Verizon’s surprising Q1 decline in postpaid phone subscribers bodes poorly for US iPhone sales this year.
Data from Verizon shows that demand for the iPhone has been fading fast in the US. Considering that 70% of US-sold iPhone units are purchased from carriers, this information does not bode well for Apple. The sharp drop of 289,000 postpaid phone subscribers at Verizon during Q1 could result in lower demand for new iPhone handsets in the United States. Besides the ugly raw data released by Verizon, the wireless provider’s 2.8% postpaid up-grade rate during the January through March period was the lowest in years.
While Verizon did note that sales have rebounded this month, there remains a discouraging trend in the US toward lower smartphone sales. This trend also includes iPhone sales specifically. Analysts at securities firm UBS made a point of connecting Verizon’s poor Q1 postpaid phone numbers with a more moderate level of demand for smartphones in the country.
