iPhone takes 56% of AT&T smartphone activations as iPhone 4S hits 1M

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
AT&T announced on Thursday that it activated 2.7 million iPhones last quarter, while it activated more than 1 million of the iPhone 4S alone since it launched last Friday.



Apple retained a majority of all smartphone sales at AT&T last quarter despite the fact that the carrier is no longer the exclusive provider of the iPhone in the U.S. This year, Apple added Verizon and Sprint as official carrier partners, and is even expanding the iPhone to smaller regional carriers like C Spire.



The iPhone accounted for 56 percent of smartphone activations at AT&T even as the presence of devices running Google Android continues to grow on the nation's second-largest wireless carrier. AT&T, in a press release accompanying its quarterly results, boasted that sales of Android devices and more than doubled year over year, making them, along with "other non-iPhone smartphones" nearly of all smartphone sales at the carrier.



AT&T also announced it activated more than a million iPhone 4S units as of Tuesday, which makes it the most successful iPhone launch in the company's history. The company's press release said AT&T is the only U.S. carrier to offer the iPhone 4S "with 4G speeds."



"It's no surprise that customers are clamoring for the iPhone 4S and they want it to run on a network that lets them download twice as fast as competitors'," said Ralph de la Vega, President and CEO, AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets.



As for last quarter, AT&T had a 2.1 million increase in total wireless subscribers, putting it over the 100 million customer milestone. Its strong iPhone performance came despite the fact that Apple did not release an updated handset in the September quarter, as the iPhone 4S was only announced and released this month.



Apple also reported its earnings this week, and said the fact that it did not launch a new iPhone in the previous quarter led to significantly reduced sales as rumors of the iPhone 4S grew. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said there was a very clear drop in iPhone sales at the end of the quarter as speculation over the iPhone 4S continued to mount.







In the previous quarter, AT&T activated 3.6 million iPhones, while Verizon activated 2.3 million of just the iPhone 4. AT&T remains the exclusive U.S. carrier of Apple's GSM-only iPhone 3GS, which is now available for free with a two-year service contract.



Verizon is set to report its earnings on Friday, in which it is expected to detail its own iPhone activation numbers. Sprint only began selling the iPhone this month, so any activations would be represented in its next quarterly earnings report.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    Not Surprised....Why would you want any other.....getting 7MBPS in Houston
  • Reply 2 of 26
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Still waiting for that mass exodus from AT&T?.
  • Reply 3 of 26
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Still waiting for that mass exodus from AT&T?.



    I would say that data caps on VZW plus the inability to talk and surf pretty much killed that. There are some defectors but not in any amount that'll hurt ATT.
  • Reply 4 of 26
    If the LTE iPhone comes out in June AT&T won't have much of an LTE network by then, so I would expect a mass exodus to Verizon who already covers almost the entire nation.
  • Reply 5 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Still waiting for that mass exodus from AT&T?.



    I actually walked away as the 4s came out and headed to sprint. My ATT call coverage was garbage. Sprint's data was dead-slow and calls seemed to drop MORE often than ATT -- the first call out of the box failed within a minute. So I sheepishly had to walk back to ATT (after refusing a $30 dollar credit per month for the next six months when I called to cancel), and now WAIT for a new 4S since they're long gone.



    I hardly make calls, but I can't deal with slow data. The 4S speeds for ATT zip past Sprint so hard.



    Lesson learned.
  • Reply 6 of 26
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Giffen View Post


    If the LTE iPhone comes out in June AT&T won't have much of an LTE network by then, so I would expect a mass exodus to Verizon who already covers almost the entire nation.





    what is the point of LTE if verizon is going to limit you to 2GB?



    most of the things i do on my iphone will benefit very little from LTE
  • Reply 7 of 26
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by justlikeglass View Post


    I actually walked away as the 4s came out and headed to sprint. My ATT call coverage was garbage. Sprint's data was dead-slow and calls seemed to drop MORE often than ATT -- the first call out of the box failed within a minute. So I sheepishly had to walk back to ATT (after refusing a $30 dollar credit per month for the next six months when I called to cancel), and now WAIT for a new 4S since they're long gone.



    I hardly make calls, but I can't deal with slow data. The 4S speeds for ATT zip past Sprint so hard.



    Lesson learned.



    People weren't leaving Sprint en masse because they had good service.
  • Reply 8 of 26
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post


    I would say that data caps on VZW plus the inability to talk and surf pretty much killed that. There are some defectors but not in any amount that'll hurt ATT.



    It's funny how Verizon said they could handle the load yet they have capped data plans and throttled usage. They also had some website issues with pre-orders for the iPhone 4, IIRC. I suppose one could argue that is a method of handling it, but it seems to me that more consideration should be given to the amount of user internet, amount of units sold, and amount of data used per device than simply saying AT&T sucks? as some like to do.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Giffen View Post


    If the LTE iPhone comes out in June AT&T won't have much of an LTE network by then, so I would expect a mass exodus to Verizon who already covers almost the entire nation.



    Even if there was a component sourcing issue that caused this 4 month delay I think that the Autumn launch of the iPhone and Spring launch of the iPad makes a lot more sense from a sales and logistics standpoint. The iPod was mostly deprecated at this point with the iPod Touch not even getting a performance boost to match the iPhone 4S; though that could be from a lack of components to serve all 3 iOS-based iDevices at the same time.



    IOW, I'll be more surprised by Apple releasing the 6th gen iPhone next June than in the Autumn.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by justlikeglass View Post


    I actually walked away as the 4s came out and headed to sprint. My ATT call coverage was garbage. Sprint's data was dead-slow and calls seemed to drop MORE often than ATT -- the first call out of the box failed within a minute. So I sheepishly had to walk back to ATT (after refusing a $30 dollar credit per month for the next six months when I called to cancel), and now WAIT for a new 4S since they're long gone.



    I hardly make calls, but I can't deal with slow data. The 4S speeds for ATT zip past Sprint so hard.



    Lesson learned.



    I'm in the same boat. I don't make a lot of calls and I want fast data. If you make a lot of calls, travel to a lot of outlying areas, and aren't a heavy data user I think Sprint would be a great choice.
  • Reply 9 of 26
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    Delete
  • Reply 10 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    Delete



    I am one of them. Besides, I had Verizon before the first iPhone came out and in my area AT&T had better coverage at that time. I can't speak to the coverage difference now since I have not been on Verizon in years.
  • Reply 11 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post




    I'm in the same boat. I don't make a lot of calls and I want fast data. If you make a lot of calls, travel to a lot of outlying areas, and aren't a heavy data user I think Sprint would be a great choice.



    This. I've had Sprint for years and years now (8 or so? Dang been a long time...) and they don't have the greatest data (it used to be better IMO), but the calls are pretty good.



    I had both Cingular (now AT&T) and Verizon, and Verizon is hands down the best service. But the money I save with Sprint is almost unreal. When I first started i had a $27 after tax a month bill, but have added minutes and services since then.



    Even now at $60 a month for 1250 minutes, unlimited mobile to any mobile, 7pm nights, unlimited data / text / pics / etc, it stomps most any plans out there. The only times it comes short are local coverage companies like Metro PCS.
  • Reply 12 of 26
    conradjoeconradjoe Posts: 1,887member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    AT&T announced on Thursday that it activated 2.7 million iPhones last quarter, while it activated more than 1 million of the iPhone 4S alone since it launched last Friday.








    And as we all know, activations ain't got nothing to do with sales.



    Android phones are activated in multiples of the numbers managed by Apple. But activations do not equal sales.







    Meanwhile, millions or billions of dollars are being lost daily by those who own Apple stock. Lately, it just keeps dropping, as the smart money sells and the suckers buy.
  • Reply 13 of 26
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post








    Even if there was a component sourcing issue that caused this 4 month delay I think that the Autumn launch of the iPhone and Spring launch of the iPad makes a lot more sense from a sales and logistics standpoint. The iPod was mostly deprecated at this point with the iPod Touch not even getting a performance boost to match the iPhone 4S; though that could be from a lack of components to serve all 3 iOS-based iDevices at the same time.



    IOW, I'll be more surprised by Apple releasing the 6th gen iPhone next June than in the Autumn.




    The only problem with this "new"launch schedule is the timing of new SoC tech. It was about 4 months between the new chip on the iPad to the iPhone. Now it will be 7 months. Not great.
  • Reply 14 of 26
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ConradJoe View Post


    And as we all know, activations ain't got nothing to do with sales.



    Android phones are activated in multiples of the numbers managed by Apple. But activations do not equal sales.







    Meanwhile, millions or billions of dollars are being lost daily by those who own Apple stock. Lately, it just keeps dropping, as the smart money sells and the suckers buy.



    Not a smart post.



    If a carrier announces activations, it's always for a new phone. We don't know what it means for Google, because we can't correlate it between sales and shipments, as no other phone manufacturer tells us how many they've sold.



    As far as the stock goes, if you read the financial pages, the smart money is saying to buy now, not to sell.
  • Reply 15 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Giffen View Post


    If the LTE iPhone comes out in June AT&T won't have much of an LTE network by then, so I would expect a mass exodus to Verizon who already covers almost the entire nation.



    There's a flaw with that logic. Verizon won't have a big enough footprint until late 2013-2014. So, as the Verizon users jump in and out of LTE, they must rely on their slow CDMA (which lacks multitasking).



    When an AT&T user leaves the LTE footprint, they can still connect via the HSPA+. HSPA+ is fast and supports multitasking. This will create a seamless experience for the user.
  • Reply 16 of 26
    conradjoeconradjoe Posts: 1,887member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    Not a smart post.



    If a carrier announces activations, it's always for a new phone. We don't know what it means for Google, because we can't correlate it between sales and shipments, as no other phone manufacturer tells us how many they've sold.



    As far as the stock goes, if you read the financial pages, the smart money is saying to buy now, not to sell.



    Couple of points:



    Activations might be replacement phones. We have no way of knowing. Some have speculated that the higher activation rate for Android phones is a sham, because they might activate multiple phones for the same customer.



    The smart money neither reads nor writes the financial pages. They instead mislead reporters, causing them to write things that make gullible retail investors do what makes more money for the big time players. If the smart money wants to sell lots of high-priced shares, the way to do it is to get gullible buyers to bid them up.
  • Reply 17 of 26
    tbelltbell Posts: 3,146member
    If Sprint is still unlimited then it would make more sense to go to Sprint as Sprint will support that as well.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Giffen View Post


    If the LTE iPhone comes out in June AT&T won't have much of an LTE network by then, so I would expect a mass exodus to Verizon who already covers almost the entire nation.



  • Reply 18 of 26
    docno42docno42 Posts: 3,755member
    So much for AT&T going bankrupt after Verizon getting the iPhone too
  • Reply 19 of 26
    docno42docno42 Posts: 3,755member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Giffen View Post


    If the LTE iPhone comes out in June AT&T won't have much of an LTE network by then, so I would expect a mass exodus to Verizon who already covers almost the entire nation.



    The LTE iPhone won't be coming out in June. Heck, if it comes next year at all ill be shocked. It's simple:



    1) LTE chipsets still suck

    2) LTE is hardly far from ubiquitous



    When the original iPhone was released, 3G was more widely available and the chipsets were more mature thn LTE today yet Apple shipped it Edge only. All the checklist fanboys - if that's whats important to you, Apple is not your company.
  • Reply 20 of 26
    shenshen Posts: 434member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ConradJoe View Post


    And as we all know, activations ain't got nothing to do with sales.



    Android phones are activated in multiples of the numbers managed by Apple. But activations do not equal sales.







    Meanwhile, millions or billions of dollars are being lost daily by those who own Apple stock. Lately, it just keeps dropping, as the smart money sells and the suckers buy.



    Bwahahahaha!



    Seriously, if you weren't already a known troll that would be the funniest post ever.



    What color is the sky in your world?
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