Verizon Sales Reps Pushing Android Phones Over iPhone

That said, Verizon seems to be doing its best to push Android phones over the iPhone. David Goldman, reporting for CNN Money:

I had 10 conversations with Verizon sales representatives in New York stores, on the phone, and in online chat sessions, asking about my options for a new smartphone. Here’s what I found: Next time you walk into a Verizon store looking to buy a smartphone, expect the hard sell on a 4G Android device.

In each of the 10 discussions, representatives steered me toward either the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, the Droid Razr, or the LG Lucid — all 4G-capable phones running Google’s Android software. […]

“The iPhone is a great phone, but it’s on 3G,” said one representative at a Verizon Wireless store in midtown Manhattan. “I’m not going to recommend a phone that’s outdated.”

I’ve got ten bucks that says this practice doesn’t change after Apple ships an LTE iPhone — they’ll just come up with a new reason.

I can see where Verizon is coming from, of course. They’re a carrier, not a handset maker, so they want to emphasize the importance of the network over the device. But as for being “outdated”, all three of those phones currently ship running Android 2.3, which shipped in December 2010.

★ Thursday, 3 May 2012