what will happen to verizons network if they get iphones?

[PlatinumGold]

i remember seeing people speculate, that the only reason verizons coverage looks better than AT&T is because fewer people browse on AT&T phones than on verizons phones.


I think the Droid has effectively disproved that. http://gizmodo.com/5504622/how-the-iphone-could-end-up-in-second-place Android traffic, and lets not kid ourselves, android traffic is mostly Motorola's Droid, has almost caught up to IPhone traffic in the US.

I have the droid and i find the 3g experience to be unchanged from the first day i bought the phone in November of 09.

Proving, once again, with Verizon, it's the network first. and that is the better way to approach the business.

 

[tatteredpotato]

If VZW would get an iPhone, it wouldn't be exclusive and therefor wouldn't attract such an influx of new customers experienced with ATT with the original iPhone models.

 

[Muadib]

As of Jan, VZ sold about 1.2 million Droids. The Apple 3GS sold a million the first week it went on sale. Call me crazy, but I don't think your comparison is very valid.

 

[PlatinumGold]

As of Jan, VZ sold about 1.2 million Droids. The Apple 3GS sold a million the first week it went on sale. Call me crazy, but I don't think your comparison is very valid.

actually, that goes farther to prove my point, altho more iphones were sold, android internet traffic is significantly heavier per handset out there.

the point wasn't about how many units sold, but how robust is verizons network.

 

[TheWart]

actually, that goes farther to prove my point, altho more iphones were sold, android internet traffic is significantly heavier per handset out there.

the point wasn't about how many units sold, but how robust is verizons network.

source?

I find that claim interesting, if true, but I haven't seen any stats that support that.

 

[Muadib]

source?

I find that claim interesting, if true, but I haven't seen any stats that support that.

Me either!! Heck, does anyone know the sales numbers for the other Android phones?

 

[boomhower]

In general I think they would be fine. Sure, some folks from AT&T would switch. But VZW has a better built data network in general and think it would handle it well. Best thing that could happen is for all four of the carriers to get it so the load would be spread around but that won't happen for a long long time.

 

[Muadib]

actually, that goes farther to prove my point, altho more iphones were sold, android internet traffic is significantly heavier per handset out there.

the point wasn't about how many units sold, but how robust is verizons network.

I fail to see how less than 2 million Droids show how robust the VZ network is. When the Droid sees 2 million sales, that will still be less than 1/5 of the iPhone 3GS sales.

 

[TheWart]

I doubt one iphone release will hurt VZW; I think it is instead going to be the ever increasing number of smartphones of all stripes on all networks that will eventually lag things up haha

 

[Demo24]

Doesn't mean much that graph. The iphone is on one carrier here in the States, android is across all of the carriers.

 

[PlatinumGold]

source?

I find that claim interesting, if true, but I haven't seen any stats that support that.

that was kind of the point of the link i had in my OP wasn't it?

http://gizmodo.com/5504622/how-the-iphone-could-end-up-in-second-place

shows Android has come very close to catching up to the IPhone. "Here are the US mobile web traffic figures for iPhone OS and Android, getting ready to collide: Android, on its way up; iPhone, on its way down. So when will Android overtake the iPhone? Try next month." is a quote from that link.

and that's with significantly fewer Android phones out there than IPhones.

 

[pm]

They have a graph for worldwide sales on the link, Demo24.

I will say that this graph is tracking web surfing (ad hits), but web surfing is not what was generally causing trouble on AT&T's network - one YouTube video is worth a whole lot of web page ad requests.

Still, if the reason for posting is to have everyone agree that Verizon has a better network for data, then I doubt there will be a lot of people who disagree. Although AT&T's network is steadily getting better, Verizon is still generally the best network for data and voice in the US (although I say "generally" because there are plenty of locations where the "best" is determined on a street by street basis). They are less likely to have issues dealing with the bandwidth volume of a popular smartphone because they (generally) have a better network.

I presume that this:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...42601774892.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories
(rumor in the WSJ about a Verizon and/or Sprint iPhone this year)

is the original reason for the post? It will be interesting to see how a CDMA iPhone shakes things up... if the rumor is true.

 

[Bateluer]

As of Jan, VZ sold about 1.2 million Droids. The Apple 3GS sold a million the first week it went on sale. Call me crazy, but I don't think your comparison is very valid.

Wasn't there an article about the Moto Droid outselling the 3GS in during their first 74 days?

 

[TheStu]

Wasn't there an article about the Moto Droid outselling the 3GS in during their first 74 days?

IIRC, the Droid sold 1.04 million units in the first 74 days, that number being used since it was how long it took the first iPhone to reach 1 million sales.

At the time, the iPhone cost $600, then $400, and a $500 model was added as well. So, the cost was $400-600, and although the unsubsidized price of the Droid is fairly close to that, I don't know if there are numbers to reflect how many Droids were sold unsubsidized.

All of that aside, according to a few sources that I found, over 1 million 3GSs were sold in the first weekend that it was out. I do not have solid numbers of iPhones sold either nationally or world wide, but the best I could come up with is about 20 million nationally and perhaps 50 million worldwide. The inaccuracy comes from potential iPod Touch sales numbers affecting the iPhone numbers.

At the end of the day, there are a hell of a lot of iPhones out there, certainly more than all of the detractors combined thought would be sold. Android is (to the best of my knowledge) selling well, but from my point of view, the fragmentation of the install base (some have 1.0, others 1.5, others 2.0, others 1.6) the iPhone is that way a little, but at least up until now, all the iPhones can run the latest OS (that may change with 4.0).

I am looking forward to the future of both platforms, and I think that the iPhone on Verizon would only spur sales further. And I think that Verizon's network could survive.

 

[Pliablemoose]

It will be interesting to see how a CDMA iPhone shakes things up... if the rumor is true.

I suspect its true, and its a manufacturered leak, the WSJ and John Gruber are 2 of the official leak sources for Apple.

Things are going to rock right along network wise, everyones running figer to their cell towers, and the backhaul is getting pretty stout, however the publics appetite for smartphones is pretty impressive.

 

[sswingle]

As of Jan, VZ sold about 1.2 million Droids. The Apple 3GS sold a million the first week it went on sale. Call me crazy, but I don't think your comparison is very valid.

1.2 Million Motorola Droids. What about the Eris? What about the Moto Devour? People tend to forget there are a variety of phones running Android.

 

[corkyg]

VZF has more extensive network coverage because they have more towers nationwide. AT&T is concentrated on primary market areas. For the road warrior, VZF is better because one can get a stronger signal in more places. Where signal strength is equal, ATT 3G is generally faster. If VZF gets iPhone, they will prosper even more.

 

[Rottie]

In my opinion if the VZW got an iPhone HD then people will flock around iPhone HD (iPhone 4G) than Nexus One and Droid get their attention.