HTC Thunderbolt: iPhone Killer?
By Ed Oswald | Friday, April 1, 2011 at 10:58 am
HTC’s Thunderbolt has gotten a good deal of positive coverage from the tech press, and now we may have some anecdotal evidence that those good words could be translating into success for the device. According to data from research firm BITG, checks at 150 Verizon Wireless stores indicate that in some cases the Thunderbolt is outselling the iPhone 4.
According to the comany’s data, 61 percent of the stores said they were selling equal numbers of both devices, and 11 percent more iPhones than Thunderbolts, apparently mainly in the southeastern US. But 28 percent were selling more Thunderbolts, seemingly indicating that at least on Verizon, the iPhone may have met its match.
Part of me wants to say I’m shocked by this, then again I’m really not. The Thunderbolt is a nice device, and well, it’s brand new. The iPhone 4 isn’t, except for being a CDMA version. Add to this that some people are waiting for the next iPhone–whenever it may arrive–and that hurts sales too.
Apple brought the iPhone 4 to Verizon in February. However the lack of lines led to kneejerk analysis of failure by some tech pundits, even though it was later disclosed the phone had sold some one million units in the first weeks of launch.
We can’t really be sure whether this has to do with the now-aging device or consumer apathy since Apple has yet to release a new device on both networks simultaneously, but BITG’s study results are sure to stoke the fire.
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April 1st, 2011 at 11:04 am
It's not surprising at all because the Thunderbolt and Android system are just… well, better. It's about time Apple got a kick in the pants.
April 1st, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Better in your opinion. Let's look at the story a different way.
"Nearly year old iPhone matches or beats NEWEST FASTEST Android phone in 72% of sales!"
April 1st, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Spin… Spin… Spin. Guess you are a "progressive".
April 1st, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Spin? That's what the number means. You seem to think that Apple's getting a kick in the pants. I guess that's one way of looking at it.
However, another way is that this older 3G phone is going better than toe to toe with the newest 4G phone.
I can see if the Thunderbolt was whipping the iPhone 5, then perhaps you would be correct. But that' isn't what's happening. Apple's latest, but much older phone is handling HTC's latest.
Simple as that.
April 1st, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Okay but in the same token boit, aren't you just spinning in the opposite direction? Each phone has its positives.. and both have their negatives.
April 3rd, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Umm, Ed, Apple sells the Verizon iPhone on Apple.com, in the Apple Stores, at Best Buy and Walmart whereas Thunderbolt can only be had at Verizon venues. Now, considering this so-called survey only looked a few brick-and-mortar Verizon stores, are you willing to still say this survey has any real merit?
Or does Ocam's Razor say that the analyst in question was looking for a result and found a survey to back up a pre-determined result?
April 1st, 2011 at 11:19 am
Android sucks, simply because of the cluster-f&*% with regards to all the apps stores and trying to determine which apps MIGHT or MIGHT NOT function with your Droid device and/or OS version.
April 1st, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Own an iPad… updated to 4.3. Still can't do half of what an Android device can. Keep following your guru… into mediocrity.
April 1st, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Guru? Yawn. At least *try* to come up with something original.
April 3rd, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Right. We anyone here really believes you own an iPad. *rolls eyes*
Otherwise, you're a worse chump than any Apple fanboy, for wasting your money on a product you despise from a company you hate. That's definition for "fool."
April 1st, 2011 at 11:46 am
Can we be sure to get a followup post in 2 weeks once the Thunderbolt is no longer the NEWEST phone Verizon sells and see how it's doing then? Considering the iPhone is 6 weeks old to Verizon, and 9 months old as a device, I think this is fairly moot data…
April 1st, 2011 at 12:50 pm
How many thunderbolts are sold in Apple stores (just kidding)?
April 2nd, 2011 at 6:55 am
Android outsells iPhone in smartphone sales, figures show
"Sales of Android phones increased by 1,508% to 7.9 million units in the last quarter of 2010, beating iPhone sales which only increased by 66%, figures have revealed."
http://www.uswitch.com/news/communications/androi…
No spin
May 6th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Meh, that IS spin though. The percentages that they increased by are irrelevant without knowing the initial sales data. IPhone (no thank you please, I have an android) has been out a lot longer and has a solid userbase. Android (yes please) likely had a significantly lower number of sales initially, so any will yield a much higher percentage point.
To dumb it down, if IPhone had been steadily selling 100 units a month in a store and android had been selling 10, then a new android and iphone come out and sales spike, and suddenly the store sold 200 units of each. That is only a %100 jump for the IPhone, but a %2000 jump for the androids even though IPhone had consistently outsold them.
April 2nd, 2011 at 9:27 am
I guess the world will end if there really is a iPhone killer. After all, it couldn't just be a stupid obsession of tech pundits, could it?
August 11th, 2011 at 8:57 am
no way, iPhone has way too much lead…it's become a status symbol