iPhone 3G Boosts AT&T Earnings

[MacRumors]

AT&T today posted their 3Q earnings with strong wireless division gains lead by 2.4 million iPhone 3G activations in the quarter, 40% of which were new AT&T subscribers. Adjusted earnings dipped slightly due to the subsidies placed on the iPhone 3G and hurricane related expenses.

AT&T highly values iPhone and other smartphone subscribers due to their lucrative data plans that have "significantly higher [average revenue per user] and lower churn than postpaid subscriber average."

Yesterday Apple reported that they had sold the 10 millionth iPhone last quarter. This beat Apple's self-imposed goal of reaching this milestone by the end of calendar year 2008.

Article Link: iPhone 3G Boosts AT&T Earnings

[Buschmaster]

I wonder what the relation is between "significantly higher revenue" and what the profit is.

[Mykbibby]

Amazing. I bet Verizon is shooting themselves for not taking the iPhone.

All because they wanted to put software on the phones, and sell it at other retailers...

[BigTRQ]

Originally Posted by Mykbibby

Amazing. I bet Verizon is shooting themselves for not taking the iPhone.

All because they wanted to put software on the phones, and sell it at other retailers...

QFT! Every time an iPhone goal is reached, I want to reach out and hammer Denny Stringl on the damned head. He should have seen that Apple was up and coming in the mobile device market and how well their products sold in general. I totally agree that VZW is all about putting their software on EVERYTHING they offer to make sure that you can buy, buy, buy from their crappy ringtone, game, and productivity markets.

What I've always wondered is, is, did AT&T take the iPhone at face value, or did they take it only because VZW said no?

[supmango]

Good, this is expected. Now ATT FIX YOUR D$#@ NETWORK ISSUES SO WE CAN ACUTALLY USE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by Buschmaster

I wonder what the relation is between "significantly higher revenue" and what the profit is.

Their unadjusted net was up $100M (YoY) from $3.1B in Q3/07 to $3.2B in Q3/08. Their adjusted net was down $400M (YoY) from $4.3B to $3.9B.....

[koala]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Yesterday Apple reported that they had sold the 10 millionth iPhone last quarter. This beat Apple's self-imposed goal of reaching this milestone by the end of calendar year 2008.

Man, I'll be happy when 2008 is over so that news articles and bloggers can stop getting the facts on this wrong.

Apple did sell the 10 millionth iPhone last quarter, but that had nothing to do with anything.

Apple set a goal of selling 10 million iPhones during this calendar year, and they achieved that this quarter (i.e., sometime in October).

[flottenheimer]

Wonder what Apples iPhone salesgoal will be next year... 15 million?... 20 million?...

[koala]

Originally Posted by flottenheimer

Wonder what Apples iPhone salesgoal will be next year... 15 million?... 20 million?...

I think one analyst (Munster?) speculated a few weeks ago that Apple would sell 45 million next year. Eye-popping numbers indeed.

[saturniphone]

I wonder how many of those who switched to AT&T to get the iPhone would switch back to Verizon if/when it's offered on their network. Under equal pricing schemes I would most assuredly be with Verizon.

[aristobrat]

Originally Posted by saturniphone

I wonder how many of those who switched to AT&T to get the iPhone would switch back to Verizon if/when it's offered on their network. Under equal pricing schemes I would most assuredly be with Verizon.

Even if the pricing schemes weren't equal, I'd pay up to $10/month more to be on Verizon with my iPhone. In my geographic area, Verizon's service is by far the best.

[kdarling]

Originally Posted by flottenheimer

Wonder what Apples iPhone salesgoal will be next year... 15 million?... 20 million?...

It'll be whatever they think they can surpass earlier, so the headlines will look good

Since Apple counts sales not users, then for all we know, Apple could've forced each carrier to pre-buy a certain amount, just to make sure the 10 million number was met.

In any case, kudos to Apple for being in the black in these hard times.

[edenwaith]

Well, that isn't from any extra money that AT&T filched from me, certainly. They wouldn't even sell me an iPhone 3G when it came out, so that is several hundred dollars that didn't go into their pockets. I went and purchased an iPod touch instead.

Perhaps if a 32GB version of the iPhone comes out I'll reconsider, but until then...

[Doctor Q]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3D: Godzilla/5.0; AppleWebKit/525.18.1; stereoscopic glasses 3.1.1) Mothra/5F136 Safari 3D)

Yes, being locked into one provider does reduce churn. If I eventually get a choice, I'll make a choice.

[harrier]

I'd like to get 1 or 2 more iPhones for my family but won't because we'd have to pay $30 more each. Too bad AT&T doesn't discount the dataplan fees under the family plan.

[BigD58]

Makes since. If iPhone is doing well = AT&T doing well.

[reallynotnick]

Ha, wow the iPhone is a big deal. I love my unlocked iPhone on Unicel and I only pay $45 a month for unlimited minutes and texts, mind you the coverage area is really only close to home but that works just fine for me. I would love to get a data plan though for my phone but ATT does not cover hear nor are they as cheap.

Am I the only one who thinks the prices all these companies charge for texting is a joke?

Oh well I am just ranting, I won't be happy until I get unlimited everything for $20 a month.

[sfh]

AT&T doesn't deserve the iPhone ... I so wish there was a second carier in the us so they would have reason to fix problems with their network

[aristobrat]

Originally Posted by sfh

AT&T doesn't deserve the iPhone ... I so wish there was a second carier in the us so they would have reason to fix problems with their network

I'm so not a fan of AT&T, but in my area, in the last three months, they've added four or five new towers. Service at my house has gone from NO SIGNAL or 1 bar to between 3 and 5 bars. Just saying that in some areas, they are improving their network.

The only other choice in the US would be T-Mobile, which currently has a 3G network in less than 10% of the places AT&T has their 3G network.

[mccldwll]

Originally Posted by aristobrat

I'm so not a fan of AT&T, but in my area, in the last three months, they've added four or five new towers. Service at my house has gone from NO SIGNAL or 1 bar to between 3 and 5 bars. Just saying that in some areas, they are improving their network.

The only other choice in the US would be T-Mobile, which currently has a 3G network in less than 10% of the places AT&T has their 3G network.

For the past year or so AT&T has had tower sharing agreements with T-Mobile effectively to spread both networks. At house, T-Mobile users get "welcome to AT&T" when fire up their phones.