Verizon Begins Selling iPhone, But Where Are The Crowds?

It's day one for the Verizon iPhone, and reports from around the country indicate its pretty much business as usual.

With the iPhone4 going on sale at Verizon to customers other than existing subscribers, who started putting their orders in last week, it was expected that Verizon stores would be swamped today, much as AT&T stores were when the iPhone was introduced.

So the expected crowds today would have been consumers who don't have a cell phone, or those who have service with another carrier. In the latter category, switching to Verizon to get an iPhone might carry a steep early termination fee.

No long lines

So far, the crowds have yet to show up. Media reports from around the country indicate there are no long lines at stores. Wall Street immediately interpreted that as an indicator the Verizon iPhone might not be such a big deal after all. Verizon and Apple stock dipped in early trading today, while AT&T went up.

There's also the fact that Verizon customers have a lot more choice for smartphones than AT&T customers. AT&T tended to hitch its wagon to the iPhone from the start, while Verizon early on adopted many Android model phones.

The Android has proved to be a popular alternative to the iPhone and many current Verizon customers may see no reason to switch, at least not yet.

The iPhone4 being offered by Verizon runs on the 3G network. Meanwhile, Verizon has begun rolling out its 4G LTE network, which is much faster. With Apple expected to upgrade the iPhone this summer to handle 4G speeds, it's possible a lot of savvy consumers have decided to wait. After all, the iPhone4 is not exactly new technology. Consumers who really wanted one may have purchased it last July and signed up with AT&T.

Technical glitches

PC World reports on a number of technical issues that could be holding consumers back. For example, the magazine reports despite Apple's attempts to improve the phone's antenna system, the so-called "death grip" is still a problem on the Verizon iPhone, just like it's AT&T counterpart. Whether there has been enough time for that word to circulate to enough consumers to make a difference is debatable, but in the Internet age, who knows?

Another possible reason for the short lines is a large number of iPhone buyers may have opted to purchase online and avoid the expected crowds. Verizon estimates last week's pre-order of iPhones came in around 500,000. It will be a few days before we know how sales are going, now that purchases are open to everyone.