Image: Christine Bartolucci via TwitPic
After all these years, Verizon customers can finally buy an iPhone. And tortured AT&T customers suffering from poor phone service / not a good enough network can jump ship and get a Verizon iPhone. Verizon iPhone Launch Day has finally arrived and …
Nobody Cares?
In contrast to the lines of thousands that turned out in June for the iPhone 4’s release, the Verizon iPhone got off to a quieter start. The line of waiting buyers held just eight people 15 minutes before it went on sale at Apple’s flagship New York City store near Central Park.
None were AT&T defectors …
That’s from a report at CNNMoney this morning.
Even allowing for the bitter cold weather in many parts of the US today, this is really a unique situation for an iPhone launch. No massive lines in the wee hours of the night leading up to the morning of the release – and all quiet with no lines at all it looks like before even midday. I did a quick round of calling to Apple and Verizon stores here in Austin and around Texas. The story was the same everywhere: no lines, plenty of iPhones in stock.
Obviously the cold weather is not the only reason for the lack of crowds this morning for the Verizon iPhone. Here are some of the major ones put forward by RBC analyst Mike Abramsky (according to this article at Fortune Tech)
- The iPhone 4 at Verizon is new, but not novel (vs. when AT&T first launched its version of the iPhone 4).
- A lot of existing Verizon customers with Google (GOOG) Android phones are still on contract.
- AT&T offered customers an early upgrade option; Verizon did not.
- There are a lot of AT&T iPhone owners who might like to switch, but are still on contract.
- Verizon’s data plan ($30/mos.) is more expensive than AT&T’s $25 and $15 offerings.
- AT&T’s first-quarter iPhone 4 sales covered 13 weeks vs. Verizon’s 7 weeks.
- Some potential Verizon customers are holding out for the iPhone 5, expected to arrive this summer.
I think his first point should be that it’s new, but not really new. It’s still an iPhone 4, which launched 8 months ago.
His last bullet is also a crucial one. The iPhone 4 will only be the latest, greatest iPhone for another 4 months or so. Given Apple’s standard refresh cycles for the iPhone, we’ll see the iPhone 5 (or whatever it ends up being named) come out by June/July. I think this fact, and the ‘not really new’ aspect of the iPhone 4 are likely the biggest reasons why we’re not seeing any huge interest in the Verizon iPhone so far today.
One more reason is a lot of folks were already able to pre-order last week, and others who just prefer to order online.
So what do you all think? Will the crowds come bursting out once the weather warms up? Are lots of potential buyers going to pass for now and wait on the iPhone 5? Is the iPhone losing some of its mojo?
Continue reading:
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TAGS: Verizon iPhone
