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View Full Version : Verizon iPhone Launch Stark Contrast to Usual AT&T Launch


Jeff Campbell
02-14-2011, 04:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/02/verizon-v-att-comparing-iphone-launches-and-what-verizon-did-right.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss' target='_blank'>http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2...tm_campaign=rss</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The Verizon iPhone launch was, by all accounts, a very calm one-at least by the standards we're used to. Past iPhone launches on AT&amp;T have been, shall we say, much more chaotic. So what's the deal? Verizon lovers touted this lack of chaos as evidence of Verizon's superior customer service vs. AT&amp;T, while Verizon (and Apple) haters used the seemingly low turnout to argue that the launch was a failure."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/zt/auto/1295378753.usr105634.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Good points made, about how the pre-orders may have mitigated some of the line issues, and of course weather related problems may have also had something to do with it. The analysts that were questioned said that the sales throughout the day remained strong, they just didn't have the overwhelming crowds that usually accompany an iPhone launch event. And no complaints on activations either, so I would say it went pretty smooth for Verizon. No idea yet on how many they have sold, but Chitika, a mobile advertising firm, <a href="http://labs.chitika.com/iZone/" target="_blank">released info</a> that showed Verizon iPhones were already using 3% of the traffic of all iPhones using the system. I think we can do the math and know that isn't a small number.&nbsp;</p>

Brad Adrian
02-14-2011, 05:45 PM
Isn't it possible that part of the reason the Verizon launch was under-whelming is that a segment of people who really, really wanted an iPhone already had one -- via AT&T? I know that a whole lot of people smarter than I estimated the iPhone demand among Verizon customers as being very high, but what about...

Customers who wanted an iPhone so badly they already defected to AT&T
Customers who "settled" for another Verizon device when they couldn't have an iPhone
Customers who have other Verizon phones but don't want to pony up for an early upgrade
Customers waiting to see if the Verizon iPhone has as many "problems" as the AT&T iPhone did.
Etc...

I just think that some of those smart analysts didn't take into account all the people who are stuck with recently-acquired phones and don't want to pay for a new one just yet.

I really laughed at how much people bought into the hype that there was going to be a CRUSHING demand for the Verizon iPhone. My local TV station did a little story on it, traveling to the nearest Verizon outlet to show how strong demand was. The reporter interviewed the person at the front of the line at 6am just as he emerged from the tent in which he had spent the night outside the store. Then, the camera panned back to reveal only ONE other person in line behind the camper, and he had arrived just moments before the camera crew arrived! Nothing like sleeping on hard concrete for no good reason!