Buoyed by Android devices like the Droid Incredible and the Motorola Droid X, Verizon was able to sign up more customers than rival AT&T during the last quarter.
Verizon added 1.4 million new customers, but the number it really cares about is the number post-paid users, or subscribers on long-term contracts. Verizon was able to sign up 665,000 new contract customers while only having a churn rate of .94% – the churn rate is how often users end service with the carrier. AT&T was only able to add 496,000 new contract customers even though its quarter included the frenzied launch of the Apple iPhone 4.
But Marin, you ask, I thought AT&T lit up 3.2 million iPhone units last quarter, how could it drag behind? Good question, reader. Well, iPhone activations don’t necessarily mean new customers as surveys have shown that the majority of iPhone 4 owners were upgrading from a previous Apple iPhone.
While AT&T has undoubtedly added millions of customers (and tens of millions of dollars), this could be an indication that the AT&T iPhone market is tapped out. Maybe we’ll see Apple move over to T-Mobile next quarter, as is rumored, but Verizon still remains the biggest iPhone honeypot.
This also shows that Verizon’s decision to ally with Google and Android is paying off, as the Droid, Droid Incredible and Droid X continue to fly off the shelves. Now, all it needs to do is make sure supply is keeping up with demand – my sister-in-law desperately wants a Motorola Droid X but it’s sold out … in all of Southern California.
Overall, Verizon now has 92.1 million customers, enough to make it the nation’s largest mobile operator. It saw a 3.4% increase in wireless revenues compared to the same period last year and Android led 23.8% increase in data revenues.
[Via Verizon]