1 Way AT&T Still Beats Verizon Wireless

By Evan Niu, CFA – May 23, 2013 at 9:00PM

NYSE: T

AT&T

Market Cap

$119B

Today's Change

(-1.37%) -$0.23

Current Price

$16.58

Price as of April 25, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

In the cellular tablet market, AT&T still comes out on top, while Verizon Wireless is a close second. Most people prefer Wi-Fi only models, but carriers are hoping more consumers opt for cellular models and shared data plans.

According to recent estimates from NPD Group, just 12% of tablets sold in the U.S. are cellular models. That's a relatively small percentage, showing that the market has voted largely in favor of Wi-Fi-only models since consumers don't feel the need to constantly have their tablet connected. It also doesn't help that not all tablets are offered with cellular options.

Within this subset of the market, AT&T (T -1.37%) is the leading carrier with 49% market share, while Verizon (VZ -0.68%) Wireless trails with a 42% share. That's 91% of the cellular tablet market occupied by the two largest domestic carriers. Sprint Nextel is far behind with 7%, and T-Mobile has just 1% of the market.

In the video below, Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, explains why it's important for carriers to grow cellular tablet sales while pushing shared data plans.

Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, owns shares of Apple and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Apple, and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.