Clearly annoyed by reports of its empty stores, Verizon Wireless chief executive Daniel Mead told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that Verizon sold more iPhone 4s during its initial launch than any other phone in the carrier's history.
In fact, more than 60 percent of all Verizon iPhone 4 sales so far occurred online, Mead said, explaining the empty Verizon Wireless stores on launch day.
"It was a conscious decision to spread the launch over three phases," Mead told the WSJ. Launched in stores on February 10, Verizon held two sold-out, online pre-sales of the iPhone 4 on February 3 and 9. Days later it was also available at BestBuy.com and Walmart.com.
Mead said Verizon purposely staggered initial sales online and in stores to ensure a smoother customer experience, perhaps trying to prevent the long, wrapped-around-the-corner lines AT&T experienced last year when it debuted the Apple iPhone 4.
He wouldn't discuss actual sales figures, but most analysts speculate that sales topped 500,000 units during the first online pre-sale. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster predicts Verizon sold one million units altogether during the launch period. Meanwhile, AT&T has activated five million iPhone 4s, according to Apple's latest earnings report.
Mead also hinted Verizon was working with Apple to support Verizon's 4G technology, Long-Term Evolution (LTE).
"You'll see more coming from Apple on LTE," he told the WSJ. "They understand the value proposition of LTE and I feel very confident that they are going to be a part of it."
But will Verizon keep up the sales momentum amidst a damning Consumer Reports review declaring the Verizon iPhone 4 suffers from the same "death grip" that plagues the AT&T iPhone 4.
For more, see PCMag's full review of the Verizon iPhone 4 and the slideshow below.