Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile

AT&T iPhone sales seemingly unaffected by Verizon

By
iphone-4-apple
Apple

Mobile operator AT&T is no longer the exclusive carrier of the Apple iPhone in the United States, and some industry watchers expected that the arrival of the iPhone on top U.S. mobile carrier Verizon Wireless would put a big dent in AT&T’s bottom line. Not so—or, at least, not yet, according to AT&T’s latest financial results. AT&T says they saw a 10.2 percent increase in wireless revenue for the quarter, with a corresponding 8.6 percent increase in wireless service revenue. And those iPhone sales? Up nearly one million year-on-year to a total of 3.6 million. However, perhaps more significantly, 23 percent of iPhone subscribers were new to AT&T, and churn amongst iPhone subscribers was unchanged since last year.

“We delivered another robust mobile broadband growth quarter for a very solid start to the year,” said AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson, in a statement. “We posted double-digit wireless revenue growth, and we set new first-quarter records in total net adds, connected device net adds, and smartphone sales. Growth in tablets and other branded computing subscribers also continues to be strong.”

Recommended Videos

Although AT&T says it added 2 million wireless subscribers during the quarter—bringing their total to 97.5 million—the bulk of those additions cam from “connected device” additions. Excluding integrating customers from Alltell and Centennial, AT&T added 62,000 contract subscribers for the quarter, compared to 400,000 during its fourth quarter of 2010. However, industry watchers had been expecting to see AT&T lose at least that many contract customers during the quarter due to the iPhone’s availability via Verizon. That AT&T was able to stave off subscriber losses would seem to indicate the bulk of the current demand for a Verizon iPhone is from Verizon customers—although AT&T might have to work to retain subscribers as of its iPhone user subscriber agreements expire. Overall, AT&T sold more than 5.5 million smartphones during the quarter, the majority of which were iPhones.

Related

Overall, AT&T’s revenue for the quarter totaled $31.2 billion, an increase of 2.3 percent compared to a year ago. However, the company did see its wireless operating income margin drop to 25.8 percent compared to 30 percent a year ago—meaning the company is spending more money to get (and keep) wireless subscribers.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Geoff Duncan
Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
How to find your phone number on iPhone or Android
Rebtel Calling

If you're here, you've likely just had this experience; needing to enter your digits for an account of some sort, you realize you don't remember your own phone number. As you don’t call your own phone number very often, this isn't an extremely uncommon scenario. And it gets even worse if you frequently use a second phone number alongside your main one. It's still embarrassing enough, however, to not want to ask your partner or buddy, "Hey, what's my phone number?"

Luckily, the ability to locate phone number data comes directly on your phone, so checking your friend's address book won't be necessary. Whether you’re using an iOS or Android device, you can quickly locate your own number — as well as your IMEI number — on your phone if you know where to look. Just grab your phone, find the appropriate section below, and we'll show you how to do it.
How to find your phone number on iPhone

Read more
How to schedule a text message on your iPhone
Close-up photo of the Messages app on an iPhone.

Do you often send text messages to a friend or family member across the pond? Or do you want to message someone when you know they’re off work and are able to get to you in a reasonable manner? Maybe you want to send a message every day at the same time, to let your significant other know you’re on the way home and to ask if they need you to pick up anything.

If you said yes to any of these scenarios (or other ones you have in your head), you may be looking for a way to schedule text messages on your iPhone. After all, this is a feature that Android users have, and it can often prove incredibly convenient.

Read more
iPhone SE deals: Refurbished 2nd and 3rd Gen iPhones
apple iphone se 2020 news new black camera and touch id 04152020

Apple’s iPhone is one of the most popular phones on the planet, and whatever its current model happens to be almost always ranks among the best phones. This makes the iPhone an expensive purchase, which is where the iPhone SE comes in. Apple launched the iPhone SE in order to make an iPhone affordable to more people. The SE utilizes technology that’s a generation or two old and will often take the form factor of a previous iPhone model. Right now the it's a great phone to turn to for even more savings. There are some iPhone SE deals to take a look at out there, and while it’s difficult to find newer iPhone SE models, you can shop refurbished knowing the big retailers are likely backing the purchase with warranties and solid return windows. So whether you’re looking for some great iPhone deals or phone deals in general, below you’ll find the best iPhone SE deals to shop right now.
iPhone SE 2nd Gen deals

The second generation of the iPhone SE was initially launched in 2020, but it still manages to keep up with the needs of many phone users today. It utilizes the body of the Apple iPhone 8, which means it will have a home button and fingerprint ID instead of the Face ID technology in current iPhone models. That’s not much to give up, however, as the second generation iPhone SE still has a great display, a 12-megapixel camera with the ability to shoot 4K video, and wireless charging capability.

Read more