iPhone luring more customers to AT&T than ever - report

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Long considered a lure for carriers, Apple's iPhone is now believed to be attracting a full third of those switching providers towards AT&T -- the highest ever percentage of converts since the iPhone was released.



Of the 13 percent of ChangeWave's panel looking to leave existing cellular providers within the next half year, 33 percent say they will move to AT&T when the time comes versus 24 percent headed towards Verizon.



The figure is a record for AT&T and is even higher than spikes seen in July 2007 and June 2008, both falling roughly in line with Apple's launch plans for new iPhones in each circumstance. Verizon's tally itself was a modest 2-point increase, but the carrier hasn't once passed AT&T in demand since the original iPhone was unveiled in early 2007.



Researchers also observe that AT&T customers are less likely to defect, as 9 percent are strongly considering jumping ship while 11 percent of Verizon customers are less than happy with their experience.







The same can't be said for the actual quality of service, however. Even as exactly half of respondents using Verizon were "very satisfied" with their service, AT&T could only boast 31 percent and is in a dead heat with Sprint and T-Mobile.



Verizon's network was perceived to be more reliable, too, as just 1.8 percent of its subscribers reported dropped calls while 3.3 percent reported the same with AT&T.



As such, the results create an unusual tension for AT&T where it regularly attracts customers but has a harder time pleasing them once they've signed aboard. It isn't as much of a dilemma with the iPhone as an exclusive, the analysts say, but the difference in quality could hurt AT&T's lead if it no longer has sole rights.







And while AT&T is rumored to be negotiating an extension of its iPhone exclusive until 2011, ChangeWave notes countering reports of Verizon possibly landing phone-like devices of its own, any of which could give AT&T "plenty to worry about" in the marketplace. Either way, AT&T and Verizon aren't viewed as the real victors.



"There?s one clear winner here no matter which way the Apple falls from the tree -- it?s the Apple," the report maintains.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 77
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Long considered a lure for carriers, Apple's iPhone is now believed to be attracting a full third of those switching providers towards AT&T ...



    And all those that will flock away once iphone is no longer exclusively with at&t.
  • Reply 2 of 77
    steviet02steviet02 Posts: 594member
    Pretty sad commentary on the state of the cell carriers here in the US when 50% satisfaction is leading the pack.
  • Reply 3 of 77
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Verizon's network was perceived to be more reliable, too, as just 1.8 percent of its subscribers reported dropped calls while 3.3 percent reported the same with AT&T.



    The Teckstudian Research Group, Inc. has been telling us for a couple years now that Verizon?s dropped calls are 0.0% and that AT&T?s dropped calls are 100%. Which one should we believe?





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by johnmcboston View Post


    And all those that will flock away once iphone is no longer exclusively with at&t.



    By then they should have converted their 700MHz spectrum to 850MHz, increased general coverage areas, added more 3G and upped their 3G data rates significantly by then. However, Apple is still adding exclusive carriers in countries that are all GSM/WCDMA-based networks and have reportedly worked with different Chinese carriers for exclusivity which means that, so far, there is no evidence that Apple wants to go hog wild in cell phone market with carrier cooperation.
  • Reply 4 of 77
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    That may all be true, but I think it's important that we all wait until we hear what tekstud has to say.
  • Reply 5 of 77
    str1f3str1f3 Posts: 573member
    the sooner Apple gets away from AT&T, the better. I don't know why it is such a burden for Apple to make a CDMA phone. Every other handset manufacturer who are 1/10 the size Apple could do it. Why can't Apple? The weakest part of the iPhone will always be AT&T. They've been constantly feed us garbage that they're building up their network and there are never any performance differences.



    Apparently there are rumors going around that Apple is already pissed at AT&T because they were charging unlock prices for people who had issues when moisture leaked into the phone.
  • Reply 6 of 77
    successsuccess Posts: 1,040member
    ummm "Than ever"? lol



    yeah because the iPhone has been out for decades now. Gimme a break....more APPL propaganda. Soon enough when ALT-A comes around and the big crash comes APPL will tumble with everyone else. Btw, subprime is nothing compared to the tsunami that's coming. Fools.
  • Reply 7 of 77
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by str1f3 View Post


    the sooner Apple gets away from AT&T, the better. I don't know why it is such a burden for Apple to make a CDMA phone. Every other handset manufacturer who are 1/10 the size Apple could do it. Why can't Apple?



    Having the ability to do something doesn?t mean you should do it.



    You wonder why Apple can?t make a CDMA-based iPhone, so I?ll ask you a silly question, ?Why can?t Apple make GSM-based iPhone?? Of course, they do make one, but they only sell it to a single carrier in every country that has laws that allow them to. They now have 88 countries on board, at least 3 more coming this summer which have a single carrier tied to them, and yet most of these countries are completely GSM-based. It?s obvious that Apple?s plans are more involved than just not wanting to make a CDMA-based iPhone, otherwise all these countries will multiple GSM-based carriers would all be selling the iPhone? but they aren?t.
  • Reply 8 of 77
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    The Teckstudian Research Group, Inc. has been telling us for a couple years now that Verizon?s dropped calls are 0.0% and that AT&T?s dropped calls are 100%. Which one should we believe?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    That may all be true, but I think it's important that we all wait until we hear what tekstud has to say.



    He really is our mascot!



    From the main article:



    Quote:

    ChangeWave notes countering reports of Verizon possibly landing phone-like devices of its own



    Watch out, AT&T, Verizon is looking to start offering phone like devices! They finally figured out what they were doing wrong!
  • Reply 9 of 77
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Having the ability to do something doesn’t mean you should do it.



    You wonder why Apple can’t make a CDMA-based iPhone, so I’ll ask you a silly question, “Why can’t Apple make GSM-based iPhone?” Of course, they do make one, but they only sell it to a single carrier in every country that has laws that allow them to. They now have 88 countries on board, at least 3 more coming this summer which have a single carrier tied to them, and yet most of these countries are completely GSM-based. It’s obvious that Apple’s plans are more involved than just not wanting to make a CDMA-based iPhone, otherwise all these countries will multiple GSM-based carriers would all be selling the iPhone… but they aren’t.



    Your logic is spot on again (you're so smart).

    Apple has exclusive contracts in every country that will allow it...

    But for those countries that don't allow it they have multiple contracts...



    The question would be, why wouldn't Apple want the iPhone on Verizon in the US.



    Wikipedia results.



    Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, owns and operates the largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, based on a total of 86.6 million U.S. subscribers,[1] ahead of AT&T Mobility's 78.2 million subscribers.[2] Verizon Wireless has the largest revenue of all United States wireless companies reporting $43.9 billion in 2007. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey,[3] the company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, with 55 and 45 percent ownership respectively.[4] On January 9, 2009, Verizon Wireless acquired Alltel Wireless in a deal valued at $28.1 billion. The acquisition expanded Verizon's wireless network to cover approximately 290 million people and established Verizon as the largest United States wireless carrier, based on number of subscribers. Alltel will remain a wholly owned subsidiary until mid 2009.[5]



    Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Wireless
  • Reply 10 of 77
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by str1f3 View Post


    the sooner Apple gets away from AT&T, the better. I don't know why it is such a burden for Apple to make a CDMA phone. Every other handset manufacturer who are 1/10 the size Apple could do it. Why can't Apple? The weakest part of the iPhone will always be AT&T. They've been constantly feed us garbage that they're building up their network and there are never any performance differences.



    Apparently there are rumors going around that Apple is already pissed at AT&T because they were charging unlock prices for people who had issues when moisture leaked into the phone.



    Apple can do it. They have a legal agreement preventing them. It won't happen at least until that agreement expires.
  • Reply 11 of 77
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Seahawk Fan View Post


    ]

    The question would be, why wouldn't Apple want the iPhone on Verizon in the US.



    Why would anyone care about that question? No one here would claim that Apple wouldn't want a Verizon iPhone. But they have a contract with ATT that makes it worth their while to keep it exclusive. It's not hard to figure out, people.
  • Reply 12 of 77
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Seahawk Fan View Post


    Apple has exclusive contracts in every country that will allow it...

    But for those countries that don't allow it they have multiple contracts...



    Um, yeah, that is what I said. Are you going to answer the question as to why they would want to have exclusive contracts with a single carrier in an all GSM-based country that excludes every other carrier in that country (even when they partner with one of those excluded carriers in other countries) if your logic is so profound?



    PS: If you are going to attempt to be belligerent toward me I really wish you’d formulate a decent argument for once.
  • Reply 13 of 77
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    Apple can do it. They have a legal agreement preventing them. It won't happen at least until that agreement expires.



    Even then it won't happen unless Verizon is willing to cede the

    amount of control to Apple that AT&T has.
  • Reply 14 of 77
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    Why would anyone care about that question? No one here would claim that Apple wouldn't want a Verizon iPhone. But they have a contract with ATT that makes it worth their while to keep it exclusive. It's not hard to figure out, people.



    But Solipsism said "Having the ability to do something doesn?t mean you should do it."



    And we all know he's alway's right...
  • Reply 15 of 77
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Um, yeah, that is what I said. Are you going to answer the question as to why they would want to have exclusive contracts with a single carrier in an all GSM-based country that excludes every other carrier in that country (even when they partner with one of those excluded carriers in other countries) if your logic is so profound?



    PS: If you are going to attempt to be belligerent toward me I really wish you?d formulate a decent argument for once.



    The point is. Why did you bother posting the obvious.
  • Reply 16 of 77
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Um, yeah, that is what I said. Are you going to answer the question as to why they would want to have exclusive contracts with a single carrier in an all GSM-based country that excludes every other carrier in that country (even when they partner with one of those excluded carriers in other countries)?



    It's self evident. Apple signed most of those contracts knowing full well the popularity of the iPhone. So the only possible reason why Apple would WANT and willingly sign exclusive contracts as they have is because APPLE THINKS THAT'S THE WAY THEY WILL MAKE THE MOST PROFIT.



    Can we stop posing these stupid questions please?
  • Reply 17 of 77
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Seahawk Fan View Post


    But Solipsism said "Having the ability to do something doesn?t mean you should do it."



    And we all know he's alway's right...



    No. Not necessarily. But he's certainly always more cogent.
  • Reply 18 of 77
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Seahawk Fan View Post


    And we all know he's alway's right...



    When dealing with your arguments, absolutely.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Seahawk Fan View Post


    The point is. Why did you bother posting the obvious.



    Str1f3 asked, "Why can't Apple?? so it was apparently not obvious to him.
  • Reply 19 of 77
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    It's self evident. Apple signed most of those contracts knowing full well the popularity of the iPhone. So the only possible reason why Apple would WANT and willingly sign exclusive contracts as they have is because APPLE THINKS THAT'S THE WAY THEY WILL MAKE THE MOST PROFIT.



    Can we stop posing these stupid questions please?



    The question is not necessarily stupid. Moreover, you could be accused of exactly the same thing: it is equally self-evident that a profit-maximizing company would do something only because it will make the "most profit."



    The more interesting aspect of the question is, it invites us to think about or argue why Apple thinks this particular strategy in the US gives it the most profit.
  • Reply 20 of 77
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    That may all be true, but I think it's important that we all wait until we hear what tekstud has to say.



    agreed . i can't know what i am against until techspud posts first .
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