In case you forget that the cellular carriers in the United States are mind-boggling large and powerful, Verizon would like to remind you that its getting bigger by the quarter.
Verizon announced its third quarter 2013 earnings today with revenue at $30.3 billion, while adding 1.1 million wireless subscriptions (which Verizon calls “connections”) to bring its total subscriptions to 101.2 million.
About 67% of Verizon’s wireless subscribers are using smartphones. Verizon activated 7.6 million smartphones in the quarter, up about 12% year-over-year. Verizon said that nearly 50% of its smartphone activations for the quarter were Apple iPhones.
Verizon also said on its earnings call that it experienced iPhone supply shortages at the end of the third quarter and expects strong iPhone sales heading into the fourth quarter and the holiday shopping season.
Lest you need a reminder, Verizon also tells us that American consumers give substantial portions of their paychecks to their wireless carriers, with wireless subscribers sending an average of $155.74 per account per month into the company’s coffers. Verizon’s wireless division accounts for 67.32% of its total revenue at $20.4 billion.
Verizon 4G LTE now covers 303 million people in the United States, near 99% of its 3G footprint.
The amazing thing about Verizon is that it grew 4.4% from the second quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of 2013. That is the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth of more than 4%.
In the last quarter, Verizon released a litany of new smartphones to its network, including the HTC One (months after the other carriers), iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, the bevy of Motorola Droid devices (Mini, Ultra, Maxx). Verizon also followed T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint by introducing a monthly installment plan for new smartphones called Verizon EDGE where consumers can pay for a new smartphone with no contract over a period of 24 monthly installments.
