Verizon of course denies any particular bias, but what do they say behind closed doors? To find out we spoke with Verizon sales associates, and what they revealed was…well…revealing. The representatives we spoke to reiterated that Verizon definitely does not make it official policy to push one mobile OS over another – during training sessions that were scheduled around the same time as the CNN article sales reps were reminded that it isn’t Verizon policy to “dissuade” people from buying iPhones.
It turns out that’s not the whole story though, as Verizon’s sales targets and compensation models paint a somewhat different picture. To be fair, Verizon’s main goal is to make money – like that of every other carrier business – and the easiest way to do that is to upsell customers from feature phones to smartphones. The reasons for this are obvious: smartphone customers must add data plans to their voice and text options, which adds quickly to a carrier’s bottom line. Verizon's specific target for smartphone sales varies by region, but according to our contacts can reach as high as 80% - that is 8 out of every 10 phones sold "should be" smartphones. Those numbers aren’t totally crazy – around 70% of mobile phone sales in Q2 were smartphones in the U.S., and some places do much better than the average.
Of those smartphone sales, Verizon has also set sales targets for how many phones should be 4G LTE devices – a number that we’re told is can be as high as 60%. So for a high-volume region where 80% of phone sales in an area are smartphones, the goal is that 60% of that number (or 48% of all phones sold) would be LTE devices. The kicker of course is that the only 4G LTE phones available on Big Red are powered by Android.Store and regional managers get reviewed (and compensated) based on how well their numbers match up against sales targets. Sales associates are also rewarded for selling 4G phones; we’re told that in at least some regions they receive an extra $25 bonus for each 4G phone they sell. The results are predictable: managers and sales associates alike do their best to push 4G phones. They certainly won’t stop you from buying an iPhone or a BlackBerry, but you’re likely to hear about the benefits of 4G before you do.
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It seems like forever since Amazon launched their Cloud Player, but now it is finally available on iOS devices. The Cloud Player app on iOS allows users to stream and download any music stored with Amazon to their device.
The idea of a 4-inch screen has also got the website MacRumors.com excited too. It is citing research done by Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White, whose findings - to cut a long story short - also suggest a 4-inch iPhone 5 screen. MacRumors also went to the lengths to mock up an image of what the new 4-inch iPhone will look like.
