Verizon and AT&T plan post-pandemic 5G marketing blitz, even as consumer use cases remain unclear
U.S. wireless giants AT&T and Verizon had big plans last year to advertise why customers should upgrade their phones and start using 5G wireless.
Then the pandemic hit, and with everyone stuck at home, showing off blazing speeds and consumer use cases in stadiums, airports and public places wasn’t just irrelevant — it was gauche. Cloud gaming, checking instant odds on gambling apps from stadiums and downloading Netflix movies at the airport became far less important than the ability to work from home — a better message for cable companies who already deliver high-speed home broadband.
“We almost lost the year,” said David Christopher, EVP of partnerships & 5G ecosystem development for AT&T. “But now, people are excited to get out of their homes and experience 5G in the wild. We will dramatize use cases that matter to customers.”
AT&T and Verizon want to transfer customers as fast as possible to 5G networks — not just to recoup the heavy capital expenditure costs of building out updated nationwide networks but also to lock in customers and keep them from defecting to T-Mobile.
Both AT&T and Verizon have offered promotional pricing this year on 5G phones to retain customers and entice new ones. But T-Mobile tends to offer the cheapest prices among the big three, while also topping both Verizon and AT&T in download speed and 5G availability, according to Open Network’s July 2021 5G User Experience Report.
“A focus on 5G isn’t going to be flattering to either Verizon or AT&T,” said Craig Moffett, a wireless analyst at MoffettNathanson. “They are falling far behind T-Mobile in what will soon matter most: 5G speed and coverage. And they charge consumers much higher prices than T-Mobile.”
That puts pressure on both companies to sell consumers on why they should choose AT&T and Verizon — making 5G a marketing challenge as Americans emerge from pandemic quarantines.
Convincing consumers
Getting Americans excited about 5G may not be easy.
A J.D. Power survey last year found that only about a quarter of wireless subscribers said they believed 5G would be significantly faster than current 4G LTE technology, and only 5% of respondents said they’d be willing to pay more for 5G service.
Even the CEO of AT&T Communications, Jeff McElfresh, told CNBC last year he has “always tried to soften folks’ expectations around 5G.”
Much of the messaging about 5G so far has been about enterprise solutions. A Deloitte Insights consumer survey this year found that consumer use cases that demand the faster network simply don’t exist yet.
Verizon last year helped produce a documentary on 5G called “Speed of Thought,” which showed enterprise-focused examples, such as a robotic arm that a physician can use from anywhere and an augmented reality helmet for firefighters to help see through smoke. It also explored cities testing out 5G-enabled technology to avoid car collisions.
AT&T leaders have also said 5G’s real opportunity is in the business cases, particularly in the case of machines and equipment that are communicating via internet-of-things technology.
But both companies plan to illustrate specific consumer use cases in advertisements in the coming months to convince customers to upgrade.
In an outline of its 5G strategy for this year, AT&T detailed use cases including AR-aided shopping experiences for consumers in stores and downloading content at airports. Earlier this year, AT&T announced it would give its customers access to Bookful, which creates augmented reality experiences around books to try to improve reading comprehension. Christopher said viewing a street map through a phone is reliable and seamless in 5G, more easily allowing for activity like an augmented reality guide to a city, whereas it would have consistently lagged with 4G.
Verizon is currently running a number of 5G-related TV ad spots, including those with “Saturday Night Live” star Kate McKinnon about a promotion to receive $800 for a 5G phone when consumers trade in their old device.
Verizon has also done some marketing around what its 5G will do for gaming, both in its Super Bowl spot earlier this year and a digital video released in May that tried to illustrate what video game-like lag would look like in everyday life
But the Verizon campaigns don’t yet show why 5G is necessary or important for average consumers.
In one recent Verizon ad, viewers see a series of images — a man climbing a cell tower, a thunderstorm, cars driving on the street, landscape shots of cities — with voiced-over statements about “next generation service,” “broader spectrum,” and “the more going the extra mile matters.” But the only clear consumer use case shown in the one-minute commercial is video chatting — an activity that doesn’t require 5G.
It’s possible 5G advertising could backfire on both companies if consumers view networks as interchangeable and simply choose the lowest-price offering — which will be T-Mobile, Moffett said.
Christopher points out that educating consumers about 5G will benefit the entire industry. “We’re not going to spend our resources talking about the other guy,” he said. “Everything educates the customer about the broad benefits of 5G as a category, and that’s a good thing, too. We’re happy with that.”
Verizon’s 5G Home strategy
Verizon’s 5G marketing strategy hasn’t kicked into full gear yet because the company still hasn’t lit up its nationwide footprint of C-Band spectrum, said Manon Brouillette, recently named Verizon Consumer Group’s chief operating officer and deputy chief executive officer. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg has promised 100 million Americans will have access to speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second by March 2022.
Brouillette she believes 5G’s biggest selling point is as a replacement for cable broadband once Verizon’s so-called “ultra wideband” network in fully functional. Verizon spent nearly $53 billion on the airwaves earlier this year.
“When it comes to messaging, we need to make sure that any consumer understands you don’t need fiber to home anymore,” Brouillette said. “When C-band is here, we can make a sales pitch where we’ll offer one product, in-home and out-of-home, at low latencies, that has never been offered before. That’s the true game changer.”
Verizon already offers 5G Home that runs on millimeter wave technology — faster than C-band — to parts of 47 U.S. cities.
But even when Verizon’s 5G network is up and running across the country, the company still plans on selling separate products — mobile and home — even though they’ll operate on the same network. Verizon currently sells its 5G Home product at a $20 monthly discount for customers that also buy Verizon wireless.
Verizon is planning more “creative” ways to price home and mobile internet together in 2022, said Brouillette. But that packaging may not be enough to convince consumers to switch to Verizon — especially as cable companies such as Comcast and Charter offer their own mobile services (which use Verizon’s own network) with bundled discounts.
“It’s a myth believing one major ad campaign will solve everything,” said Brouillette. “It will come down to performance and execution.”
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
WATCH: Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg on subscriber growth surprise, outlook
Apple CEO Tim Cook said price hikes on the newest iPhone models aren’t tied to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plans.
“There’s no increase for tariffs in the prices to be totally clear,” Cook told CNBC’s Jim Cramer from Apple’s Fifth Avenue store location in New York City, as the latest iPhone model launched in stores worldwide.
It is one of the first instances in which Cook has decisively addressed tariffs in relation to iPhone prices.
Earlier this month, Apple increased the price of its iPhone 17 Pro model by $100, while maintaining the prices of its entry-level phones. It also introduced an Air model that replaced the Plus at steeper price point.
Many analysts had widely anticipated price hikes despite Cook’s attempts to dodge tariffs.
To circumvent the levies, Apple has pivoted its supply chain to import iPhones to the U.S. from lower tariff countries, such as India and Vietnam. Apple has historically produced a majority of its products in China.
Cook has also made public appearances with Trump as the company commits at least $600 billion toward bolstering U.S. manufacturing and supporting suppliers.
During the June quarter, Cook revealed that the company took an $800-million hit from costs tied to tariffs.
At the same time, Apple faces questions about its slow AI rollout, as well as rising competition in international markets such as China.
“We have AI everywhere in the phone,” Cook told CNBC on Friday. “We just don’t call it” that.
A customer holds up the new orange-colored iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphone inside an Apple retail store in Chongqing, China, on September 19, 2025.
Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The iPhone 17 hit store shelves worldwide on Friday, drawing lines from Beijing to London.
But beyond the launch buzz, Apple is under pressure to prove itself, grappling with questions over its artificial intelligence plans, as well as increasing competition.
Products on display for the first time include the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, as well as new Apple Watch and AirPods models.
While they were available for preorders in the U.S. from Sept. 12, the global launch holds particular significance as Apple takes on growing competition in overseas markets.
China competition
One of those markets is China, where customers waited for hours — and even overnight — to get their hands on the new iPhone
First in line at the Apple flagship Store in Sanlitun, Beijing, this morning, was Liu — he did not wish to be identified by his full name — who told CNBC that he had been queuing since 11 p.m. local time Thursday for his chance to pick up the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
A customer shows off his new iPhone 17 at Apple’s Regent Street store on Sept. 19.
Arjun Kharpal | CNBC
He said he was excited about the smartphone’s new color and exterior design, which Apple says has improved the phone’s heat dissipation.
Notably, Liu also said he has changed to Apple from Huawei in recent years, saying he preferred the iPhone for daily use and entertainment.
Another person, who wished to be identified only by his surname, Yang — an erstwhile Xiaomi user — said he had been waiting to get his hands on the latest iPhone, preferring its operating system.
Both Liu and Yang expect many Chinese residents to buy their first iPhone this year due to the new features, including larger internal storage.
If that trend were to pan out, it would be welcome news for Apple, which has lost market share in China to players such as Huawei and Xiaomi.
After years of leadership in the region, the iPhone-maker now only holds 10% of the Chinese smartphone market, trailing local players like Oppo, Huawei, Xiaomi and others, according to data from Omdia.
Apple’s latest iPhone models are shown on display at its Regent Street, London store on the launch day of the iPhone 17.
Arjun Kharpal | CNBC
So far, the signs are positive for the iPhone 17 series in China. Last Friday, JD.com — one of China’s largest ecommerce platforms — saw the first minute of iPhone 17 series preorders surpass the first-day preorder volume of last year’s iPhone 16 series, the company reported.
At 10 a.m. local time on Friday, JD.com said that iPhone 7 trade-in sales were four times higher than the same period last year.
Other markets
In the much smaller but affluent market of Singapore, the redesigned iPhone 17s were also met with fervor, with long lines forming outside Apple outlets across the city.
Iman Isa and Daniel Muhamed Nuv, two young professionals in Singapore, both queued for hours at Apple’s outlet in the city’s iconic Marina Bay mall to buy iPhone 17 Pros, which they said were their first new phones in years.
Citing the fresh design, longer battery life and improved camera, they said the new phones offer enough to keep them loyal to the Apple ecosystem.
Based on preorder times and consumer feedback, the initial global demand for the iPhone 17 series appears largely positive, said Le Xuan Chiew, a research manager at Omdia.
The iPhone 17 base model in particular has outperformed expectations, as the pricing at launch remained unchanged from its predecessor despite upgrades in memory storage, Chiew said.
In Singapore, customers arriving at Apple outlets had also been looking to nab some of the company’s new AirPods Pro 3, citing the product’s live translation feature as a major selling point.
In London, lines were notably longer than they were at last year’s launch of the iPhone 16, and customers appeared more interested in the premium offerings — the Pro and Pro Max models — this time around.
People lined up outside Apple’s Regent Street, London store on Sept. 19 to get their hands on the latest iPhone 17.
Arjun Kharpal | CNBC
“For the last five years, I’ve been in a pattern of constantly upgrading my phone, because every year Apple is bringing something new to the table,” one customer, Jasmine, said. “I just love having that experience of Apple every year.”
Meanwhile, Michael, who described himself as a content creator, said he was drawn by the battery and camera.
“I thought about going for the [iPhone] Air, but I just don’t know whether or not the battery is going to be able to hold up. And that single camera? I don’t know, it’s just a little bit off-putting on the back,” he said of Apple’s thin iPhone 17 offering.
Apple intelligence
A successful iPhone 17 launch could help reassure Apple investors after a somewhat underwhelming rollout of its artificial intelligence features, which began late last year.
Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” last week, Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, lauded Apple’s latest product launches but said the company now needed to deliver on artificial intelligence.
“There is no question that Apple needs to deliver on AI,” he said, noting that the company had “dropped the ball” last year by making big promises that failed to materialize.
“Apple has to catch up [in AI], but right now, I think they’ve got enough runway to be able to cope in the intervening period.”
– CNBC’s Eunice Yoon contributed to this report
Technology
Nvidia just spent over $900 million to hire Enfabrica CEO, license AI startup’s technology
Co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., Jensen Huang attends the 9th edition of the VivaTech trade show in Paris on June 11, 2025.
Chesnot | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Nvidia has just shelled out over $900 million to hire Enfabrica CEO Rochan Sankar and other employees at the artificial intelligence hardware startup, and to license the company’s technology, CNBC has learned.
In a deal reminiscent of recent AI talent acquisitions made by Meta and Google, Nvidia is paying cash and stock in the transaction, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. The deal closed last week, and Enfabrica CEO Rochan Sankar has joined Nvidia, said the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.
Nvidia has served as the backbone of the AI boom that began with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022. The company’s graphics processing units (GPUs), which are generally purchased in large clusters, power the training of large language models and allow for big cloud providers to offer AI services to clients.
Enfabrica, founded in 2019, says its technology can connect more than 100,000 GPUs together. It’s a solution that could help Nvidia offer integrated systems around its chips so clusters can effectively serve as a single computer.
A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment, and Enfabrica didn’t provide a comment for this story.
While Nvidia’s earlier AI chips like the A100 were single processors slotted into servers, its most recent products come in tall racks with 72 GPUs installed working together. That’s the kind of system inside the $4 billion data center in Wisconsin that Microsoft announced on Thursday.
Nvidia previously invested in Enfabrica as part of a $125 million Series B round in 2023 that was led by Atreides Management. The company didn’t disclose its valuation at the time, but said that it was a fivefold increase from its Series A funding.
Late last year, Enfabrica raised another $115 million from investors including Spark Capital, Arm, Samsung and Cisco. According to PitchBook, the post-money valuation was about $600 million.
Tech giants Meta, Google, Microsoft and Amazon have all poured money into hiring top AI talent through deals that resemble acquihires. The transactions allow the companies to bring in top engineers and researchers without worrying about the regulatory hassles that come with acquisitions.
The biggest such deal came in June, when Meta spent $14.3 billion on Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang and others and took a 49% stake in the AI startup. A month later, Google announced an agreement to bring in Varun Mohan, co-founder and CEO of artificial intelligence coding startup Windsurf, and other research and development employees in a $2.4 billion deal that also included licensing fees.
Last year, Google made a similar deal to bring in the founders of Character.AI. Microsoft did the same thing for Inflection, as did Amazon for Adept.
While Nvidia has been a big investor in AI technologies and infrastructure, it hasn’t been a significant acquirer. The company’s only billion-dollar-plus deal was for Israeli chip designer Mellanox, a $6.9 billion purchase announced in 2019. Much of Nvidia’s current Blackwell product lineup is enabled by networking technology that it acquired through that acquisition.
Nvidia tried to buy chip design company Arm, but that deal collapsed in 2022 due to regulatory pressure. In the past year, Nvidia closed a $700 million purchase of Run:ai, an Israeli company whose technology helps software makers optimize their infrastructure for AI.
On Thursday, Nvidia announced one of its most sizable investments to date. The chipmaker said it’s taken a $5 billion stake in Intel, and announced that the two companies will collaborate on AI processors. Nvidia also said this week that it invested close to $700 million in U.K. data center startup Nscale.
— Correction: A prior version of this story mistakenly included the name of a company as an investor in Enfabrica.
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