When Apple started selling iPhones with AT&T, the response was overwhelming. People stood on the streets of New York City and San Francisco for hours in much the same way as people camp out for concert tickets.
Verizon Wireless didn’t get that response. Whether it’s because the iPhone 4 isn’t a new device or because the demand for a Verizon iPhone isn’t as high as expected remains to be seen. While Verizon hasn’t offered any solid numbers on sales, figures are reportedly leaking.
According to a confidential Boy Genius Report source, the first week of Verizon iPhone sales didn’t match analyst expectations. The report offers figures from five “very, very prominent Apple stores” over the first five days. The numbers reveal that AT&T iPhone 4 sales weren’t that far off Verizon iPhone sales on most days.
Unconfirmed Sales Numbers
Specifically, the Boy Genius numbers show that on launch day, Feb. 10, Verizon sold 909 iPhone 4s compared to AT&T’s 539. On Friday, Feb. 11, it was 916 against 680. Saturday, Feb. 12, saw the gap narrow at 660 to 471; on Sunday, Feb. 13, the gap was 796 to 701; and last Monday Verizon sold 711 compared to AT&T’s 618.
Boy Genius also revealed that Verizon’s pre-order sales of the iPhone 4 only totaled about 550,000 devices. Digging deeper, the report offers a breakdown of who bought those Verizon iPhones. Thirty percent were Android users, about 25 percent were BlackBerry users, and a mere 14 percent switched from AT&T. The balance of buyers did not indicate which smartphone they previously used, or did not use a smartphone before the Verizon iPhone 4 purchase.
But Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner, cautioned against putting too much faith in numbers that are “casually floating out there.” Even if those numbers are accurate, he said, they came from a…