Evo 4G leads Wirefly.com's sales during holidays

If Wirefly.com is any indication, Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) could be in for some surprising fourth quarter results.
The online wireless retailer, which is owned by Simplexity, reported that the HTC Corp. Evo 4G was its best selling device during the holiday season. The smart phone is available exclusively through Sprint Nextel, which recently has begun to turn around its customer metrics having posted modest customer growth numbers over the past several quarters following years of losses.
The retailer, which does not sell Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone though it does offer devices and services for the country’s four nationwide operators, added that all ten of the top selling mobile devices were smart phones, with nine of the 10 powered by Google Inc.’s (GOOG) Android operating system. The only non-Android device to break the top 10 was Research In Motion Ltd.’s (RIMM) BlackBerry Torch at AT&T Mobility.
Overall, Verizon Wireless scored the most number of devices on the list with four, followed by three each from Sprint Nextel and AT&T Mobility.
The one name missing from the list, besides the iPhone, was T-Mobile USA Inc., which did not land a single device on the retailer’s top selling device ranking. The nation’s No. 4 operator has seen its customer growth numbers fluctuate significantly over the past several quarters as the carrier has tried to balance out its marketing focus between prepaid and postpaid services. The carrier managed to add137,000 customers during the third quarter on the back of prepaid and mobile virtual network operator partners, after having lost 170,000 customers during the first half of the year.
The results appeared to be business as usual for Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, which both posted strong third quarter results and are expected to do the same for the fourth quarter. Verizon Wireless appears to be gaining significant traction with its Android-based Droid lineup of devices, while AT&T Mobility has shown continued strength with its BlackBerry leadership, growing interest in Android-powered devices and has its iPhone ace-in-the-hole that continues to power the carrier’s growth.
As for device makers, HTC managed to score the top two positions on the list, though Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. managed to win the war with four devices in the top 10. Motorola Inc. (a href=http://stocks.rcrnews.com/rcrwireless./quote?Symbol=MOT target=_blank>MOT) scored a pair of devices on the list thanks to Verizon Wireless, while RIM and Sony Ericsson each had a single entry thanks to AT&T Mobility.
The complete Wirefly.com top 10:
1. HTC Evo 4G (Sprint Nextel)
2. HTC’s Droid Incredible (Verizon Wireless)
3. Samsung Captivate (AT&T Mobility)
4. Motorola Inc. Droid X (Verizon Wireless)
5. Samsung Intercept (Sprint Nextel)
6. BlackBerry Torch 9800 (AT&T Mobility)
7. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (AT&T Mobility)
8. Motorola Droid 2 Global (Verizon Wireless)
9. Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint Nextel)
10. Samsung Fascinate (Verizon Wireless)