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AT&T not shocked by iPhone defectors headed to Verizon

By: , IntoMobile
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 at 3:21 PM
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When the Verizon iPhone was announced, the world assumed that AT&T iPhone subscribers would be departing and defecting en masse. It turns out that’s not the case, and the numbers of defectors doesn’t surprise AT&T, says a high-level rep. Quite frankly, I’m not surprised, either. The subject of switching to Verizon for the iPhone is a dead and tired subject, but we’ll briefly gloss over it.

Far too many users who want to switch – no, not everyone on AT&T wants to leave and give up simultaneous voice and data or faster download speeds – are still on contract. Breaking those contracts can be pricey, and for many it’s worth waiting to see what Apple has up its sleeves this summer when a new iPhone model is expected to be announced.

Ralph de la Vega, AT&T’s head of consumer and mobility businesses, said in a Morgan Stanley tech conference in San Francisco, “”We haven’t seen any surprises, and everything is pretty much within our expectations.”

Of course, he wouldn’t disclose any numbers, but I suspect they’re much smaller than what we’d been anticipating. I imagined that at least 25-30% of users would leave, as most analysts predicted last fall that nearly a third of AT&T users would be prepared to leave for a CDMA iPhone. Perhaps little thought was given to cost, timing and everything in between. Luckily for AT&T, those factors worked in its favor. Perhaps it wasn’t so funny after all when the carrier assured its investors that losing iPhone exclusivity wouldn’t be a big deal.

[Via: WSJ]

About The Author

Marc Flores

Marc has been a mobile fanatic for the better part of a decade and has had more devices pass through his hands than he would care to count. Originally from Los Angeles and briefly in San Francisco, Marc now lives in Brooklyn where, unlike Will Park, he longs for simpler times and simpler technology. All the while, he writes about gadgets and wireless technology as he tinkers, hacks and ultimately breaks most of his gadgets in the process. Marc has written about the mobile industry for Boy Genius Report, MobileCrunch, Laptop Magazine and has had his work appear in the Wall Street Journal, Gizmodo, CrunchGear and more.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.gennick Jonathan Gennick

    Many people talk a bigger game than they play. It’s probably human nature that more said they would switch than actually did.

    I bought one, but then I’m already a family-plan customer and thus somewhat locked in to choosing from whatever they have to offer. So far, I’m happy with the phone. I like the Mobile Hotspot feature, as does my son who can now surf via his iPod Touch while I’m driving the car. I know there is a new model coming, that LTE is coming, and I’m at peace with all those things.

  • KennMSr

    Yes, Where have all the defectors and the late adopters gone. Here it is, almost a month since the big V got the iPhone and they barely have 7.5% of the US iPhone market according to Chitika Insights. Also according to early reports during the first week of sales AT&T was still selling iPhones on a daily basis just over half of what Verizon was selling. Therefore it’s a little hard to break away from the pack and take the lead when the leader still has his foot pretty hard on the pedal.