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Simple Mobile has won the Wave7 Research quarterly multi-carrier prepaid dealer survey that was conducted in 4Q23. That's the 36th straight quarterly win for the brand, and it has won every survey ever conducted by Wave7 Research. Simple Mobile was carried by 23 out of 30 dealers surveyed, just like it was in the 3Q23 survey. It was the top seller at 16 of the dealers, up from 10 in the 3Q23 survey.
Verizon Prepaid remains hot on the heels of Simple Mobile. For the second time in a row it was the number two most carried brand. It was found in 22 of the stores polled, up from 15 in the 3Q23 survey. It was a top three seller at 16 of the stores, up from 11 in 3Q23. However, the number of dealers reporting it as their number one seller remained flat from the previous quarter at five. Wave7 Research gave Verizon Prepaid its Momentum Award for the quarter given the jump in dealers carrying the brand compared to the prior quarter's poll.
Wave7 Research named Boost Mobile its survey loser. In the fourth quarter of 2023, only six representatives mentioned Boost, a decrease from 11 in the third quarter. Additionally, while nine out of 30 reps in the third quarter cited Boost as one of the store's top two sellers, this number dropped to just three in the fourth quarter. A significant layoff of Boost's indirect account executives seems to be having a detrimental effect. Furthermore, system outages experienced by Boost in 2023 are likely to have negatively impacted dealers.
4Q23 Prepaid Dealer Full Survey Results
The latest survey was conducted in November and December, 2023. Representatives from 30 independent multi-carrier prepaid dealers in a variety of markets around the USA were interviewed, mostly by phone. Full results of the survey are detailed below.
Note: The "number of dealers" column indicates the number of dealers out of 30 selling the brand. The "1st place" column denotes the number of dealers reporting the brand as their top seller, while "2nd place" etc., means the number of dealers reporting that as their second best-selling brand.
| Provider | Number of Dealers | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | Also-Ran |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Mobile | 23 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Verizon Prepaid | 22 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Ultra Mobile | 17 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| AT&T Prepaid | 15 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| H2O Wireless | 11 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| Lyca Mobile | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Gen Mobile | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| T-Mobile Prepaid | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Boost Mobile | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Cricket Wireless | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Selectel | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Red Pocket | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Tracfone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Simple Mobile and of course Verizon Prepaid are both Verizon owned prepaid brands. Despite Verizon's apparent success in the multi-carrier prepaid dealer channel, Verizon as a whole continues to bleed prepaid customers.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, Verizon reported that it lost 289,000 prepaid subscribers. This is up from the third quarter when Verizon reported a loss of 207k prepaid subscribers. Verizon owns over half a dozen prepaid brands with three of them found in the survey. Tracfone is also a Verizon owned brand. Verizon's largest prepaid brand is Straight Talk Wireless which is sold exclusively at Walmart and not through dealers. The company has been putting a large effort into one of its other prepaid brands, Total by Verizon. Total by Verizon branded stores have been opening up at a rapid pace, with several hundred now open. An ad aired during the Super Bowl also featured the brand.
Interestingly, T-Mobile continues to not put as much emphasis on this channel compared to other major carriers. Only 27% of the stores surveyed sell T-Mobile Prepaid whereas most stores offer at least one Verizon owned prepaid brand. Half the stores sell at least one AT&T Prepaid brand. DISH's Gen Mobile brand fairs only slightly better than T-Mobile Prepaid being found in 30% of dealers. However, Boost Mobile is also carried by dealers giving DISH a stronger overall presence in the channel.
“Simple Mobile continues to win this survey, 36th time in a row. That said, Verizon Prepaid is making strides in this channel and is now a solid #2.”
– Jeff Moore, Principal of Wave7 Research