This isn't an Android handset
karma (n) :
the belief that all of your actions will have equal reprecussions, affecting you.
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Verizon Could Face Up to $14 Billion in Unsold iPhone Purchase Commitments for 2013
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karma (n) :
the belief that all of your actions will have equal reprecussions, affecting you.
Unlimited Data
Selling that many iPhones is easy.... Offer all new upgrades of iPhone to either keep or regain their unlimited data plan. I know MANY people that have stayed with AT&T even though they have a far inferior network around here just so they can keep their unlimited plan.
UTG
Selling that many iPhones is easy.... Offer all new upgrades of iPhone to either keep or regain their unlimited data plan. I know MANY people that have stayed with AT&T even though they have a far inferior network around here just so they can keep their unlimited plan.
UTG
Far inferior? Lol.. There are so many variables..
Hope you have Verizon LTE everywhere you go because lord knows CDMA 3G sucks.
It's VZ's store reps fault. Any time you go into a Verizon store, they immediately try to turn you to Android. I went to check out the Galaxy S4 a few weeks ago since I'm up for a new phone, and the rep told me that he's "used an iPhone 5S and it's very buggy." LOL! Seems like they'll try any tactic to turn you away from an iPhone. I know the reps make larger commissions on other devices, but in the end Verizon will suffer with this huge purchase commitment.
I'd assume that they have signed a contract, and if Verizon really had signed a valid, enforceable contract so it owes $14bn to Apple, then that kind of action would quickly lead to bankruptcy. Which in turn would lead to Apple buying the company very cheaply.
the problem is ultimately Verizon's pricing. They charge way too much for way too little. The only people I know who use Verizon are generally IT professionals who are getting their phone bill paid by their employer.
for everybody else where the topic has come up, the most common refrain i hear from them is "i like verizon's network but they just cost too much"
for everybody else where the topic has come up, the most common refrain i hear from them is "i like verizon's network but they just cost too much"
Leap Wireless (Cricket) is reportedly in a similar, but much smaller situation: they're on track to be left with $100 million worth of unsold iPhones.
They have a good excuse though. They were selling them full price (no subsidy), which is a lot harder to do in the US. And customers were leaving them, so they had fewer potential buyers.
They have a good excuse though. They were selling them full price (no subsidy), which is a lot harder to do in the US. And customers were leaving them, so they had fewer potential buyers.
Well if it just goes back to commission and Verizon has this disaster staring at them, then they simply change their commission structure.
The article talks about Apple not making them pay this fine, but I suspect what it really means is not demanding that this get paid all at once at the end of the year. Apple would let Verizon pay it off over time at a nominal interest rate.
Also, lets not forget that sales are up 25% year over year for first quarter. And there is going to be the traditional tremendous demand when iPhone 5S comes out. Verizon could catch up dramatically during that release quarter.
Also, I love this news for Apple's stock. If the other carriers have similar deals where they are guaranteeing huge increase in iPhone sales, then I don't see how Apple doesn't beat last years $41 billion in revenue. That doesn't fit with Wall Street estimates and the current stock price which is predicting decreasing Apple revenue.
The article talks about Apple not making them pay this fine, but I suspect what it really means is not demanding that this get paid all at once at the end of the year. Apple would let Verizon pay it off over time at a nominal interest rate.
Also, lets not forget that sales are up 25% year over year for first quarter. And there is going to be the traditional tremendous demand when iPhone 5S comes out. Verizon could catch up dramatically during that release quarter.
Also, I love this news for Apple's stock. If the other carriers have similar deals where they are guaranteeing huge increase in iPhone sales, then I don't see how Apple doesn't beat last years $41 billion in revenue. That doesn't fit with Wall Street estimates and the current stock price which is predicting decreasing Apple revenue.
They used to have to do that to sell any phone other than the iPhone. Now, apparently, that is not the case.
Michael
You sort of missed the whole point. The phone doesn't matter. The commission is the focus. Substitute any phone you'd like for the HTC One.
They wouldnt be having this problem if Apple produced a quality assortment of phones and a competent mobile OS.Verizon's inability to sell contracts is directly related to Apple's slow, lumbering dinosaur ways.
It really is crazy....I've had several friends walk into a VZW store with money in their hand to buy an iPhone as their first smartphone and walked out with a Galaxy S3. It's clear that the reps are making an effort to sell other devices when they have a definite sale standing in front of them that needs no convincing to buy an iPhone. Usually you don't try to talk a guaranteed sale into something else.
And as always Verizon will pass on the bill to the consumer.
If you ask me they shot themselves in the foot with the terrible data plans they offer. I have numerous family and friends that refuse to go the smartphone route because they don't want to pay the high data costs of these plans.
If you ask me they shot themselves in the foot with the terrible data plans they offer. I have numerous family and friends that refuse to go the smartphone route because they don't want to pay the high data costs of these plans.
Exactly, if they put their unlimited plan back, I will be back in a heart beat...I have 3 teenagers on my family plan, I cannot afford for them to go over and pay the penalty
Ahem. It seems that Verizon signed a contract to buy and pay for a certain number of iPhones, no matter how many they actual sell. If this story is correct, then Apple actually has them by the balls and can squeeze hard whenever they want.
The two possibilities are a massive push by Verizon to sell all the iPhones they can sell at any cost, or Apple becoming a majority shareholder in Verizon.
And usually if you have your mind set on an iPhone you buy it regardless of how someone tries to convince you otherwise.
Some of the responsibility falls with Apple. Customers desiring iPhone don't understand they can originate or renew the contract at an Apple Store. I have friends who renewed at the carrier's location and got the don't get iPhone song and dance. They don't understand they can get the same deal at Apple.
One person in particular went for an iPhone 4 at no cost recently. He did not believe he could so this at Apple closer to his home than the VZW store. He got his first iPhone. They signed him up for a class. He arrived and it was an intro to Android.
This guy is not unintelligent. He's a retired MD.
Apple needs to promote iPhone activations and contract renewals in their own stores. Walking into an Apple store and passing tables of iPhones doesn't seem to get this done.
Apple needs to make this known to customers.
One person in particular went for an iPhone 4 at no cost recently. He did not believe he could so this at Apple closer to his home than the VZW store. He got his first iPhone. They signed him up for a class. He arrived and it was an intro to Android.
This guy is not unintelligent. He's a retired MD.
Apple needs to promote iPhone activations and contract renewals in their own stores. Walking into an Apple store and passing tables of iPhones doesn't seem to get this done.
Apple needs to make this known to customers.
So it's OK to be talked into an iPhone by a sales rep, but nothing else? OK, good to know, got it.
It's not good news for anyone selling iPhones if Verizon is stuck with a lot of iPhones that they do not want. They might have to sell them at clearance prices.