Verizon pleased with holiday sales, even aside from Droid
updated 11:30 pm EST, Tue December 8, 2009
Carrier still mum on iPhone speculation
Verizon Wireless CFO John Killian has provided insight regarding the company's recent sales leading up to the holidays, claiming he is very pleased with sales across the carrier's entire range of devices, according to The Wall Street Journal. The executive also noted that there is still room for growth, primarily from new customers and the increasing usage of data services.
"We think we're in a good place with where the wireless business is," Killian said, dismissing the notion that Verizon's pre-paid business will cannibalize its core business.
The CFO remained mum on the possibility of Verizon someday carrying the iPhone. Interestingly enough, despite the recent Droid ad war aimed at Apple's smartphone, Killian claimed that executives from both companies have a good relationship.
Verizon has declined to provide sales numbers for the heavily-marketed Motorola Droid, although analysts suggest the carrier may have sold between 700,000 and 800,000 units in November.
As Verizon continues to compete with AT&T for new subscribers, Killian suggests his company is still profiting from previous customers upgrading to the latest smartphones such as the Droid and HTC's Eris. "The good news there is a lot of the upgrades have come from customers who didn't have a data plan," he said.
Aside from the holiday sales numbers from wireless customers, Verizon still plans on reducing its landline workforce by 3,000 employees in the fourth quarter. The company already cut 7,200 jobs in the first three quarters of the year.
Writen by Justin King
