Verizon Wireless announced its earnings today for 4Q 2013, making it the first major U.S. carrier to release its financial statement for the quarter. But while many were hoping to get the first insight into holiday sales of the iPhone, the carrier failed to break out these numbers. This is the first time Verizon has not announced iPhone activations and is following AT&T, which also stopped reporting quarterly iPhone activations last year.

The carrier revealed during its earning conference call that it activated 8.8 million smartphones in the quarter, down approximately 10 percent from the 9.8 million smartphones the carrier activated in 4Q 2012 but up approximately 16 percent from the previous quarter. The carrier activated 625,000 tablets in the quarter and now has 3.6 million tablets on its network.

vzw-q42013b
Verizon also confirmed it activated 9 million LTE devices in 4Q 2013 while completing its LTE deployment on its cellular network and leading the industry in 4G LTE smartphone connections. As of the end of the quarter, the carrier's 4G LTE network covers 305 million people in more than 500 markets in the U.S. Approximately 69% of the carrier's total data traffic now is transferred over LTE.

Apple will be reporting its own earnings next week on January 27, 2014 after the close of trading, at approximately 4:30 PM Eastern / 1:30 PM Pacific. MacRumors will have full coverage of Apple's earnings release and associated conference call taking place at 5:00 PM Eastern / 2:00 PM Pacific.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

mikebrown66 Avatar
153 months ago
Activation numbers

Long time reader, first time poster...

I personally wonder if the lack of detailed activation numbers could be related to the sheer number of iPhone activations compared to other hand sets in general for each carrier. Perhaps they don't want customers to know the majority of their activations are iPhones. This might sway more people away from the carriers money making phones with their corporate branding on them?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SuperMatt Avatar
153 months ago
They have lost iPhone subscribers to AT&T and T-Mobile. :D

This is a great point. Verizon doesn't want the iPhone. They only sell it because they were losing customers to the carriers with the iPhone. Verizon wants devices that they control - meaning Android devices where they can mandate carrier-specific apps on the phone. Ever notice that every Verizon commercial on TV is pushing a 2nd-tier Android phone? They make the most profit on those, so they push them aggressively. Plus, some manufacturers pay Verizon to get featured. For example, Samsung pays huge amounts of marketing money to carriers and carrier stores in order to push the Samsung devices above all others.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eastercat Avatar
153 months ago
While it's great the Galaxy can do simultaneous voice/data, it's not enough to compensate for its shortcomings.
While it's true AT&T has to slow down, they can still do simultaneous voice/data. Verizon phones still can't do this even at 2G. Maybe one day Verizon can convince apple to do something about it. :rolleyes:
Verizon Android LTE phones like the Galaxy can do LTE and voice simultaneously.

<snip>
Even on AT&T, the iPhone doesn't do LTE and voice at the same time. It can't, for the same missing parts reason. What it does, is drop back to 3G when it needs to do them simultaneously. Can make a radical difference in data speed.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BC2009 Avatar
153 months ago
These carriers always reported a large percentage of iPhones being sold in the past and I never saw that as a good thing for the carrier per se (except to maybe validate a decision to compromise with Apple on some points and commit to a large number of iPhones in order to carry the iPhone). Either way, it is never a good thing for a carrier to have too many of the things it sells come form a single vendor. It simply gives that vendor more power at the negotiating table. However, Apple certainly knows how many "Verizon iPhones" they sold last quarter and now they know how many total smartphones Verizon sold. Verizon just doesn't want to boost Apple's public perception for free because it only hurts them -- same with AT&T. The carriers want leverage at the negotiating table.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eastercat Avatar
153 months ago
True about AT&T and 2G, but they can do voice and data and 3G and higher.
I'm not a big Verizon fan; most of it has to do with the fact they're CDMA, which is exclusionary in that you can't move an unlocked phone to another carrier.
AT&T phones can't do simultaneous voice+data at 2G either.

The upshot is, the iPhone isn't the best choice on Verizon if you want to take advantage of LTE.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kdarling Avatar
153 months ago
i moved from at&t to verizon. miss the data and voice at the same time. oh well.
Verizon Android LTE phones like the Galaxy can do LTE and voice simultaneously.

Apple left out the necessary extra parts on the iPhone, in order to "simplify the process of manufacturing the iPhone for multiple carriers", according to the NY Times (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/iphone-5-calls-data/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0).

Even on AT&T, the iPhone doesn't do LTE and voice at the same time. It can't, for the same missing parts reason. What it does, is drop back to 3G when it needs to do them simultaneously. Can make a radical difference in data speed.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday October 1, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, and Safari. More features and changes will follow in future versions,...
iPhone 17 vs Air and Pros Feature

New iPhones See 'Stronger Than Expected' Demand With One Exception

Thursday October 2, 2025 7:26 am PDT by
Nearly two weeks after the iPhone 17 series launched, analysts at investment banking firm Morgan Stanley said demand for the devices has been "modestly stronger than we originally expected," based on a combination of extended shipping estimates on Apple's online store and information it gathered from Apple's supply chain. There has been strong early demand for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro,...
macbook air prime day 2025

M5 MacBook Air: Release Date, Features, and Performance Predictions

Friday October 3, 2025 3:39 am PDT by
The MacBook Air is Apple's most popular laptop – a thin, fanless machine that wields quiet power thanks to the efficiency of Apple silicon. While the M4 model isn't exactly old, attention is already turning to its successor. Apple doesn't telegraph new product launches ahead of time, but we can draw a surprisingly clear picture of what to expect by looking at Apple's silicon roadmap,...
Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Event in October? Here's What to Expect

Monday September 29, 2025 9:31 am PDT by
Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends. Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below. Apple in October Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023. In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: Leaks Reveal What Apple Products Are Coming Next

Friday October 3, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
On this episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the latest leaks about the next-generation iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, Studio Display, and Vision Pro. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Earlier this week, an apparent unboxing video of an updated iPad Pro with the M5 chip was shared online. The same YouTube account leaked the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip...
space black mbp

Here's Every New Apple Product That Leaked Yesterday

Wednesday October 1, 2025 8:27 am PDT by
A handful of upcoming Apple products leaked yesterday, through a combination of YouTube videos out of Russia and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents that were released, despite Apple's confidentiality requests. The leaked products include an iPad Pro with an M5 chip, as well as updated MacBook Pro and Apple Vision Pro models. All of these devices had already been rumored...
Apple 2025 Thumb 1

Apple's 2025 Product Roadmap: What's Still Coming

Wednesday October 1, 2025 3:56 pm PDT by
Apple's two big yearly events, WWDC and the iPhone launch, are done and over with, but there are still some new products that we're expecting to see before the end of the year. Apple TV The Apple TV hasn't been updated since 2022, so it's due for a refresh. It doesn't look like Apple is going to change the design of its set-top box, but we can expect a faster chip Apple code suggests...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26 Adds These 200 New Features and Changes to Your iPhone

Saturday October 4, 2025 8:19 am PDT by
Apple's website offers a list of nearly 200 new features and changes (PDF file) included in the software update, released last month. Apple also shared equivalent lists for iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe. iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 and newer. To install the update, open the Settings app on your iPhone, tap on General, and tap on Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight ...