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

[Chip NoVaMac]

Here I was thinking there is a recession. We have money for the things we want.

True, just look at the major increases in car sales last month that most car manufacturers reported last month.

December should be very good for Apple with the 6 to 18 months interest free financing.

And call it iPhone 5 envy, but I might do an upgrade from my iPhone 4 next week - instead of my original plan of holding off till next year for the iPhone 5s....

 

[rdlink]

Jeez man - stop being such a hater.

Where do u come up with this crap?

I think he was being sarcastic.

 

[Frisco]

Presumably the stock will fall still further on this wonderful news.

Exactly! Just like Citigroup's stock soared today on their announcement of laying of 10,000 employees.

This is what wall street has come down to. You lay off workers and your stock goes up. I am sure the Citi Board and Upper Management are laughing in our faces today. So much for bailing their asses out. People online are blaming Obama, but remember it is kiddy Bush that bailed them out.

 

[you people smh]

Stocks Don't Lie

How is this possible? I thought Apple was doomed and on their way to becoming the next RIM.

That's what i'm saying!

It's not even close.

I mean look at the stock. In the last 2.5 months
AAPL - Down 24%
RIMM - Up 85%

 

[KPOM]

Presumably the stock will fall still further on this wonderful news.

It was down 6% today for reasons unclear to just about everyone. Some analysts blamed Nokia's contract with China Mobile. Others blamed new margin requirements by brokerage firms, while a few blamed the fiscal cliff. Heck, some even blamed the "5S" rumors from Digitimes.

 

[ixodes]

Part of Apples success is due to the marketing & good customer service provided by AT&T. Personally selected by Steve Jobs, as the exclusive carrier for iPhone from it's debut, Apple has profited handsomely from that arrangement.

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It was down 6% today for reasons unclear to just about everyone. Some analysts blamed Nokia's contract with China Mobile. Others blamed new margin requirements by brokerage firms, while a few blamed the fiscal cliff. Heck, some even blamed the "5S" rumors from Digitimes.

It's clearly due to the looming tax change & all the noise being made over the fiscal cliff. Thanks POTUS.

 

[KPOM]

Exactly! Just like Citigroup's stock soared today on their announcement of laying of 10,000 employees.

This is what wall street has come down to. You lay off workers and your stock goes up. I am sure the Citi Board and Upper Management are laughing in our faces today. So much for bailing their asses out. People online are blaming Obama, but remember it is kiddy Bush that bailed them out.

But by that logic, Bush II also "bailed out" GM and Chrysler (he extended them TARP funds in December 2008). Point taken, though. The "Street" is somewhat difficult to understand sometimes, which makes it much easier to conclude that manipulation is at hand.

 

[jim.bright17]

That's what i'm saying!

It's not even close.

I mean look at the stock. In the last 2.5 months
AAPL - Down 24%
RIMM - Up 85%

Or in the last year...
AAPL - Up 37%
RIMM - Down -30%

...depends how you look at it i guess.

 

[iBreatheApple]

Well you did sign the contract, and they have to recoup the subsidy costs. Personally I hate the subsidy model. It's like you're taking out a high interest loan from the carrier.

Hence the ...

And for some reason I still feel entitled.

 

[yeah]

Part of Apples success is due to the marketing & good customer service provided by AT&T. Personally selected by Steve Jobs, as the exclusive carrier for iPhone from it's debut, Apple has profited handsomely from that arrangement.

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It's clearly due to the looming tax change & all the noise being made over the fiscal cliff. Thanks POTUS.

Actually Apple chose T-Mobile as their first carrier of the iPhone, but they didn't accept the offer, and now I'm a patient T-Mobile customer waiting for the iPhone to come on their network (which might be tomorrow).

 

[thekev]

Hence the ...

And for some reason I still feel entitled.

I'd really like to see cheaper plans rather than more subsidies. I feel like the companies making handsets benefit most from the arrangement.

 

[etrinh]

Exactly! Just like Citigroup's stock soared today on their announcement of laying of 10,000 employees.

This is what wall street has come down to. You lay off workers and your stock goes up. I am sure the Citi Board and Upper Management are laughing in our faces today. So much for bailing their asses out. People online are blaming Obama, but remember it is kiddy Bush that bailed them out.

Isn't the bailout a financing offer from the govt. It wasn't free money. Call it a loan if you may. We loaned them money. They still have to pay it back if they already didn't + interest

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Or in the last year...
AAPL - Up 37%
RIMM - Down -30%

...depends how you look at it i guess.

I agree. Short term vs long term. I'm not a hedger so I don't play the short market. Just invest money that you can tie up for a long time. It makes the swings much more tolerable

 

[faroZ06]

Presumably the stock will fall still further on this wonderful news.

Yeah really, what the heck?? Just look at AMZN's P/E then AAPL's. Look at how MSFT reacts to horrible tablet sales and the dying PC market, then look at how AAPL reacts to faint speculation that the rate of profits increasing may slow down. The AAPL investors must be finicky compared to those holding onto the sinking ship MSFT.

But it's actually good that people are selling stock for a company that is gaining. If Apple really does grow, buying the deflated stock beforehand would be much more lucrative.

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Here I was thinking there is a recession. We have money for the things we want.

"We are the 99% exploited by all corporations!"
- sent from my iPhone

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Yeah, that must be it

Have you even seen one in the wild?

I've honestly never seen anything but an Apple, Samsung, or Motorola smartphone in the wild since 2007. In fact, most smartphones I see are iPhones, then there are a few Samsung phones and a smaller number of Motorola phones.

----------

How about enabling FaceTime you son of a #*#*{=

How about it? It would slow down the network for everyone, so no.

 

[iBreatheApple]

I'd really like to see cheaper plans rather than more subsidies. I feel like the companies making handsets benefit most from the arrangement.

True... in fact, I don't even know if I'd still have a smartphone if I didn't receive a 24% through my company. $100/month is my limit, I can't justify paying more.

 

[ixodes]

Actually Apple chose T-Mobile as their first carrier of the iPhone, but they didn't accept the offer.

Not true. Just like the myth that Steve first approached Verizon. Both are incorrect.

Steve chose AT&T because they were dominate & had the most markets. Google will confirm that for you.

 

[JayJayAbels]

If you're long you don't sell on speculation and/or market adjustments.

Apple, at its core, is one of the most fundamentally sound companies on this entire planet.

Wait until the next earnings report and see where the stock price is then...

 

[dumb terminal]

And the stock price went down...

 

[thekev]

True... in fact, I don't even know if I'd still have a smartphone if I didn't receive a 24% through my company. $100/month is my limit, I can't justify paying more.

Yeah I'm going to look at purchasing a Nexus outright so I can use prepaid plan pricing.

 

[anutharoundu]

I can't well until the iphone 5 is more widely adopted and software designers begin to use the incredible hardware capability of the new phone.

 

[tdtran1025]

Even analysts are dombfounded by recent investors' sentiment in dumping AAPL for fear of Google's encroachment. They have not learned the lesson of 2000. Google's model=Microsft's in the past. It flourishes in third world where money is not there. People use Android because it's free. Apple never could supply that part of the world because there is money to be made. I say, like most analysts are saying today, it's time to buy.

 

[longhegrin]

Presumably the stock will fall still further on this wonderful news.

Oooo.... someone bought Apple shares and is not happy with the price falling!

Hey, if Apple will be making much higher profits five years from now, shouldn't you be HAPPY that the price is falling because you can buy more shares at a lower price than they're worth (or will be worth five years from now)??

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And the stock price went down...

You have to ask yourself... "So what?"

The price went down. So what?
It is meaningless. For example, if the stock price went down from $580 to $100 this year, and nothing changed inside Apple (e.g. Cook and Ive still loved working there) would it change your opinion of Apple's profits and cash flow?

The price went down. So what?
The price changed. So what?
It's just a price.

 

[CoolSpot]

Not true. Just like the myth that Steve first approached Verizon. Both are incorrect.

Steve chose AT&T because they were dominate & had the most markets. Google will confirm that for you.

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

 

[STiNG Operation]

On one hand it's great for at&t as a company. On the other, they most likely will ignore the huge majority of places/states without LTE for a little while longer. It seems like companies need to experience fall backs before they do anything about the areas they lack in these days...

 

[BruiserB]

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

And if memory serves me correctly it was actually "Cingular" that was chosen (because they were GSM), but AT&T had already announced the acquisition of Cingular by the time the iPhone was announced. I think AT&T was not GSM at the time, but they adopted it as they took over Cingular.

 

[kdarling]

Not true. Just like the myth that Steve first approached Verizon. Both are incorrect.

Apple approached first Cingular in early 2005, then Verizon in mid 2005, because they were the two largest US carriers.

They continued to make contact with Verizon off and on for almost a year, but with no working model, Verizon had little interest.

For that matter, AT&T (Cingular) was in no rush either. They didn't sign a contract until mid 2006, long after first being approached, and halfway through iPhone development.

WSJ iPhone History
Wired iPhone History
(Plus others, now no longer available, but which I have stored.)

Steve chose AT&T because they were dominate & had the most markets. Google will confirm that for you.

Apple "chose" AT&T because they were the only major carrier willing to make a deal, sight unseen. That's why Apple was willing to bend to AT&T's demands for an unheard of multi-year exclusive and approval input for high bandwidth apps.

(Apple, Cingular claim victory over each other.)

Unfortunately, AT&T didn't have much of a 3G network at the time, and actually delayed 3G even more to backfit their EDGE system to go several times faster so that the first iPhone wouldn't be ridiculed for only having a 48 - 64Kbps connection. (If the first iPhone had been on Verizon, it would've had 3G and GPS for location services like all VZ smartphones of the time.)

(PiperJaffray explained lack of 3G - to save cost - and correctly predicted margin and coming price drop.)

Apple's big mistake was the long exclusive, which was a major factor in letting Android gain a foothold in the US.

.