According to The NPD Group, lower prices and larger selections of smartphones at Boost, Metro, Virgin, and other pre-paid mobile phone carriers are causing a decline in pre-paid smartphone sales of new phones from AT&T, Verizon, T‑Mobile, and other tier-one carriers. In the third quarter (Q3) of 2012, 70% of smartphone buyers who purchased their phones on a prepaid carrier had switched from a tier-one carrier.
Based on information from NPD’s monthly Mobile Phone Track service, the overall penetration of prepaid smartphones rose from 39% in Q2 to 42% in Q3. Prepaid smartphone sales at prepaid carriers were up 23% over the prior quarter, while at tier-one carriers prepaid smartphone sales fell 12%. Consumers who were replacing their mobile phones were more likely to have switched from a tier-one carrier (80%) than were first-time smartphone buyers (60%).
“Both AT&T and Verizon have introduced less-expensive prepaid offerings and Verizon has expanded its prepaid smartphone line-up, but questions remain whether it’s too little, too late,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at The NPD Group.
TOP SMARTPHONE BRANDS
Overall Smartphone penetration rose from 66% in Q2 to 70% in Q3. Much of the increase in smartphone penetration was driven by Android, which experienced a unit volume increase of 25%, as its share increased from 59% to 63% of the smartphone market. Apple’s iOS unit volume rose 16%, and the company’s market share remained steady at 31%.
According to NPD, the top-five smartphones in Q3 were as follows:
Rank | Model |
1 | Apple iPhone 4S |
2 | Samsung Galaxy S III |
3 | Apple iPhone 4 |
4 | Apple iPhone 5 |
5 | Samsung # GALAXY S II |
While the iPhone 5 helped Apple maintain market share, the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 also drove a considerable amount of sales, among first-time smartphone buyers and also among older iPhone generation owners. “With just about a week of sales to record in the third quarter, the iPhone 5 had a notable impact on the market, but by no means did older iPhone generations suffer since carriers provided less expensive pricing for those models,” Baker said.
[Source: "Mobile Phone Track and Smartphone Track." The NPD Group. 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.]