5s (or next year a 6) on Verizon's LTE network. When you're on LTE, can you do simultaneous phone & data? I use that all the time.

What happens if you lose your LTE signal? Does this happen often?

Any help is appreciated.

We were on AT&T for years, but just didn't have any kind of reception here at the World HQ, and we wanted to bail on our landline service. We switched to Verizon at the time we purchased our iPhone 5s last year (that's 2 iPhone 5, not iPhone 5s ) and we now get decent-to-good voice (AT&T was _none_), and the LTE coverage everywhere I go is fantastic (Northeast coast of Florida, VA/DC, Atlanta). I also noted the voice quality is much better (comparing good vs. good signal), but we also swapped phones, so the iP5 may just be much better in that capacity.

Once in LTE, I really haven't seen it drop, and that's while doing things like remote access to servers, sharing code, email, etc., really beating on it with a lot of concurrent services (that are connection sensitive, so any outage would be noted).

No to simultaneous voice and data, but you know what? It hasn't really been an issue for me. If I'm around the homestead, I get voice+ data when I'm on WiFi, when I'm tethering, I'm usually using a different communication mechanism (iMessage, G+/Hangouts, EMail), and when I'm using just the phone, I'm either doing something data related, or making a quick voice call. That was a big hangup for me about switching, I was worried it would interfere, but about a month or two before we made the switch, I took note of how many times I needed it (and AT&T I could've done it), and the answer was none ... none times

The price for us was the same out of pocket, but technically better since the shared data plan includes tethering on both phones (though that doesn't really come up TBH). We're doing a shared 4GB data, unlimited text/talk, all the other odds and end services.

 

[croooow]

My point is, it tends to be viewed as a negative in Verizon vs. AT&T and not a negative in Apple vs. other smartphone manufacturers. I wonder if there is a whole lot of persuading on AT&T's part to not have Apple include dual radios.

I think it has more to do with Apple obsession with keeping their devices as thin as possible. The iPhone 5 with dual radios (to allow Voice and Data at the same time) would mean a slightly thicker phone.

Also, I don't see people blaming Verizon directly, they just choose another carrier that does not have that restriction (if that is a deal breaker and they want an iPhone)