Verizon iPhone 4 launch healthy, not "blowout"

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  • Reply 21 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple is delaying [online] Verizon iPhone shipments until Feb 18



    I just received shipping notification for the order I finished at 3:07 EST on the 9th. Fedex says it will arrive Monday.
  • Reply 22 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by noexpectations View Post


    "What do I use my smartphone for?"



    Phone calls.....then Verizon is best.

    Apps/Internet....then AT&T is best.



    True. But if you have access to WiFi 99% of the day as I do, then that mostly wipes out AT&T's biggest advantage.
  • Reply 23 of 45
    The media has turned the Verizon iPhone launch into:



    No lines = no demand = Verizon iPhone failure



    Ignorant jackasses trying to spin controversy to short Apple.
  • Reply 24 of 45
    Apple sells 1 million phones in first week through preorders and online buying with modest or no lines at stores = failure



    Any other phone manufacturer sells 35,000 phones in first week with absolutely zero lines = smashing success
  • Reply 25 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lilgto64 View Post


    And what is up with folks no eBay listing items for $20 plus $550 shipping?



    Saves on final value fees. And if there is a problem , you only have to reimburse the final price, not the shipping.
  • Reply 26 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Meurglys View Post


    More likely because of all the new Android phones with 4G, dual core, beautiful OLED screens, etc. that are mere weeks away. I bet a lot of people will go into a Verizon store for an iPhone and end up walking out with an Android phone. Not only will they be more powerful and lower priced, but it's in Verizon's interest to push Android versus iPhone because they have more control. That might have been part of Verizon's strategy from the beginning. Carry the iPhone to get them in the door, but then try to sell them Android whenever possible.



    That happens all the time over at the ATT stores - oh wait, well maybe not so much. 4G (in whatever flavor it is being deployed) won't be "ready for primetime" widely across the network - so your 4G droidy phones will languish in 3G hell except for those markets where ATT or Verizon get it operational over the next year. Depending on where you are at, you may not see 4G for a year or longer. And yeah - people love watching their purchase of their last device devalue as the carrier deliver newer ones with the latest tech and don't deliver the updates for the older models. Lots of consumers love it when that happens. And it happens alot for Android devices.
  • Reply 27 of 45
    mennomenno Posts: 854member
    Existing customers could pre-order the phone. A lot of Customers are still locked into contract with ATT/Verizon so they can't upgrade yet and heaven forbid they pay retail.



    The iPhone will sell a lot of units on verizon, but it's going to be a trickle of customers, not some huge wave at the start. Also remember that MOST stores (most verizon locations are retailers) don't even have the device yet.



    Early year is a weird time to launch a high end device because it's out of the upgrade cycle for most customers. Expect more as people start getting their upgrades, and as tax returns start flowing back in.
  • Reply 28 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fecklesstechguy View Post


    oh wait, well maybe not so much. 4G (in whatever flavor it is being deployed) won't be "ready for primetime" widely across the network - so your 4G droidy phones will languish in 3G hell except for those markets where ATT or Verizon get it operational over the next year.



    Yeah, Verizon 4G is only available now in tiny markets like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Houston, etc. etc. (plus in 60+ airports) No iphone users in those places
  • Reply 29 of 45
    ...is what many Verizon staff should be saying, becasue they are shooting themselves in the foot with many long time customers. Instead of running partial deals for customers who have stayed with them for four years waiting for the iphone, but had to update within the past two years because their old phone was dying, Verizon staff is flatly saying "less than two years, you pay retail."

    I'd be willing to pay the early termination fee on all four of my family phones to upgrade to new two year contracts, but Verizon won't offer that. Ironically, that's exactly the deal I can get by going to AT&T. Then Verizon loses their current income from me, plus the $120 a month additional from the data upgrade.

    Extremely short sighted.
  • Reply 30 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by island hermit View Post


    Apple sells 1 million phones in first week through preorders and online buying with modest or no lines at stores = failure



    Any other phone manufacturer sells 35,000 phones in first week with absolutely zero lines = smashing success



    It's somewhat of an embarrassment for Verizon and slightly less so for Apple when sales pale in comparison to what AT&T has done. That's where the bar is set. All along, Verizon has been bragging about their network and were probably confident about stealing AT&T customers, but it doesn't appear that is happening. My guess would be that less than 0.5% of AT&T iphone users defected.



    Verizon has yet to announce any sales figures, which is a pretty sure sign of a disappointing launch. Still, it's their best launch ever which means it beat out the Droid X and could be considered 'a win'.
  • Reply 31 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bstring View Post


    It's somewhat of an embarrassment for Verizon and slightly less so for Apple when sales pale in comparison to what AT&T has done. That's where the bar is set. All along, Verizon has been bragging about their network and were probably confident about stealing AT&T customers, but it doesn't appear that is happening. My guess would be that less than 0.5% of AT&T iphone users defected.



    Verizon has yet to announce any sales figures, which is a pretty sure sign of a disappointing launch. Still, it's their best launch ever which means it beat out the Droid X and could be considered 'a win'.



    The Verizon iPhone has been out for a week. I think it makes sense to give AT&T users time for their contracts to expire before switching.
  • Reply 32 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post


    The media has turned the Verizon iPhone launch into:



    No lines = no demand = Verizon iPhone failure



    Ignorant jackasses trying to spin controversy to short Apple.



    So, you have evidence that a federal crime has been committed?
  • Reply 33 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bstring View Post


    It's somewhat of an embarrassment for Verizon and slightly less so for Apple when sales pale in comparison to what AT&T has done. That's where the bar is set. All along, Verizon has been bragging about their network and were probably confident about stealing AT&T customers, but it doesn't appear that is happening. My guess would be that less than 0.5% of AT&T iphone users defected.



    Verizon has yet to announce any sales figures, which is a pretty sure sign of a disappointing launch. Still, it's their best launch ever which means it beat out the Droid X and could be considered 'a win'.



    Verizon has always been slow and steady. Just like a river that keeps flowing, the iphone sales numbers will continue to grow.



    Anyone remember when the Droid was launched on Verizon? It was supposedly the iPhone killer. There were no long lines on launch day and therefore it was deemed a failure. Could never compete with the iphone. Now all of a sudden some people are claiming that Android is going to eat Apple's lunch. Not quite. It's not even a fair comparison to put countless android OPERATING SYSTEM phones up against a single Apple phone.



    Severe Android fragmentation is already here and growing. That alone will mute the Android platform.



    On a side note I see Nokia has teamed up with Microsoft. Two has beens adding up to one big has been. LOL........
  • Reply 34 of 45
    normmnormm Posts: 653member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    However, the number of people forced to wait long lines at retail stores was likely reduced by a successful round of pre-orders, which didn't occur in conjunction with the AT&T iPhone 4 launch last summer.



    This may be part of the reason, but personally I lined up for the iPhone 4 at an Apple store when it went on sale to share the excitement and anticipation with other iPhone fans eager to get the new device. It seems to me that if you are someone who is excited enough about the iPhone to be willing to line up in cold weather for it, you are not likely to also be someone who waited patiently for four years to get it. I never expected long lines for exactly this reason.
  • Reply 35 of 45
    If I could add WalMart stores, 2,000 Best Buy outlets, several thousand Radio Shack stores etc. to my distribution network, I'd kind of expect less sales per store myself. In addition, AT&T did everything it could to facilitate sales by allowing early turn-ins on shorter contract lengths to tie up customers from easily transferring to Verizon in anticipation of this. Verizon does not appear to have taken any special steps in that direction, so smart people will only buy when their current contract runs out. So 300 or lless Apple stores in 2007 would have long lines for a wholly new product, 2200 ATT stores + 350 apple stores had medium lines for a really improved product with early contract allowances, but 5-6,000 outlets with no contractual incentives producing very small lines for an "old" product is news? I don't think this should be any surprise. Let's compare iPhone 5 lines for a more comparable situation. In that case, ATT's iPhone4 contractual manuevering will probably hurt it's comparative iPhone5 sales because it locked in a lot of potential buyers for 2 years.
  • Reply 36 of 45
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    I have never stood in line for any phone. I've never seen the need to, doubly so if it's very hot or cold outside.
  • Reply 37 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bstring View Post


    It's somewhat of an embarrassment for Verizon and slightly less so for Apple when sales pale in comparison to what AT&T has done. That's where the bar is set. All along, Verizon has been bragging about their network and were probably confident about stealing AT&T customers, but it doesn't appear that is happening. My guess would be that less than 0.5% of AT&T iphone users defected.



    Verizon has yet to announce any sales figures, which is a pretty sure sign of a disappointing launch. Still, it's their best launch ever which means it beat out the Droid X and could be considered 'a win'.



    Why would anyone defect now? Most potential defectors are either locked in contract with ATT or will wait until a new iPhone is released. ATT didn't take customers from VZW all in one day and VZW isn't going to win them back in one day.
  • Reply 38 of 45
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bstring View Post


    It's somewhat of an embarrassment for Verizon and slightly less so for Apple when sales pale in comparison to what AT&T has done. That's where the bar is set. All along, Verizon has been bragging about their network and were probably confident about stealing AT&T customers, but it doesn't appear that is happening. My guess would be that less than 0.5% of AT&T iphone users defected.



    Verizon has yet to announce any sales figures, which is a pretty sure sign of a disappointing launch. Still, it's their best launch ever which means it beat out the Droid X and could be considered 'a win'.



    Verizon IS stealing customers --- considering that since the iphone 4 was launched --- Verizon has accumulated 100K more postpaid subscribers than AT&T. VZ doesn't need the iphone to beat AT&T in postpaid net adds --- that's embarrassment for AT&T and Apple.
  • Reply 39 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Meurglys View Post


    More likely because of all the new Android phones with 4G, dual core, beautiful OLED screens, etc. that are mere weeks away. I bet a lot of people will go into a Verizon store for an iPhone and end up walking out with an Android phone. Not only will they be more powerful and lower priced, but it's in Verizon's interest to push Android versus iPhone because they have more control. That might have been part of Verizon's strategy from the beginning. Carry the iPhone to get them in the door, but then try to sell them Android whenever possible.



    True. Verizon makes more money by using their preloaded apps on their phones. Apple does not allow for this on their phones. It has always been in Verizon's best interest to have Android phones support them. Heck, it helped Verizon when the iPhone went to AT&T. Having an iphone just allows for more customers. That's what its all about.
  • Reply 40 of 45
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post


    Why would anyone defect now? Most potential defectors are either locked in contract with ATT or will wait until a new iPhone is released. ATT didn't take customers from VZW all in one day and VZW isn't going to win them back in one day.



    With an iPhone, contracts don't matter. Example: My co-worker owed $290 on his contract. He bought the Verizon iPhone and sold his AT&T iPhone for $420. That paid for his contract and most of the price for the new phone. iPhones sell for alot 2 years after they are out. They are almost never obsolete. One operating system, 4 types of phones. Many google phones, many different operating systems. Not all google phones are the same latest system. I worked at Apple and now Verizon, I know.
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