Thunderbolt outselling iPhone at Verizon, seems extremely unlikely to me and to Tavis McCourt as well.
Apple iPhone Leads, But Android Gaining, Says Morgan Keegan
By Tiernan Ray
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Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt this morning writes that he’s talked with 50 retailers in the U.S. about smartphones recently, and concludes that while Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone is still the best-selling device, phones based on Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system are “roughly on par” in terms of sales at Verizon Communications (VZ) and are “quickly catching up” at AT&T (T).
Mind you, that’s when comparing combined sales of all hardware vendors with Apple’s sales.
McCourt notes that the iPhone has held up at Verizon despite a spate of “4G” phones: “We had assumed that Verizon’s 4G launches would slow down iPhone demand, but that was not evident in the stores we spoke with. Overall, we believe iPhone momentum remains strong at Verizon.”
Some recent improvement in Android phones relative to iPhone at AT&T may have to do with AT&T slowing down its promotion of the $49 iPhone 3GS, he writes, coinciding with the arrival of HTC’s “Inspire” smartphone, the Motorola Mobility (MMI) “Atrix,” and Samsung’s (SSNLF) “Infuse.”
“AT&T dominance of iPhone is likely fading a tad this quarter.”
The Inspire, in particular, is having “very strong sales” at AT&T, he writes, probably the best-selling Android phone there, with the Atrix in second place. Moto’s “Droid X2? at Verizon doesn’t seem to have the same momentum as the first Droid X, and Moto needs to get its “Droid Bionic” to Verizon soon, because Samsung and HTC are exploiting the demand for 4G phones, he thinks.
Copyright 2011 Dow Jones & Company |
