Thunderbolt out selling iPhone 4 at VZW stores

[2CupsWithString]

Just came across this article this morning: Verizon's Thunderbolt rivals red-hot iPhone 4 - NYPOST.com

In short, two research firms have found that VZW stores are selling more Tbolts than iphones.

 

[0pusX]

Actually it makes sense to me as the iphone is nearly a year old model. Now if it were the iPhone 5 (especially if it has LTE) vs theThunderbolt then I think the results would be different.

 

[paulmike3]

"The Thunderbolt ... appears to be a fave of those looking for WiFi-like speeds on their smartphones"

WTF is WiFi-like speeds? WiFi at my parent's house barely reaches 100k. 0.o

That's like saying "the Mazda3 appears to be a fave for those looking for road-like speeds in their car". -.-

 

[Treknologist]

If the iPhone 5 does not offer LTE, it may be left in the dust by all the Android phones with LTE. From the rumors, it looks like it will barely be more than a new CPU than what's on the iPhone 4. Regardless, I think it is interesting that for the first time there is one model of an Android phone that outsells the iPhone in the same carrier.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

"The Thunderbolt ... appears to be a fave of those looking for WiFi-like speeds on their smartphones"

WTF is WiFi-like speeds? WiFi at my parent's house barely reaches 100k. 0.o

That's like saying "the Mazda3 appears to be a fave for those looking for road-like speeds in their car". -.-

They could at least say cable speeds. I know some cable only gives 768kbps, but it's better than saying WiFi.

What internet does your parents have that it barely reaches 100k? That's what I would like to know. Satellite?

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

If the iPhone 5 does not offer LTE, it may be left in the dust by all the Android phones with LTE. From the rumors, it looks like it will barely be more than a new CPU than what's on the iPhone 4. Regardless, I think it is interesting that for the first time there is one model of an Android phone that outsells the iPhone in the same carrier.

I have a feeling the reign of the iPhone may be over if they don't pull a rabbit out of their hat for the iPhone 5. It really would be ridiculous for Apple to not put LTE in their next iPhone. I know they probably won't, but it'll still be ridiculous.

 

[paulmike3]

They could at least say cable speeds. I know some cable only gives 768kbps, but it's better than saying WiFi.

What internet does your parents have that it barely reaches 100k? That's what I would like to know. Satellite?

AT&T DSL. It's the bottom of the barrel package. I think it's supposed to get like 384k, but it's pathetic. First order of business when I moved out awhile back was to find the fastest I could get (TWC 25Mb).

 

[kristykat182]

God I hope iphone 5 is minus LTE. So I can stick my tongue out at all the apple fan boys I know. I'm kinda evil.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

AT&T DSL. It's the bottom of the barrel package. I think it's supposed to get like 384k, but it's pathetic. First order of business when I moved out awhile back was to find the fastest I could get (TWC 25Mb).

I go through Charter and I get about 18-20Mbps. They just raised our speeds about a month ago I guess. I think I was at 15Mbps before. Charter has a 60Mbps package, but I'm not sure how much it is. If I get this job that I have an interview for next Wednesday, I'll probably get the 60Mbps package, but until then I'll just have to deal with 18-20Mbps.

 

[RetiredJedi]

Yea, AC had the story on April 1st and I had to show it my friends from the other OS.

CHECK IT OUT

 

[realitydigg]

I have a feeling the reign of the iPhone may be over if they don't pull a rabbit out of their hat for the iPhone 5. It really would be ridiculous for Apple to not put LTE in their next iPhone. I know they probably won't, but it'll still be ridiculous.

Yea verily they shall pull a sickly rabbit from a white plastic and chrome hat - say BOOM - and the faithfull shall rejoice and accept compromise as technological triumph for they are afraid of not being acceted into the fraternity of the faithfull.

...Whatever they pull out will be successfull if only because they have so many non-techy non-detail oriented users who don't want to learn something else, and can't see the difference. And, because it will be "good enough."

 

[Treknologist]

Yea verily they shall pull a sickly rabbit from a white plastic and chrome hat - say BOOM - and the faithfull shall rejoice and accept compromise as technological triumph for they are afraid of not being acceted into the fraternity of the faithfull.

LOL, love this quote!

...Whatever they pull out will be successfull if only because they have so many non-techy non-detail oriented users who don't want to learn something else, and can't see the difference. And,because if will be "good enough."

This is unfortunately true. Case in point, a friend of mine got a TBolt and in less than a week returned it to get an iPhone. When I asked him why, he started spouting the stuff he "could" do on his iPhone. I looked at him and said, you could do all that with the TBolt, you just didn't even try. He just said, well "it's good enough." So yes, people will compromise not knowing any better. He is now stuck for 2 years with a less-capable phone.

 

[JoJoCal19]

I have a feeling the reign of the iPhone may be over if they don't pull a rabbit out of their hat for the iPhone 5. It really would be ridiculous for Apple to not put LTE in their next iPhone. I know they probably won't, but it'll still be ridiculous.

I agree. I love my Verizon iPhone 4 but if the iPhone 5 does not have LTE then I am moving on. As it is now, I am leaning towards adding a Thunderbolt to my collection. I can't see how Apple can ignore LTE at this point because with the iPhone 5 rumored to be launching in September, if they leave LTE out of it, that means it could be September 2012 before the iPhone would have LTE. They would get left to eat Android's dust and people would be jumping off that ship in droves.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

This is unfortunately true. Case in point, a friend of mine got a TBolt and in less than a week returned it to get an iPhone. When I asked him why, he started spouting the stuff he "could" do on his iPhone. I looked at him and said, you could do all that with the TBolt, you just didn't even try. He just said, well "it's good enough." So yes, people will compromise not knowing any better. He is now stuck for 2 years with a less-capable phone.

Well, I could understand somewhat if we were talking about the AT&T iPhone, but I just don't get it with the Verizon iPhone.

I mean with AT&T the iPhone is numero uno so it's not held back and it's probably one of the best phones on AT&T so you won't see a huge difference between the likes of the Atrix and the iPhone in terms of everyday performance.

However this is not the case with the Verizon iPhone. I think it's great that Verizon got the iPhone because it gives people more choice, but it just came at the worst time possible. If Verizon wasn't in such a transition, it wouldn't be a big deal, but they are and it is. To not have LTE at this point, to me it's just pointless.

For AT&T it's not a big deal because they are claiming 4G through their HSPA+ network (which would irk me to no end if I were an AT&T customer).

 

[Slapnpop826]

The day I went to buy my Thunderbolt there were 4 Thunderbolts sold and 2 iphones while I was in the store.

 

[FrankXS]

If the iPhone 5 does not offer LTE, it may be left in the dust by all the Android phones with LTE. From the rumors, it looks like it will barely be more than a new CPU than what's on the iPhone 4. Regardless, I think it is interesting that for the first time there is one model of an Android phone that outsells the iPhone in the same carrier.

My view on this is that this year will be the first time that Apple produces a new phone (iPhone5) for only select networks. I think AT&T will get it, not VZW. I don't think VZW will get another iPhone until it has LTE to offer, which by all reports will be late in 2012. Or, they'll just hold off on any new iPhone until late in 2012.

-Frank

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

My view on this is that this year will be the first time that Apple produces a new phone (iPhone5) for only select networks. I think AT&T will get it, not VZW. I don't think VZW will get another iPhone until it has LTE to offer, which by all reports will be late in 2012. Or, they'll just hold off on any new iPhone until late in 2012.

-Frank

Well it wouldn't be the first time Apple would be behind in technology if they do offer an iPhone without the newest antenna technology. The first iPhone wasn't 3G and that's why they had the iPhone 3G instead just the iPhone 2 because it was a big deal. However, it would be stupid for Apple to do the same this time around as the market has completely changed.

Now if the rumors are true that it'll be at least September before the iPhone 5 comes out, then I could possibly see Apple releasing an LTE iPhone in February. If they don't, I honestly think they will be almost dead on Verizon.

I know Verizon said nationwide LTE by 2013, but I think they mean by the beginning of 2013 (i.e. end of 2012) but they are just saying 2013 generically to give themselves some wiggle room in case there are major hiccups along the way.

 

[TnTexas]

A little over a week ago, I walked into a Verizon wireless store to buy an iPhone and walked out with a Thunderbolt. My reasons?

-- larger display for the Thunderbolt (really liked the extra-large clock display on the home screen)
-- camera with a higher megapixel count (figured it might do a better job when zoomed in because of that)
-- larger memory capacity (for all those pictures I'm theoretically going to take now that I have a camera integrated with my cell phone and don't have to remember to bring a camera with me)
-- can change the battery myself if I need to (hated the thought of having to make an extra trip some place in order to have it changed)
-- had never had a smartphone before so any learning curve would seem normal to me (this was in response to my husband's opinion that the iPhone would probably be easier to adjust to than an android one would)

edited to add two more points to this paragraph --> So far, I'm in love and can't imagine using something else. There are only three downsides that I've found. One: It's not compatible with Netflix or Hulu (something I wasn't aware of at the time I bought it). But since PlayOn appears to be an answer to that issue, I don't consider that to be as much of a negative anymore - and truth be told, I probably won't use it as a video player very often anyway. Two: The audio capture for the camcorder doesn't work very well. You can hear me (the camerawoman) just fine, but you can barely hear the person I'm video-ing - even when he's talking in a normal tone of voice. That's a bit more problematic, but I do have a Flip video camcorder I can continue using so it's not a humongous deal. I was just hoping to be able to carry one memory-capturing device instead of two. (The still camera on the Thunderbolt seems to work fine.) Three: Can't figure out how to download an mp3 file (a class lecture) from a website and play it back. Those are the only three things I've found that keep the Thunderbolt from being a perfect experience.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

A little over a week ago, I walked into a Verizon wireless store to buy an iPhone and walked out with a Thunderbolt. My reasons?

-- larger display for the Thunderbolt (really liked the extra-large clock display on the home screen)
-- camera with a higher megapixel count (figured it might do a better job when zoomed in because of that)
-- can change the battery myself if I need to (hated the thought of having to make an extra trip some place in order to have it changed)
-- had never had a smartphone before so any learning curve would seem normal to me (this was in response to my husband's opinion that the iPhone would probably be easier to adjust to than an android one would)

So far, I'm in love and can't imagine using something else. The only downside for me is the fact that it's not compatible with Netflix or Hulu (something I wasn't aware of at the time I bought it). But since PlayOn appears to be an answer to that issue, I don't consider that to be as much of a negative anymore - and truth be told, I probably won't use it as a video player very often anyway.

Hulu's site says that Android support is coming soon.

 

[Treknologist]

My workaround for the Netflix issue has been to use Slingbox. My TiVo box can connect to Netflix and since I can control it through the Slingbox, voila, Netflix is on my phone! It's a workaround but it does the trick!