New statistics out from comScore show that for three of the top four cellular carriers in the U.S., their flagship smartphone is the top revenue generator among all phones on those carriers. This may seem logical but the statistics also indicate that those three flagship phones only ranked 8th or 9th in total unit sales for each of those carriers yet they still generated the most revenue. Sprint was the only U.S. carrier that did not see their flagship phone (Samsung’s Instinct) provide the most phone revenue (and only 15th in unit sales). The four top phones in revenue were as follows:

Further analysis of the phone sales numbers in the survey shed light on just how the subsidized phone “sales” drive the U.S. cell phone business. Looking at the number of units “sold” for the four carriers and the percent of those sales that were “free” shows that handset maker LG cleaned up with three of the top four “selling” units:

The report also shows that Verizon Wireless led the four carriers with the lowest percentage of phone “sales” of units that were “free.” Verizon only “gave away” 48% of their phones, while AT&T provided the most free phones at 75%.
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