Why The Verizon iPhone is the Ultimate Threat to Android
Verizon is Android's best friend in the US; in a sample of traffic from the Chitika network, 55% of all Android traffic came from Verizon's phones. So when Apple announced that the iPhone is coming to Verizon in February …
Context & Ripple Effects
Verizon's Android strategy had been framed in 2010 as strong enough that it might not need the iPhone, thanks to its Google relationship. Chitika's traffic sample instead highlights how much Android usage is concentrated on Verizon: 55% of the network's measured Android traffic came from its phones.
With Android already ahead of Apple in U.S. market share, the February iPhone launch puts Apple and Android into direct competition within Verizon's own handset lineup rather than across separate carrier positions.
First-order effects
- Apple gains access to Verizon customers when the iPhone becomes available in February, while Verizon adds a flagship alternative to the Android phones that account for most of Chitika's measured Android traffic.
- Android's position at Verizon becomes less protected: its users and prospective buyers can choose an iPhone without changing carriers.
Second-order effects
- Verizon's sales mix becomes a direct contest between iPhone and Android, increasing pressure on Android handset makers to distinguish their devices on the same carrier's shelves.
- Apple's carrier reach expands while Verizon can use competition between iPhone and Android to reduce dependence on either platform in its device lineup.
Third-order effects
- The launch points toward a U.S. smartphone market in which platform competition is decided increasingly inside each major carrier, rather than by which carrier has exclusive access to a flagship device.
The trend: Carrier exclusivity is giving way to same-network competition between major smartphone platforms, shifting leverage toward carriers and consumer handset choice.