• Report: Half of All Mobile Users in No Hurry for 4G LTE

    by
    Michael Essany
    Published on 2012-08-22 06:24 PM
    19 Comments Comments


    This probably isn't what Apple wants to hear on the eve of launching what many believe will be the first 4G LTE-ready iPhone next month. But according to the findings of a new survey from Piper Jaffray, 4G LTE connectivity may not be as high of a priority for mobile customers as we thought.

    Piper Jaffray’s Christopher Larsen surveyed 1,000 online participants about 4G networks, Baron's learned on Wednesday. And the results may leave you somewhat surprised.

    “Based on the survey results, we believe that Verizon (VZ) will continue to win share, but we don’t think the lack of a substantial 4G LTE network will materially hurt Sprint (S) when the iPhone 5 is launched," the report from Larsen reads. "We believe a large percent of wireless consumers will look to purchase the iPhone 5, which could impact near term margins.”

    What the analyst is referring to is the fact that almost half of American consumers aren't in a rush for 4G LTE. In fact, these folks primarily don't think they "need" 4G LTE. As we all know, however, Apple has been reportedly planning to make the leap to 4G LTE for some time now. And we will likely see the fruits of Apple's labor next month when the refreshed iPhone turns up.

    "Our survey found that 47% of consumers feel they don’t need 4G and that an additional 26% feel that all 4G network technologies are the same," Larsen says. "Only 15% of those surveyed picked out LTE as the best network technology. We think this shows that despite all the 4G advertising, consumers aren’t really focused on it. This is good for Sprint as the LTE coverage laggard of the three national iPhone carriers."

    Source: Barron's
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Report: Half of All Mobile Users in No Hurry for 4G LTE started by Michael Essany View original post
    1. Categories:
    2. iPhone,
    3. Apple
    Comments 19 Comments
    1. dannyrocket's Avatar
      dannyrocket - 2012-08-22, 06:35 PM
      Count me as one who could care less about 4G. I am a heavy wifi user and use less than 1.5 gb a month on my data plan.
    1. Kevin8677's Avatar
      Kevin8677 - 2012-08-22, 06:37 PM
      I'm sure that half of the 4S users on AT&T with their little fake 4G icon thinks they're already on it anyway so its natural for them not to care about LTE since they think they already have some flavor of 4G already. It's 3G++ at best. In the Little Rock market I did a speed test on a 4S & only got 100-250kbps download. That's barely even 3G.
    1. Papiriqui's Avatar
      Papiriqui - 2012-08-22, 06:58 PM
      I dont care about 4G since is not fully acailable like 3G, i dont like paying full price and receive halfway service. Thats the bottom line!!
    1. Kolder's Avatar
      Kolder - 2012-08-22, 07:51 PM
      I think for every person that doesn't really know anything about 4g there's another that knows you meet your data caps too fast. Really, whats the point of all that speed when the limitation is the same?
    1. LittleJob's Avatar
      LittleJob - 2012-08-22, 07:55 PM
      ...i have unlimited data, im awesome.
    1. The6uest's Avatar
      The6uest - 2012-08-22, 08:28 PM
      I'm happy with AT&T's 3G* data speeds until they start throttling it at 3GB... I can get upwards of 9Mbps which isn't shabby.

      *They call it 4G but I know it's not true 4G.
    1. Breezy215's Avatar
      Breezy215 - 2012-08-22, 08:29 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by LittleJob View Post
      ...i have unlimited data, im awesome.
      You also have unlimited throttling, you're not awesome....
    1. Carvensno's Avatar
      Carvensno - 2012-08-22, 08:29 PM
      WOW???? Only surveyed 1000 people out of the million that have iPhones. Sound like a waste of time and inaccurate data. Ya i have educated some people on there 4S including my sister about the 4G signal icon and that its not real 4G and its a play on words and marketing and that the phone still has 3G radio in it still.
    1. tongxinshe's Avatar
      tongxinshe - 2012-08-22, 08:40 PM
      4G speed is more a Con, instead of a Pro, as long as the data plan is still so pricy!!
    1. PokemonDesigner's Avatar
      PokemonDesigner - 2012-08-22, 08:45 PM
      I'm just going to say two things.
      1) Apple is stupid for making that fake 4G icon on AT&T iPhone 4Ss.
      2) Apple isn't going to make money off of real 4G with the 4G LTE because most people on Verizon realize it is useless because it is hardly supported anywhere in America let alone the world.
    1. *T*'s Avatar
      *T* - 2012-08-22, 09:01 PM
      That's only a 1,000 person (online) survey... This guy is gonna get nailed in the butt when the <iPhone name here> sells out in every store in America.
    1. LittleJob's Avatar
      LittleJob - 2012-08-22, 09:47 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Breezy215 View Post
      You also have unlimited throttling, you're not awesome....
      not if you work for them..
    1. Kolder's Avatar
      Kolder - 2012-08-22, 10:19 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by LittleJob View Post
      not if you work for them..
      A likely story. They treat their employees worse than their customers and that's saying something.
    1. Anonymous's Avatar
      Anonymous - 2012-08-22, 11:26 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by PokemonDesigner View Post
      I'm just going to say two things.
      1) Apple is stupid for making that fake 4G icon on AT&T iPhone 4Ss.
      2) Apple isn't going to make money off of real 4G with the 4G LTE because most people on Verizon realize it is useless because it is hardly supported anywhere in America let alone the world.
      You are foolishly misinformed. If I remember correctly, it was AT&T that pushed for the 4G icon in the status bar.

      Between you and Naked Faerie's comments, you guys make the news section of MMI incredibly lame.
    1. jwil736's Avatar
      jwil736 - 2012-08-23, 01:55 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by Anonymous View Post
      You are foolishly misinformed. If I remember correctly, it was AT&T that pushed for the 4G icon in the status bar.
      That is correct. AT&T, on a technicality of what the industry classified HSPA+ as "4G", forced apple to market THEIR iPhone 4S as 4G. HSPA+ is only on AT&T (GSM) so Sprint and Verizon (CDMA) could not claim their's 4G as well. Apple was extremely reluctant to changing the icon because they do not agree HSPA+ is considered 4G.
    1. Carvensno's Avatar
      Carvensno - 2012-08-23, 02:11 AM
      Well the 4S tho doesn't even pick up HSPA+. This whole thing is a play on words. The 4S has dual antennas which in theory according to Apple could reach the same speeds as HSPA+ which is considered to be 4G. Watch the keynote from last yr when they announced the 4S.

      They explain the whole theoretical deal on stage. But in the end? Still just 3G!
    1. Scotty Manley Silberhorn's Avatar
      Scotty Manley Silberhorn - 2012-08-23, 05:43 AM
      The thing is that yes LTE can support bandwidths of higher that 50Mbps. But the cell phone companies will throttle that down, so HSPA+ and HSUPA and HSDPA have about the same bandwidth speeds. LTE is just a different signal type that’s going to blast more “harmless” radiation at us.

      Also, you’re going to only notice a speed increase when streaming/downloading a massive file. It’s like when your home internet gets upgraded from 15Mbps to 30Mbps. You’re not going to notice any speed increase when going to your favorite websites or streaming music for that matter. 8 Mbps is about enough to stream an HD video with no lags or grain. Home network getting an upgrade is great because I have 15 devices connected to the internet sharing 30Mbps. I don’t need my cellphone to have that much by itself.
    1. BhadKarma's Avatar
      BhadKarma - 2012-08-23, 10:24 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by dannyrocket View Post
      Count me as one who could care less about 4G. I am a heavy wifi user and use less than 1.5 gb a month on my data plan.
      Same
    1. scottjl's Avatar
      scottjl - 2012-08-23, 05:02 PM
      yawn. unless you're relying on your phone to be your sole internet connection (and paying a hell of a lot for that) faster download speeds aren't going to mean a hell of a lot, other than going through your cap faster, which will make your carrier smile. add in you have to live in an area that supports LTE to take full advantage of it and plenty of people don't.

      i'm not excited in the least about LTE.

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