Verizon has reported their Q2 2012 financial results, and the iPhone accounted for 2.7 million, or roughly 45% of the 5.9 million smartphones Verizon sold. Operating revenues were $28.6 billion, up 3.7% year over year, and wireless service revenues were $15.8 billion, up 7.3% year over year. Verizon chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam said:
Verizon delivered another strong quarter of earnings growth and cash generation, and we remain on track to meet our financial objectives and produce solid double-digit earnings growth for the year. Verizon Wireless has once again demonstrated its industry leadership, combining strong revenue growth with record margins and high customer loyalty. We reported sequential improvement in second-quarter Wireline margins, and we expect to see that improving trend carry through the second half of the year. We also look forward to the closing of strategic transactions and to the integration of process improvements that will set the stage for continued long-term profitable growth across all our business units.
The iPhone remains a huge success for Verizon. Even though both absolute number of units sold, and percentage of smartphones the iPhone accounted for, were down, it's more than halfway through the iPhone 4S product cycle. Given that the 2011 iPhone 4S doesn't have LTE, which is Verizon's clear focus right now, and the focus of many competing handsets, and given Verizon's CDMA network is nowhere near as fast as it is reliable, the iPhone is once again exhibiting remarkable longevity.
Of the remainder of smartphones sold, Verizon said some 2.9 million, were "Droids", but that seems like it must certainly refer to Android phones in general, and not Droid-branded phones in specific, given the popularity of the Samsung and other non-Droid branded lines.
It's interesting that 45% of smartphone buyers on Verizon are opting for a 8 month old iPhone 4S or 24 month old iPhone 4 over far more modern, bigger screened, Android handsets, and that very few are opting for what little BlackBerry and Windows Phone handsets Verizon currently offers.
The expected iPhone 5 launch in October and holiday quarter should, like last year, be much, much stronger for Verizon. During the conference call, they alluded to something special coming round about then, but given the launch of Windows Phone 8, and perhaps new Android, it's pointless to intuit too much into vague statements like those.
Press release, conference call audio, presentation slides, and more are available via the link below.
Source: Verizon
