(Image courtesy of AppleInsider)
While the world waits and wonders if a Verizon iPhone even exists -- a game we’ve been playing since 2007 when the device first launched -- a new survey suggests that AT&T might have less to worry about from losing its exclusivity than previously thought.
AppleInsider is reporting that a new survey of iPhone owners suggests that only 23 percent of them would switch to Verizon Wireless if and when AT&T loses its exclusivity on the handset here in the U.S., according to Credit Suisse. That should alleviate a lot of the hand-wringing that’s probably going on within AT&T’s hallowed halls.
As a result of the new survey data, Credit Suisse raised its price target for AT&T from $27 to $35 as noted by BusinessInsider. When iPhone owners were asked “Which of the following statements comes closest to your opinion about your iPhone service?,” a full 63 percent responded that they would stick with AT&T, with only 23 percent eager to switch to Verizon and even less for Sprint and T-Mobile (three and two percent, respectively).
Credit Suisse ran the numbers and calculates that 1.4 million AT&T subscribers are at risk of switching to Verizon -- a small percentage of AT&T’s current customer base, which would clearly have less impact on the telco giant’s bottom line than previously expected.
Also sandwiched among the survey results: Apparently iPhone owners are less satisfied with AT&T than other device customers of the wireless carrier (42 percent versus 51 percent), and 18 percent of iPhone users plan to leave AT&T when their contract expires, versus only nine percent of non-iPhone users.
Of course, no one (except Steve Jobs and Company) knows for sure if Verizon will ever get the iPhone, but the most recent rumors peg a launch date on the competing carrier around January, 2011. Now that autumn is here, we won’t have much longer to wait to find out for ourselves…
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