Apple iPhone No Longer Verizon's Bestselling Smartphone? [Update]

141852 Verizon logo 300
Fortune reports that Apple's iPhone has dropped from the top selling smartphone position in Verizon retail stores for the first time since the carrier started selling the device. The news comes by way of a research note from William Blair's Anil Doradla.

Doradla attributes the iPhone's fall from grace less to the usual slowdown in advance of a new model than to Verizon's aggressive marketing of competing 4G devices, particularly Motorola's Droid RAZR MAXX, which the carrier is selling for $299 with a 2-year contract.

The results are based on "channel checks" from the April-May-June quarter of 2012. The iPhone was reportedly dethroned by the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX, but remains in the number two spot ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Verizon first started carrying the iPhone in February 2011. Verizon benefited from pent up demand at launch and the subsequent launch of the iPhone 4S in October of that same year. The iPhone 4S is now 8 months since it's release with rumors that the next generation iPhone will launch this fall.

Update: A separate analyst claims that the iPhone 4S remains the top selling smarpthone at Verizon.

But that's not the case, according to Walkley, who said while the latest Razr is "gaining ground," it "hasn't caught iPhone." His own research has found the iPhone 4S as the top selling smartphone at Verizon, as well as AT&T and Sprint, for the entirety of 2012 thus far.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...

Top Rated Comments

Roessnakhan Avatar
158 months ago
With the Droid RAZR MAXX both having LTE and amazing battery life, that's no surprise.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Val-kyrie Avatar
158 months ago
Not Surprising

Our local Verizon store didn't even mention the iPhone when I went into the store to sign up for a plan; in fact, I had to ask them about the iPhone because they were only pushing Droids.

[Edit: There wasn't even an iPhone on display in the store.]
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SprodeBoy Avatar
158 months ago
I see this as good news. Sure I prefer Apple over everything else in the terms of smartphones but competition is always good and will keep Apple on its feet trying to make the next great thing.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MACdaddy859 Avatar
158 months ago
Perhaps if Apple updated their extremely outdated phone every once in a while...

Go ahead and give me a thumbs down, it's true. Apple is seriously dragging their feet with the iPhone. The 4S was an abomination. I mean come on, im using an iPhone 4 that i purchased in June 2010 the day it came out. I have it jailbroken and running siri, there's no real difference between my 2 year old phone and apple's most up to date phone. It's pathetic, and no i don't consider a bump in processor speed to be a major update. In addition to that, the screen IS too damn small whether you want to admit it or not. If the new iphone isn't significantly improved and changed, im going android. And this is coming from an apple fanboy.

I agree with you man. Thumbs up
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scotty321 Avatar
158 months ago
1. Um, Verizon salespeople are TRAINED to NOT LET ANY CUSTOMERS WALK OUT THE DOOR WITH an iPhone. Have any of you actually tried to walk into a Verizon store and purchase an iPhone? It is IMPOSSIBLE. I've tried it on 8 occasions, and Fortune Magazine documents this as well. It is IMPOSSIBLE to do so. Go ahead... I DARE YOU to walk into a Verizon store and try to purchase an iPhone.
2. Furthermore, Verizon salespeople make $75 commission on every NON-iPhone that they sell, but they only make a $5 commission on every iPhone they sell.
3. Verizon salespeople are BERATED by their managers and given WARNINGS if they sell an iPhone.

So it makes perfect sense that the iPhone isn't their best-selling device. This has been Verizon's plan all along.

WHY?

Because once people love the iPhone, they are loyal to the phone and not the carrier. The iPhone relegates Verizon to the dumb pipe that they are, and they don't like that one bit.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
carbonrain Avatar
158 months ago
"The news comes by way of a research note from William Blair's Anil Doradla."

Anil Doradla... ...is an anagram for All Android... something's fishy...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)