Rumor: Initial sales of Apple's Verizon iPhone 4 disappoint

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
A new report that purports to show initial sales of the Verizon iPhone 4 claims that device's launched failed to meet the expectations of both Apple and Verizon.



Boy Genius Report cited an alleged Apple source on Wednesday in a report that claims first-week Verizon iPhone sales performed "a little under what Apple and Verizon anticipated." The source also provided figures that claim to show sales totals from five Apple stores, showing that Verizon iPhone sales by the device's fifth day of availability barely exceeded AT&T.



The figures purported to be from five Apple stores include "two very, very prominent" locations, and show in-store sales of 909 Verizon iPhones on the device's first day of availability, compared to 539 AT&T handsets. By the next Monday, the stores allegedly sold a collective total of 711 Verizon iPhone 4 models, while 618 handsets were sold on AT&T's network.



The site also claimed that online pre-orders between Verizon and Apple totaled about 550,000 units. Neither Apple nor Verizon have announced sales figures for the handset, which went on sale Feb. 10, though first-day preorders for existing Verizon customers quickly sold out. In addition, the carrier said that the iPhone 4 broke its sales records in just 2 hours.



Wednesday's report also claims that 30 percent of Verizon iPhone buyers were Android users switching to Apple's handset, while just over a quarter were coming from Research in Motion's BlackBerry platform. Just 14 percent of Verizon iPhone buyers were said to be AT&T iPhone owners switching carriers.



Apple's silence on Verizon iPhone 4 sales stands in contract to the initial debut of the iPhone 4 last June, when Apple revealed that it sold 1.7 million handsets in just the first three days of availability. This month's debut of the CDMA iPhone 4 was on just one carrier, while last year's GSM iPhone 4 was introduced in the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K. and Japan.



Various accounts from across the U.S. indicated that lines at Verizon and Apple stores were modest when the CDMA iPhone 4 went on sale earlier this month. RBC analyst Mike Abramsky said that checks with 40 different Verizon retail stores found that the launch was healthy but not a "blowout."



The analyst has forecast that Apple will sell one million of the Verizon iPhone 4 in its first week of availability. As of Wednesday, customers had a total of six full days to buy the handset at a retail store.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 118
    Big deal. They're still selling anyways.
  • Reply 2 of 118
    Not everyone is going to cancel their contract in the first week.



    Especially considering the well-publicized shortages of the iPhone 4 when it first came out.
  • Reply 3 of 118
    Personally, I'll be waiting for the next version of the iphone, after all it is only like March, April, May away. It'll be worth the wait, already waited this long.
  • Reply 4 of 118
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    There's no way you can predict these sales numbers. Any analyst who puts a concrete number on this thing is an amateur.
  • Reply 5 of 118
    as much as I like Apple, I hope this serves as a wake up call that despite all of their research for this potential market, they shouldn't think they are a stronger player than they are.
  • Reply 6 of 118
    Apple claimed they released the CDMA iPhone 4 because Verizon customers demanded it now and couldn't wait for the iPhone 5.



    Looks like they were wrong.
  • Reply 7 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Architapier View Post


    Personally, I'll be waiting for the next version of the iphone, after all it is only like March, April, May away. It'll be worth the wait, already waited this long.



    Bingo. i wouldn't purchase an iPhone in February knowing that new models are released in June/July.

    [i hope that's the big reason, and not the competition of android phones with advanced features... you know, like a kickstand]
  • Reply 8 of 118
    Retail store lines and sales may be below expectations, but is that because fewer people are buying the Verizon iPhone than expected OR is it because fewer people are buying it through retail outlets? By all accounts, it has been far easier to buy the iPhone on-line than it was last summer when the iPhone 4 came out on AT&T.



    Until we hear from Apple I think it will be very hard to get an accurate picture of what's going on.
  • Reply 9 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacVicta View Post


    Apple claimed they released the CDMA iPhone 4 because Verizon customers demanded it now and couldn't wait for the iPhone 5.



    Looks like they were wrong.



    I think Apple coming to Verizon was more about stopping/slowing the momentum of Android than it was about selling more phones.



    There are many people waiting for iphone 5 and many that are in contracts that they can't justify getting out of. Iphone 5 should be the real numbers, and I predict it will be record sales again.



    Look at all the free advertising apple is currently getting from att and verizon, this was the real genius of bringing it out when they did. While we wait for iphone 5 all we see are iphone commercials and nearly zero android commercials
  • Reply 10 of 118
    I guess these were people who were waiting for Iphone on Verizon for last 3 years! . Verizon didn't go out of their way to give early upgrades or offers to switch so not every one is tempted to switch to iphone which they know is due revision in couple of months .



    And AT&T played it well by giving discounts on the phones to get the few remaining potential customers with some money left after holidays
  • Reply 11 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by desarc View Post


    Bingo. i wouldn't purchase an iPhone in February knowing that new models are released in June/July.

    [i hope that's the big reason, and not the competition of android phones with advanced features... you know, like a kickstand]



    how do you guys decide it's time to wait for the new phone? <6 months away?
  • Reply 12 of 118
    How many blogs posted that people should NOT buy the Verizon iPhone because a new version is due out a few months? This (low sales) should not really be a surprise, tho does it count the pre-sales numbers?
  • Reply 13 of 118
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    They keep using the initial launch of the iPhone to compare the launch of the Verizon phone. Which is a false comparison for theatrics.



    The more relevant comparison would be the Verizon iPhone against other phones that Verizon currently sells. How well is it selling against those?
  • Reply 14 of 118
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    In comparison to most phones the Verizon iPhone numbers are good. They just don't look as good as when compared to the stratospheric initial launch numbers of iPhone. No other phone comes anywhere near those types of numbers.



    Its a nonsensical comparison anyway.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by OriginalG View Post


    as much as I like Apple, I hope this serves as a wake up call that despite all of their research for this potential market, they shouldn't think they are a stronger player than they are.



  • Reply 15 of 118
    I got off AT&T about a year, enjoying my Driod but will be replacing it with an iPhone 5 when it arrives on Verizon later this year. No need to rush out and get locked into a contract for the soon to be replaced model. I actually can't believe they did as well as this.
  • Reply 16 of 118
    Really this is not a surprise at all. With anticipation of iPhone 5 only months away and people already in contracts with other phones we can't expect anywhere near the original iPhone 4 numbers. When we see an iPhone 5 launch with AT&T and Verizon side by side then we can talk.
  • Reply 17 of 118
    People now have a choice to use the carrier that best for them. That's the important thing. I'm sure Apple and Verizon and AT&T will all make a lot of money so everybody wins. It should have been this way from the start. Even better, open the iPhone to all carriers and let everybody enjoy this amazing device.
  • Reply 18 of 118
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    I don't think Apple has much concern about stopping or slowing the growth of Android.



    If anything the more Android phones that are made the better for Apple. As Android grows it becomes a more fragmented and incoherent platform.



    The more fragmented and incoherent Android becomes the better iOS looks for developers and users.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bcahill009 View Post


    I think Apple coming to Verizon was more about stopping/slowing the momentum of Android than it was about selling more phones.



  • Reply 19 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TenoBell View Post


    In comparison to most phones the Verizon iPhone numbers are good. They just don't look as good as when compared to the stratospheric initial launch numbers of iPhone. No other phone comes anywhere near those types of numbers.



    Its a nonsensical comparison anyway.



    I think the point is that if Apple expected a massive amount of buyers (maybe not as much as an initial launch, but still a large number), then they failed. Hopefully this means they don't have an excess of inventory built up if weak sales are true
  • Reply 20 of 118
    I think that there were a few unhappy (loud and vocal too) AT&T customers. But for most people, Verizon was not seen as a better choice.



    As each day passes, more information on the lack of Verizon iPhone features surface. This was on 9-to-5 Mac today:







    Maybe, just maybe, customers are smart. Maybe people realize that Verizon's CDMA network has crippled the iPhone (lack of speed, lack of concurrent voice/data, lack of global coverage, lack of "real" conference call ability and management (no drop, no swap, no more than 2 calls)).



    Here was an opening day at an Apple Store....embarrassing for Apple.



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUaFywhywjA
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