Verizon today became the first of the major U.S. iPhone carriers to report financial results for the second quarter of 2013, revealing during its conference call that the carrier activated approximately 3.9 million iPhones during the quarter. The number represents a little over half of Verizon's 7.5 million total smartphone activations during the quarter and is up approximately 44% from the year-ago quarter.
The 3.9 million iPhone activations on Verizon also topped analyst expectations in the range of 3.5 million.
Verizon also reported that it has essentially completed rollout of its 4G LTE network, covering 99% of its 3G footprint with LTE. The carrier's LTE network now covers 301 million people, or 95% of the U.S. population, in over 500 markets. That LTE network is also now handling 59% of Verizon's total data traffic, with 33% of postpaid customers currently using LTE-compatible devices.
/article-new/2013/07/verizon_lte_devices_2q13.jpg?lossy)
Finally, Verizon announced that 64% of its postpaid customer base is now on smartphones, up from 61% at the end of the previous quarter.
Apple will announce its quarterly earnings next Tuesday, July 23.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Ugh, because they like iphones, not because they like small screens. What if Apple had a 30% market share rather than 50%, would you say the same thing? I bet you would.
You could say the same thing about Android and big screens. As in ... people don't buy Android because they like it, they buy it because it's cheaper.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle as everyone has different priorities in their choices. Whichever phone hits on more needs/wants gets the sale.
Apple goes at it differently than other vendors. Apple builds one phone that hits what they feel is the sweet spot. Samsung, et al builds many different models that hit on all sorts of features (screen size, build quality, price) and cover their bases that way.
Neither one is the correct way as they're both achieving the objective they set out to accomplish. Apple wants to sell enough iPhones to make gobs of money and make sure there are enough users to keep the platform relevant. Samsung wants to take the market share title and make gobs of money through sheer volume. They're both winning ... at the expense of everyone else.
Just because 50% of people are buying 4" iphones doesn't mean they wouldn't prefer a 4.5" iphone. A 10% increase in screen size would deter zero people from buying an iphone. A 10% decrease in screen size would deter millions of people.
Unless I get a 10% increase in thumb length I am perfectly fine with 4" iPhones.