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Verizon Says Short iPhone Lines Due to Strong Online Sales, Staggered Rollout

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The Wall Street Journal reports on an interview with Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead, who claims that short lines for the public launch of the Verizon iPhone were the result of an intentional effort to push sales to online distribution and to stagger availability, not due to poor sales.
Verizon first offered pre-orders of the phone to existing customers on Feb. 3, and then began selling it in stores one week later. Mr. Mead said the company staggered the launch of the Apple Inc. device in phases so that customers would have a smooth purchasing experience. "It was a conscious decision to spread the launch over three phases," said Mr. Mead.

Mr. Mead said more than 60% of iPhone sales occurred online. That heavy activity online contributed to short lines on launch day, which were noted by many news outlets. "If we had not done online, you would have seen a much different flow in the pictures," he said. In a few days, the company will double the number of stores that sell the iPhone, going from 4,000 to 8,000.
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Mead declined, however, to announce specific sales figures for the Verizon iPhone, choosing to wait for the company's next earnings release to share numbers.

Mead also reported that Verizon expects Apple to offer devices compatible with the carrier's new 4G LTE network, although he declined to offer information on which product lines they might be and when they might be released.
"You'll see more coming from Apple on LTE," he said. "They understand the value proposition of LTE and I feel very confident that they are going to be a part of it."
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The interview comes just as Consumer Reports announces that the Verizon iPhone possesses an antenna issue similar to that found on the original iPhone 4, although the strength of Verizon's network makes the issue less noticeable to users.

Article Link: Verizon Says Short iPhone Lines Due to Strong Online Sales, Staggered Rollout
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/02/25/verizon-says-short-iphone-lines-due-to-strong-online-sales-staggered-rollout/
MacRumors said:
The interview comes just as Consumer Reports announces that the Verizon iPhone possesses an antenna issue similar to that found on the original iPhone 4, although the strength of Verizon's network makes the issue less noticeable to users.
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I think Consumer Reports is holding the iPhone too close to the wrong orfice.

"Can you hear me now?"
 
Since this is not directly important to... anyone here, why isn't this on page 2? This is the type of article a Verizon blog would post to convince people to buy shares. The iPhone will be immensely popular on any carrier it acquires, regardless of immediate sales. :apple:
 
Good numbers would have been part of the announcement. Poor numbers will be delayed until they have to reveal them.

Is confusion/anticipation over iPhone 5 impacting sales? I think yes.
 
Salacion said:
Anyone else see this as an excuse?
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It's funny - glanced at our local Verizon store last night - expected big iPhone signs/posters in the windows. Not a thing. They were advertising some windows and some android phone.

I'm not sure what kind of strategy that is...
 
I think the early ordering early adopters both from Verizon first, then from AT&T switchers, accounts for most of the early adopter traffic. The folks on the margin with AT&T or newly aware customers of iPhone with a bias to Verizon, account for the constant flow since.

AT&T's leg up as a result of the iPhone exclusivity arrangement was both huge and mostly permanent. As AT&T coverage and signal strength equals or exceeds Verizon's in 2012 with LTE, there will be closer parity. I feel they should enter into a mutual roaming strategy for customers' benefit for a small fee, or with two separate accounts (multi-homing) with a rules API and load monitoring.

I personally am surprised/disappointed by the lack of "excess demand" to fill even a few lines. There were none. That fact is real and why AAPL is better than VZW

Rocketman
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

An LTE iPad 2 maybe? Or is he hinting at the next-gen iPhone?
 
The true story is in the sales numbers but I believe them. With the pre-sale, Apple sales, and sales in retail stores other than Verizon's, the buyers were split up.

I waited in line at a Verizon store this time, just as I had waited in a line at an AT&T store when the iPhone first came out, and the line was much shorter this time, but I think it's because there were so many other ways to buy. It's easier to click than to get up early!
 
Uh... OK

What about all the blocking out of vacations of Verizon and Apple Store employees and the observed 20/1 ratios of VZ iPhone buyers to Apple Store employees?

Sounds like revisionist history to me.
 
I bought mine online from Verizon on the third. So much easier than standing in line at a store. Plus I got mine on Monday the seventh opposed to Thursday the tenth. Sounds like a win win to me. :)
 
techweenie said:
Good numbers would have been part of the announcement. Poor numbers will be delayed until they have to reveal them.

Is confusion/anticipation over iPhone 5 impacting sales? I think yes.
Click to expand...

Here's the reason, as I see it: People that wanted an iPhone on AT&T got one. People that wanted an iPhone with Verizon got an Android, for the most part. The slim number that sat on their hands bought an iPhone on Verizon at the time of availability.

So, I, like many, are waiting for the Android/Verizon contract to run out so I can get a real phone. It can't happen soon enough to suit me, but danged if I'm going to toss a mediocre phone for a better one if the cost of change it too high.
 

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jam3andy said:
What about all the blocking out of vacations of Verizon and Apple Store employees and the observed 20/1 ratios of VZ iPhone buyers to Apple Store employees?

Sounds like revisionist history to me.
Click to expand...

Uhhh...and what about the fact it was colder than snake ***** for most of the USA on that day too??? Not a good time to go camp out in line.
 
I actually wish more companies would take this approach. Waiting in line to hand a company hundreds of dollars is getting ridiculous. Unless they're handing out $100 bills at the end of the line, I won't be in it.
 
I'm sure it's this plus the phone is 8 months old anyway. I'm willing to bet a good percentage of people who were waiting on the 4 decided to wait for the 5.
 
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