Anil Doradla, an analyst for William Blair, says he has found that the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX is currently the top-selling smartphone at Verizon - yes, even ahead of the iPhone 4S. In a recent report, Doradla said:
Since Apple’s iPhone launch in North America, we believe this was the first quarter where the iPhone was not the best‐selling smartphone at a North American mobile operator (where it was available). While Apple continued to maintain its top position at AT&T and Sprint, Motorola’s Droid RAZR MAXX was the best‐ selling smartphone at Verizon. Our checks also indicate that at this stage consumers are not pausing in front of the iPhone launch as it is not influencing their purchasing decisions (but we expect it to start impacting over the next couple of months). Despite the “increased competitive landscape from 4G devices (and the iPhone 4S is not 4G),” Doradia is “not worried” as the next iPhone model, a true 4G phone, “will be an important catalyst for the company,” he believes.
Android as a collective of many devices has overthrown iOS market share, but it's surprising to see a single smartphone beat out Apple's, especially in the U.S. Of course, it's hard to always take analyst "checks" at face value. AT&T's flagship Android smartphone is the HTC One X, and Sprint's is the HTC EVO 4G LTE - both impressive in their own rights, but it's interesting to hear that even without a bigger screen or LTE, the iPhone still manages to out-sell them. Who knows if iPhone will maintain its lead when the Samsung Galaxy S III hits the streets, but by that time, we won't have a long wait for the iPhone 5.
So, do you guys have any friends that picked up a RAZR MAXX instead of an iPhone 4S? Have you remotely interested in giving that particular Droid a try?
Source: Barron's
