LTE iPhone 5 Potentially Apple's Best Seller to Date

LTE iPhone 5 Potentially Apple’s Best Seller to Date

Written by Craig Galbraith
May 10, 2012

Odds are on an October release date for Apple's next iPhone, but one thing's almost a certainty, no matter the date: LTE-compatibility will bring the customers in droves, perhaps like the computer giant has never seen before.

When Apple failed to release a full-blown, redesigned version of its iconic iPhone last October, many industry watchers predicted it to be only a moderate success. Boy, were they wrong.

The iPhone 4S is a monster of a seller. A new survey portends that the next iPhone, with LTE compatibility, could be even bigger. Backed by the introduction of Siri the voice-recognition software the iPhone 4S shattered Apple’s own smartphone sales records, thus becoming the hottest selling device of all time, still topping all other phones in monthly sales at AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint.

So when Apple delivers what is presumed to be its first iPhone (iPhone 5, sixth-gen iPhone, next iPhone, whatever you want to call it) compatible with speedy LTE wireless networks later this year be it summer or fall it would be no surprise if the Silicon Valley giant topped its own marks again. And today there is some evidence to back up that forecast.

PCWorld/Macworld did a survey that found a whole lot of people are planning to buy or upgrade to Apple’s next smartphone with 4G LTE being at the top of their list of reasons why. Seven in 10 MacWorld readers obsessed with Apple gadgets said they would get one; almost half of those said they wouldn’t wait for it to show up in stores they’ll preorder it. Only 15 percent of the PCWorld readers were on board natch but blend the two together along with a sample of people polled who don’t read either publication, and you still get about 40 percent who say they’ll plunk down $200, $300 or $400 for a sixth-generation iPhone.

AT&T was a winner in the survey. About four in 10 respondents said they would choose the Dallas-based carrier for their iPhone, compared to three in 10 who picked Verizon Wireless.

Many so-called industry experts predicted Apple would include LTE functionality in last year’s iPhone, but almost no one is betting against it this year since the company’s third-generation iPad, released in March, is LTE-compatible.