Half of All Verizon’s Smartphones Sold Are Androids

Verizon Wireless said it sold 5.6 million smartphones in the third quarter, half of which were devices using Google’s Android operating system.

Additionally, it said that now 39 percent of the wireless devices running on its networks are now smartphones.

The nation’s largest carrier said in total it sold almost three million Android devices, compared to two million iPhones. Apple’s latest device, the iPhone 4S, did not go on sale until after the quarter ended.

Yesterday, AT&T said it activated 2.7 million iPhones in the same quarter, which was the lowest level in more than a year as customers waited to upgrade. Additionally, as of Tuesday, it had sold one million iPhone 4S devices already in the fourth quarter.

Verizon declined to update investors on how many next-generation iPhones it had sold, other than it sold out on the first day and was waiting for more shipments from Apple.

Many of the sales were driven by the company’s 4G network, which is now in 165 markets, covering 186 million people. It sold 1.4 million 4G LTE devices, and said that 95 percent of all Internet devices on its network were now using 4G LTE.

Overall, Verizon said its wireless revenues surged by more than 9 percent. For more details on the company’s financial performance, check out the liveblog of its Q3 conference call.