Record AT&T Smartphone Sales Bode Well for iPhone in 4Q 2012

[grahamwright1]

Originally Posted by CoolSpot

Nonsense. Steve chose AT&T because they were GSM which allowed them to make a single phone world-wide.

I believe that Verizon was the first choice but wanted their normal level of control to load their crapware onto the devices, and that's what caused Apple to move to their next choice of Cingular/AT&T.

[PracticalMac]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Given that the iPhone typically represents 70-80% of AT&T's smartphones,

WHAT?? News to me!!

Where are the numbers?

[oliversl]

This is why there is a conspiracy theory between Apple Stock Price, Apple Revenue and Wall Street Analysts.

Apple is making more money than Google, year over year and still Google is the favorite for analysts.

It seems like making money does not count in Analysts reports.

[AutoUnion39]

I bet the S3 put a huge dent in that number. So many people I know have picked them up for next to nothing on Black Friday for AT&T.

[kdarling]

Originally Posted by PracticalMac

WHAT?? News to me!! Where are the numbers?

It's a rough guess. Last quarter, AT&T said they sold 6.1 million smartphones. They also happened to activate 4.7 million iPhones.

So reporters just do a 4.7/6.1 and come with 77%... or this case, "70%-80%", which is probably still a bit on the high side.

The reason why people use a vague result is because activations won't equal sales. A good number of those activations are for previously owned phones, either passed to another family member or sold on eBay etc.

Apple seems to like carriers to report activations instead of sales, because the numbers look so much better that way.

Originally Posted by grahamwright1

I believe that Verizon was the first choice but wanted their normal level of control to load their crapware onto the devices, and that's what caused Apple to move to their next choice of Cingular/AT&T.

Apple reportedly wanted both Cingular and Verizon.

Verizon said that they didn't make a deal with Apple because:

1) Apple wanted a cut of the monthly cell plan fees.
2) Apple wanted to be in control of all iPhone related customer service.
3) Apple wanted to cut out Verizon's partners, such as Walmart and Best Buy.

Ironically, a year later, in 2008, Apple stopped getting a monthly royalty and switched to the usual carrier subsidy method.

And iPhones are now sold by the very places Apple refused to allow.

.

[ixodes]

Originally Posted by kdarling

Apple's big mistake was the long exclusive

I agree, at the time it really surprised me that Apple had made that decision.

[KdParker]

Originally Posted by iBreatheApple

Perfect. Now I don't want to hear any complaining about how my contract isn't up when I'm trying to upgrade to the iPhone 5S next year.

Or...just switch with some one on your plan.

[iThe]

In the article I read also: "The company has improved its supply of iPhones, and De la Vega also touted some of the other smartphones in AT&T's lineup, including the LG Optimus G and Nokia Lumia 920."

Let's wait for the sales figures..