AT&T Activates 1.6 Million iPhone 3Gs in First Quarter of 2009

[MacRumors]

AT&T today announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2009, and among the highlights was the announcement that AT&T had activated 1.6 million iPhone 3Gs during the quarter. Continuing a trend seen in previous quarters, customers new to AT&T accounted for 40% of iPhone 3G activations.

In the first quarter, AT&T's iPhone 3G activations totaled more than 1.6 million, more than 40 percent of them for customers who were new to the company. AT&T's U.S. iPhone exclusive continues to deliver subscribers with ARPUs (average monthly revenues per subscriber) that are approximately 1.6 times higher and churn rates that are significantly lower than the company's overall postpaid subscriber base.

While AT&T's 1.6 million activations were down from 1.9 million in fourth quarter of 2008 and 2.4 million in the third quarter of 2008, the decline was not unexpected given the iPhone's product cycle. Overall, AT&T saw a net gain of 1.2 million wireless subscribers for the quarter. Wireless revenue rose 9.8% year-over-year and made up 42.1% of AT&T's total revenue, up from 38.5% in the year-ago quarter.

Apple will release its earnings report for the second fiscal quarter (first calendar quarter) of 2009 later today.

Article Link: AT&T Activates 1.6 Million iPhone 3Gs in First Quarter of 2009

[amac4me]

AT&T needs Apple so it's likely that they will offer serious concessions to Apple in order to extend the iPhone contract.

[iCantwait]

like 1/20th of australias population

[GeekLawyer]

This is why AT&T will be holding on to their US iPhone exclusivity with both hands and their teeth.

[.:R2theT]

Originally Posted by amac4me

AT&T needs Apple so it's likely that they will offer serious concessions to Apple in order to extend the iPhone contract.

Exactly. The other providers in the U.S. must still be kicking themselves for being so short-sighted as to the iPhone's demand.

I would think Apple holds all the cards in any upcoming negotiations.

[stagi]

not bad, at least its not a huge decline

[TechForAgents]

Originally Posted by GeekLawyer

This is why AT&T will be holding on to their US iPhone exclusivity with both hands and their teeth.

Agreed. I'd be really surprised if they let it go, but this could mean better features to AT&T users if Apple negotiates to force their network to be faster, or offer additional features.

"We'll stick with you if you do x, y, and z." Not that simple, obviously, but Apple could be in a leveraged position to help the consumers.

[Le Big Mac]

Originally Posted by .:R2theT

Exactly. The other providers in the U.S. must still be kicking themselves for being so short-sighted as to the iPhone's demand.

.

Perhaps, but Verizon (and Sprint) had the added hurdle of getting apple to make a CDMA version.

[adamgalas]

http://poweredbysteam.com/2009/01/ip...es-by-quarter/

First quarter Iphone sales where 4.6 million so how can only 1.6 million have been activated?

Is the site I checked incorrect?

I hope not. According to powestream 11.5 million Iphones in 2008, with Q1 sales being almost double that of 2008. If that is the case than I could definetely see them selling at least 15 million Iphones in 09, bad economy be damned.

[ateslik]

This is surprising to me. My friend gave me his iPhone 3G (he likes his blackberry better). So, I checked into the rates at ATT. What an f-ing rip.

Right now I'm on an 8 year old contract with T-Mobile. It is an 850 minute Family plan. My wife and I are the only ones on it. It costs us $69.99 plus taxes, surcharges, etc. and usually comes out to about $90/mo.

ATT only offers a 700 and 1400 minute plan. The 700 plan is $69.99 plus $30.00 for data, $99.99 total. Same price as my current T-Mobile plan for 150 less minutes a month..., and a 42% extra charge for data? Um, huh? Okay... but we really need more than 700 minutes. The 1400 minute plan is $89.99 plus $30.00 for data, $119.99 total. A little less than DOUBLE what we're paying now... just for data on an iPhone? And thats BEFORE the taxes, surcharges, etc. I'm not doing that.

Since we've been with T-Mobile for 8 years, I decided to go check them out. They still offer our current plan for $69.99/mo... but now with 1000 minutes instead of 850.

Sorry ATT. Wake the F up. I can jailbreak this thing and save a bunch of money. Oh no, I'll miss visual voicemail. Up the 700 minute plan to 1000 minutes and mabye we can talk (although 42% extra for data is a RIP).

[fastbite]

Way to go. Sounds pretty good to me. Everywhere I look I see an iPhone anyway.

[jholzner]

Originally Posted by adamgalas

http://poweredbysteam.com/2009/01/ip...es-by-quarter/

First quarter Iphone sales where 4.6 million so how can only 1.6 million have been activated?

Is the site I checked incorrect?

I hope not. According to powestream 11.5 million Iphones in 2008, with Q1 sales being almost double that of 2008. If that is the case than I could definetely see them selling at least 15 million Iphones in 09, bad economy be damned.

Well, Q1 for Apple is Oct-Dec so we are now in Q2 for Apple. Those numbers are from the previous quarter. Also, these are US only activations. We'll know everything tonight once Apple announces their numbers.

[ph0rk]

Originally Posted by ateslik

This is surprising to me. My friend gave me his iPhone 3G (he likes his blackberry better). So, I checked into the rates at ATT. What an f-ing rip.

Right now I'm on an 8 year old contract with T-Mobile. It is an 850 minute Family plan. My wife and I are the only ones on it. It costs us $69.99 plus taxes, surcharges, etc. and usually comes out to about $90/mo.

ATT only offers a 700 and 1400 minute plan. The 700 plan is $69.99 plus $30.00 for data, $99.99 total. Same price as my current T-Mobile plan for 150 less minutes a month..., and a 42% extra charge for data? Um, huh? Okay... but we really need more than 700 minutes. The 1400 minute plan is $89.99 plus $30.00 for data, $119.99 total. A little less than DOUBLE what we're paying now... just for data on an iPhone? And thats BEFORE the taxes, surcharges, etc. I'm not doing that.

Since we've been with T-Mobile for 8 years, I decided to go check them out. They still offer our current plan for $69.99/mo... but now with 1000 minutes instead of 850.

Sorry ATT. Wake the F up. I can jailbreak this thing and save a bunch of money. Oh no, I'll miss visual voicemail. Up the 700 minute plan to 1000 minutes and mabye we can talk (although 42% extra for data is a RIP).

It is still less of a ripoff than, say, roadrunner cable (on a DOCSIS 1.0/1.1 node ~7-10m down, 256-512k up) when compared Verizon FIOS or similar.

I find it hard to sweat $5-20 a month after viewing my bill from TWC - for internet and digital cable they'll charge more than two iPhones on a plan from ATT!

[guzhogi]

Originally Posted by ateslik

This is surprising to me. My friend gave me his iPhone 3G (he likes his blackberry better). So, I checked into the rates at ATT. What an f-ing rip.

Right now I'm on an 8 year old contract with T-Mobile. It is an 850 minute Family plan. My wife and I are the only ones on it. It costs us $69.99 plus taxes, surcharges, etc. and usually comes out to about $90/mo.

ATT only offers a 700 and 1400 minute plan. The 700 plan is $69.99 plus $30.00 for data, $99.99 total. Same price as my current T-Mobile plan for 150 less minutes a month..., and a 42% extra charge for data? Um, huh? Okay... but we really need more than 700 minutes. The 1400 minute plan is $89.99 plus $30.00 for data, $119.99 total. A little less than DOUBLE what we're paying now... just for data on an iPhone? And thats BEFORE the taxes, surcharges, etc. I'm not doing that.

Since we've been with T-Mobile for 8 years, I decided to go check them out. They still offer our current plan for $69.99/mo... but now with 1000 minutes instead of 850.

Sorry ATT. Wake the F up. I can jailbreak this thing and save a bunch of money. Oh no, I'll miss visual voicemail. Up the 700 minute plan to 1000 minutes and mabye we can talk (although 42% extra for data is a RIP).

I totally agree. I have the first gen iPhone on the pay-as-you-go plan. $29.99/month for voice & $30 for data. You HAVE to get the minutes every month regardless of how many rollover minutes you have. At the moment, I have over $200 worth of minutes on my iPhone so obviously, I could do with less, and hopefully cheaper.

[iPhoneNYC]

With all of this new revenue from the iPhone, especially with a contract that runs out, one would think that ATT would spend money on getting it's existing system in better shape. I fear that talks of a sexy new 4G or whatever will lead to service even spotier than it is now.

[spazzcat]

Have you checked T-Mobile's current rates? I bet they are a little higher then the plan you got 8 years ago. I work with someone with a similar TM plan and he will not let it go for anything...

Edit: I didn't read your whole message . I know the person work with can not get anything even close to what they have now with TM with their new plans.

Originally Posted by ateslik

...

Right now I'm on an 8 year old contract with T-Mobile. It is an 850 minute Family plan. My wife and I are the only ones on it. It costs us $69.99 plus taxes, surcharges, etc. and usually comes out to about $90/mo.
...

[nick9999]

AT&T's iPhone 3G activations totaled more than 1.6 million, more than 40 percent of them for customers who were new to the company

Could most of the other 60% be existing iPhone 3g owners who automatically activated during a ‘restore’ operation in iTunes after the phone broke or when installing the 3 different betas in the first quarter. It says iPhone activated each time...

Noooo... AT&T wouldn't do that to investors. After all they treat their customers like gold, right?!

[TrailingZee]

Originally Posted by Le Big Mac

Perhaps, but Verizon (and Sprint) had the added hurdle of getting apple to make a CDMA version.

If the latest chips from Qualcomm can do both GSM and CDMA and switch between the two so there is a chance, at least, that a future version of the phone could work on any U.S. provider's network and be able to roam between both types of networks.

[ssteve]

Originally Posted by amac4me

AT&T needs Apple so it's likely that they will offer serious concessions to Apple in order to extend the iPhone contract.

I have been patient so far. I would really like to have an iPhone, but not if I have to be an AT&T customer. I can continue to wait. I wonder what the iPhone sales number would be after 3 months of selling a CDMA version through Verizon?

[cleric]

Originally Posted by ateslik

This is surprising to me. My friend gave me his iPhone 3G (he likes his blackberry better). So, I checked into the rates at ATT. What an f-ing rip.

Right now I'm on an 8 year old contract with T-Mobile. It is an 850 minute Family plan. My wife and I are the only ones on it. It costs us $69.99 plus taxes, surcharges, etc. and usually comes out to about $90/mo.

ATT only offers a 700 and 1400 minute plan. The 700 plan is $69.99 plus $30.00 for data, $99.99 total. Same price as my current T-Mobile plan for 150 less minutes a month..., and a 42% extra charge for data? Um, huh? Okay... but we really need more than 700 minutes. The 1400 minute plan is $89.99 plus $30.00 for data, $119.99 total. A little less than DOUBLE what we're paying now... just for data on an iPhone? And thats BEFORE the taxes, surcharges, etc. I'm not doing that.

Since we've been with T-Mobile for 8 years, I decided to go check them out. They still offer our current plan for $69.99/mo... but now with 1000 minutes instead of 850.

Sorry ATT. Wake the F up. I can jailbreak this thing and save a bunch of money. Oh no, I'll miss visual voicemail. Up the 700 minute plan to 1000 minutes and mabye we can talk (although 42% extra for data is a RIP).

So unlock it and use it on tmobile and pay $20 a month for edge.

[OllyW]

Originally Posted by adamgalas

http://poweredbysteam.com/2009/01/ip...es-by-quarter/

First quarter Iphone sales where 4.6 million so how can only 1.6 million have been activated?

Is the site I checked incorrect?

I hope not. According to powestream 11.5 million Iphones in 2008, with Q1 sales being almost double that of 2008. If that is the case than I could definetely see them selling at least 15 million Iphones in 09, bad economy be damned.

4.6 million is world sales.

1.6 million is AT&T activations, so US sales.

[jabingla2810]

Originally Posted by ateslik

Sorry ATT. Wake the F up..... . Up the 700 minute plan to 1000 minutes and mabye we can talk .....

That made me laugh..... the language you use is really funny

It made me think of loads of executives agreeing the new deal, and saying "quick, give ateslik a call!"

ps. Im not insulting you, just pointing out your language made me think of that, and it made me laugh

[DELLsFan]

So far the only issue I have with AT&T here in New England is the price I pay for the privilege to have an iPhone.

My family switched to AT&T in one fell swoop earlier this year ... Family Talk for the win ... and two of the 4 lines enrolled are attached and billed as iPhones. The sticker shock with the first bill was significant!

I think we'll terminate service on the landline phone, terminate ADT monitoring, and ... start selling our plasma to keep the budget balanced.

[electronboy]

Well DUH! When you make customers sign up for UNLIMITED DATA and don't include an SMS plan, then yes, they are gonna pay through the nose!

[Schizoid]

Of course, you can jailbreak your phone and do whatever you want, but you'll more than likely end up with one of these...