Verizon: iPhone is outdated, pushing LTE Android phones

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
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http://money.cnn.com//2012/05/03/te...aign=Feed:+rss/money_topstories+(Top+Stories)

Went in to buy an iPhone 4s... but walked out with a Razr," is the headline of one typical post.

"Do sales reps hate the iphone?!" another asks.

I decided to find out for myself. I had 10 conversations with Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) sales representatives in New York stores, on the phone, and in online chat sessions, asking about my options for a new smartphone.

Okay, did the sales rep force you to buy a Razr? You do have a choice.

When I said up front that I wanted an iPhone, none tried to talk me out of it. But when I followed up by asking if it was the best smartphone, they all said no.

I initially told half the representatives that I wanted "a new smartphone," and half that I was interested in an iPhone.

When I said up front that I wanted an iPhone, none tried to talk me out of it. But when I followed up by asking if it was the best smartphone, they all said no.

"If that's what you want, absolutely we'll order it," one rep said over the phone. "But my recommendation is 4G. I'd want the fastest, best technology that's not going to be outdated when I buy it."

"The Droid Razr Maxx is the faster of the two," another rep said in an online chat after I asked whether he thought the iPhone was my best bet.

Is Verizon asking its sales force to focus on iPhone alternatives? A company spokesman declined to give a direct answer.

"Our sales force's mission is to ensure customers are familiar with our product line and to match the customer with the right device to best meet their needs," Verizon Wireless spokesman Tom Pica said in a written statement. "At the end of the day, our goal is that every customer is delighted with the device that they have chosen."

Uh oh. Verizon's going to take flak for this, despite being quite correct that their LTE phones boast 10x+ faster network speeds. Its a pretty easy sell to put an iPhone and LTE phone next to each other and run the speed test.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
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One of the reasons I have zero interest in the iPhone 4S is because it does not have LTE.
 

Super56K

Golden Member
Feb 27, 2004
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Better margins surely for any of their Android offerings (and they get to put their custom apps on it, control updates, etc).
 

smartpatrol

Senior member
Mar 8, 2006
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I wouldn't be surprised to see iPhone lose a little marketshare 2nd and 3rd quarter in the USA because of lack of LTE. But I expect iPhone to utterly dominate the fourth quarter if iPhone 5 launches in October with LTE.

AT&T and Verizon are in LTE mania mode right now. Of course they are going to push devices that take advantage of their new 4G network.
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
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Not to mention Verizon's 3G is awfully slow compared to AT&T or T-Mobile's, so on Verizon it definitely makes sense to avoid phones that don't have LTE.
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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Don't really see it as an iOS/Android thing so much as an LTE/non-LTE thing. As other posters pointed out, they probably want to get people on their LTE network.

Also, the piece was written by the same guy who wrote this one about iPhone sales being disappointing even though the iPhone was still over half of all phones sold in the quarter at both Verizon and AT&T.

Honestly, I think he's just trolling for page hits with his articles.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
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I wouldn't be surprised to see iPhone lose a little marketshare 2nd and 3rd quarter in the USA because of lack of LTE. But I expect iPhone to utterly dominate the fourth quarter if iPhone 5 launches in October with LTE.

AT&T and Verizon are in LTE mania mode right now. Of course they are going to push devices that take advantage of their new 4G network.

That's how it always is with the iPhone, huge sales surge when it's fresh but drops off months after. Current sales figures have shown that it's the same trend.
 

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,048
877
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Not to mention Verizon's 3G is awfully slow compared to AT&T or T-Mobile's, so on Verizon it definitely makes sense to avoid phones that don't have LTE.
I find verizons LTE to be extremely slow. My tmo sgs2 is a least 100% faster than my vzw razr. Im sure that where I live, NYC, LTE is saturated but hey, its where I live and tmos faux 4g smokes vzws lte.
 

joshhedge

Senior member
Nov 19, 2011
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Yet the 4s performs better than most android smartphones to date and they still call it outdated, silly sales reps. I'd hate to live in the states where these people force your purchases upon you.
 

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
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Having spent a decent amount of time as a phone salesman, I think people underestimate how much personal opinion goes into these recommendations, and how little "company line". So, you're asking phone geeks what they think the best phone is....demographically, I'd say that's one of Android's stronger sectors, so it doesn't surprise me to hear they recommend it.
 

ew915

Senior member
Jun 19, 2001
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Yeah LTE is great the only problem is that VZW is full of problems with connections dropping, and the network can't even do VoLTE oh well is just marketing bullcrap for teenagers.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,048
1,679
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Luckily I'm not on Verizon then. ;) I just want an LTE iPhone for Fido in Canada. I don't want to give up battery life, but fortunately the smaller-process LTE chipsets are available in 2012.

Buying a high dollar 3G-only phone in 2012 seems like a waste, unless you're the type to upgrade every year. (I'm not.)
 

Piano Man

Diamond Member
Feb 5, 2000
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I have also heard that because of how many iphones VZ has sold, their 3G network is getting overloaded, and thus, they are pushing their LTE.
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
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Yet the 4s performs better than most android smartphones to date and they still call it outdated, silly sales reps. I'd hate to live in the states where these people force your purchases upon you.

Except the iPhone 4S is in fact outdated in that it doesn't have LTE. That's not a comment on the rest of the phone, just the radio.

Also no one is forcing you to buy anything, it's your job to do a little research beforehand and if you don't, then you'll have to rely on a biased salesperson's advice.
 

smartpatrol

Senior member
Mar 8, 2006
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That's how it always is with the iPhone, huge sales surge when it's fresh but drops off months after. Current sales figures have shown that it's the same trend.

I think it'll be bigger than just the usual annual bump, though. For the last year or two, consumers have had to choose between a 4G phone and an iPhone. And of course the carriers are going to push the phones that take advantage of their 4G network.

That will no longer be the case when an LTE iPhone is released. I honestly think we could see Android lose some smartphone marketshare in late 2012/2013.
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
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I think it'll be bigger than just the usual annual bump, though. For the last year or two, consumers have had to choose between a 4G phone and an iPhone. And of course the carriers are going to push the phones that take advantage of their 4G network.

That will no longer be the case when an LTE iPhone is released. I honestly think we could see Android lose some smartphone marketshare in late 2012/2013.

That's what everyone said when the iPhone came to Verizon. That the only reason anyone was buying Android phones was because they didn't want to be stuck with AT&T. Well, the iPhone has come to Verizon (and Sprint too) and Android is still going strong.

At this point both sides are entrenched. People who bought smartphones two years ago and are up for a contract renewal will have bought their current phones in 2010, after Android got big, so it'll be all about whether they want to stay with what they have or try something new.
 

dagamer34

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2005
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It costs more for all wireless carriers to subsidize an iPhone than any other phone they sell.
 

lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
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"It's all about the 4S now," one AT&T rep said over the phone, unprovoked. "The iPhone is the most popular phone, you know what you're getting, and it's a status symbol you can't get anywhere else."
 

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
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That's what everyone said when the iPhone came to Verizon. That the only reason anyone was buying Android phones was because they didn't want to be stuck with AT&T. Well, the iPhone has come to Verizon (and Sprint too) and Android is still going strong.

At this point both sides are entrenched. People who bought smartphones two years ago and are up for a contract renewal will have bought their current phones in 2010, after Android got big, so it'll be all about whether they want to stay with what they have or try something new.

Doesnt the iPhone account for over half of smartphone activations in the last few quarters for both AT&T and VZW?

But I agree. At this point, it's entrenchment and it's going to take something spectacular on either side to pull a massive amount of customers and LTE isn't it.

But seriously, VZW also wants everyone on the 700mhz LTE band.