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CDMA iPhone 4 Sales Below Apple's Expectations?

Thursday April 28, 2011 2:54 am PDT by Arnold Kim

In an article about Pegatron's net losses for the first quarter of 2011, DigiTimes reveals that the iPhone 4 manufacturer is said to be lowering their production of CDMA (Verizon-compatible) iPhone 4s in 2011 from the originally expected 10 million units down to only 5 million units.

Meanwhile, Pegatron originally expected to ship 10 million CDMA iPhone 4s in 2011, but sources from upstream component makers pointed out that Apple's orders already saw a significant reduction and the volume is estimated to drop to only five million units.

CDMA refers to the radio technology used by Verizon for their mobile phones. The CDMA iPhone (aka Verizon iPhone) was launched in February of this year and saw 2.2 million activations in the partial first quarter of its launch. Despite the years of speculation about a Verizon-compatible iPhone, its reception may have been ultimately tempered by the late introduction in the iPhone 4's lifecycle as well as many customers still being locked into existing contracts.

Apple is widely expected to introduce a new iPhone later this year. That new iPhone will likely be a global device, incorporating both CDMA and GSM technologies into a single design.

Tag: digitimes.com
[ 114 comments ]


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aiqw9182
105 months ago
No surprises here, the majority of people are waiting for the next iPhone.
Rating: 17 Votes
Avatar
OllyW
105 months ago

No surprises here, the majority of people are waiting for the next iPhone.


Too right.

The iPhone 4 is now 10 months old, that's getting a bit long in the tooth in the ever evolving tech world. :)
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
Popeye206
105 months ago

I was really excited about the Verizon iPhone because I absolutely hate AT&T. I had Verizon for 7 years, and never dropped a single call. But I switched to AT&T when the iPhone 3GS came out, and now I drop the call on about 90% of the calls I make (no joke).

When the Verizon iPhone was announced, I was planning to decide whether to pay the ETF to AT&T and switch immediately, or wait until June when my contract was up. When I saw that the Verizon iPhone was just the iPhone 4 with a new wireless chip, it made my decision to wait a little easier.

That was Apple's first attempt at stretching the life of the iPhone 4, and apparently, people didn't bite (since CDMA phone sales didn't meet expectations). Now, they are making their second stab at extending the life of the iPhone 4 by finally releasing the white models. The problem is that they are trying to get longevity out of a design that was heavily flawed to begin with. Not only does the death grip reduce signal strength, but Apple is stubbornly refusing to integrate LTE.

I will not make the switch back to Verizon until Apple releases an iPhone with a 4G chip in it AND completely re-designs the antenna so that I can hold the phone any way I damn well please and still have good signal. It looks like I may not get that until September or Q1 2012. Well, so be it.

Apple is starting to get the attitude that they cannot make a mistake, and Android device makers are capitalizing on Apple's arrogance.


Dude... if you're dropping 90% of your calls on the iPhone 3G then you should have talked to AT&T. They would have given you a personal cell tower to fix your signal issue. Your iPhone has nothing to do with your poor signal strength.
Rating: 5 Votes
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Warbrain
105 months ago

Not surprising. Android is becoming the more dominant... thing.


Not the right reason...

I have a droid.(had iPhone on ATT but didnt get coverage at work/home) I payed an extra $100 to get the 1 year commitment in Nov 2009 just in case the CDMA iPhone came out a year later. Well it did come out a year later and my verizon contract was up. But I didnt get it because it was the same 8 month old phone and there is 0 chance I am going to get locked into a 2 year deal in january for a 8 month old phone that I wont be able to trade in until the June release 2.5 years later.

I'm surprised they are surprised.


This is. People who are or were with Verizon are now:

[LIST=1]
* Waiting for their contract to be up for renewal so they can upgrade
* Waiting for the iPhone 5
* Already switched to AT&T and may switch back once their AT&T contract is up


It's possible that once there's a new CDMA-capable iPhone and people's contracts are expiring with their Android smartphones they bought from Verizon as a stopgap that you'll see Android's share drop a bit.
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
Popeye206
105 months ago

Too right.

The iPhone 4 is now 10 months old, that's getting a bit long in the tooth in the ever evolving tech world. :)


Agreed, and I think that Android devices finally grew up into a decent alternative many people got tired of waiting and are now under contract with something else. So the available market shrunk as more people got under contract.

Even though the iPhone4 is a great phone, the iPhone 5 is needed soon to energize things. Too many people realize that the iPhone4 is nearing the end of it's life cycle.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
StayingOccupied
105 months ago
I have a droid.(had iPhone on ATT but didnt get coverage at work/home) I payed an extra $100 to get the 1 year commitment in Nov 2009 just in case the CDMA iPhone came out a year later. Well it did come out a year later and my verizon contract was up. But I didnt get it because it was the same 8 month old phone and there is 0 chance I am going to get locked into a 2 year deal in january for a 8 month old phone that I wont be able to trade in until the June release 2.5 years later.

I'm surprised they are surprised.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
Warbrain
105 months ago

Agreed, and I think that Android devices finally grew up into a decent alternative many people got tired of waiting and are now under contract with something else. So the available market shrunk as more people got under contract.

Even though the iPhone4 is a great phone, the iPhone 5 is needed soon to energize things. Too many people realize that the iPhone4 is nearing the end of it's life cycle.


This is the issue with a yearly product cycle. People begin to understand when that cycle starts over, avoid new purchases of the product, and even tell their friends and family to not buy right now.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Aduntu
105 months ago

"Just wait for the Verizon iPhone 4 numbers!"
"Just wait for the White iPhone 4 numbers!"
"Just wait for the iPhone 4S numbers!"
"Just wait for the iPhone 5 numbers!"

I'm starting to see a pattern.


For all intents and purposes, the 4S is the same thing as the iPhone 5. On top of that, I don't think anyone speculated huge sales of the white iPhone 4. So, while you may see a pattern, it's only in the comments you pulled out of your ass; not due to any factual evidence.
Rating: 2 Votes
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JAT
105 months ago
Sour Grapes?


I wanted very much to buy an iPad 2. But after seeing the dismal display and camera quality in person, and the fact that it didn't offer anything new or exciting over the iPad 1, I decided to wait for the Android tablets to hit in force and compare them to iPad 3.

What is the reasoning behind this attitude? Is this just a toy purchase? How can you have a "need" for a device that apparently doesn't exist? And then, what happens with your needs until then?

I can just see the people on this forum, if they had been alive in 1975:
"I need a phone that I can carry with me all the time. Nobody makes one! Guess I'll just never call anybody for the next 10 years."
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
LagunaSol
105 months ago

What, did Apple think that Verizon customers would warmly welcome someone who shunned them for 4 years? The customer is most important, shouldn'thave signed that exclusive contract with AT&T... relly stunted their growth in the CDMA market, people move on too...


If Apple had not signed that exclusive contract with AT&T, there would be no iPhone as we know it. Nor would there be Android as we know it. AT&T was the carrier willing to cede device control to Apple, which was a real game-changer. They required exclusivity to do it.

Android fans should be thanking Apple for that partnership, because not only did it make their own OS possible, but it also gave their OS a growth opportunity while Apple was tied down with AT&T.
Rating: 1 Votes

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