Sprint sells 1.4 million iPhones in Q3, edges slightly into profitability
Despite a net loss of more than 300,000 customers, Sprint backed its way into a $383 million profit for the fiscal third quarter of 2013 and posted strong sales of Apple's handsets.
America's third-largest wireless carrier by total subscribers, Sprint recovered from a net loss of more than $760 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue per subscriber grew to a record $64.28 as smartphones continue to be a major sales driver for the carrier, accounting for 92 percent of devices moved to contract, or postpaid, customers.
Apple's iPhone continues to be a strong seller for Sprint, with 40 percent of the 1.4 million iPhones -- the same number Sprint sold in the second quarter --?sold going to new subscribers. The number accounts for 28 percent of the 5 million smartphones sold by Sprint in the quarter.
The outlook remains grim for the carrier, however, as it continues to hemorrhage cash and customers. The third quarter's $383 million profit was helped along by a one-time $1.4 billion gain from its investment in Clearwire, which came as part of July's $21.6 billion buyout by Japanese telecom company SoftBank.
The dismal numbers come as Sprint's chief rivals, Verizon and AT&T, posted subscriber increases of 927,000 and 363,000, respectively.
Additionally, Smaller carrier T-Mobile has begun to turn up the heat on Sprint, offering attractive new plans like free international roaming data and completing the build-out of its fourth-generation LTE network. T-Mobile covers 233 markets with LTE compared to Sprint's 230, according to CNET.
America's third-largest wireless carrier by total subscribers, Sprint recovered from a net loss of more than $760 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue per subscriber grew to a record $64.28 as smartphones continue to be a major sales driver for the carrier, accounting for 92 percent of devices moved to contract, or postpaid, customers.
Apple's iPhone continues to be a strong seller for Sprint, with 40 percent of the 1.4 million iPhones -- the same number Sprint sold in the second quarter --?sold going to new subscribers. The number accounts for 28 percent of the 5 million smartphones sold by Sprint in the quarter.
The outlook remains grim for the carrier, however, as it continues to hemorrhage cash and customers. The third quarter's $383 million profit was helped along by a one-time $1.4 billion gain from its investment in Clearwire, which came as part of July's $21.6 billion buyout by Japanese telecom company SoftBank.
The dismal numbers come as Sprint's chief rivals, Verizon and AT&T, posted subscriber increases of 927,000 and 363,000, respectively.
Additionally, Smaller carrier T-Mobile has begun to turn up the heat on Sprint, offering attractive new plans like free international roaming data and completing the build-out of its fourth-generation LTE network. T-Mobile covers 233 markets with LTE compared to Sprint's 230, according to CNET.
Comments
My only disappointment with the 5s, and I think was a bit of a slap in the face to Sprint, was leaving out one of their LTE bands which is the one that was used for Clearwire Wimax that is now being converted to LTE. Apple only included support for 800 and 1900 but left out the 2.5GHz support needed for the clear wire spectrum Sprint now owns. Granted that chunk is not vital at the moment since it is not heavily deployed yet but most people will retain their 5s for about 2 years. 2.5Ghz should be heavily deployed within just a few months since that upgrade on towers will be very easy to do compared to converting or building out a brand new LTE base on the only 3G CDMA towers. A few hours vs. several weeks in fact. That means for the majority of the contract time of the 5s we will not be able to use that part of the network. That is also the spectrum that will offer the highest speeds approaching a theoretical maximum of [URL=http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-cover-100m-pops-25-ghz-lte-end-2014/2013-10-30]168 Mbps[/URL]. No doubt the iPhone 6 will include support for that band though.
I do not pretend to say that Sprint is the best at anything other than price and generosity when it comes to plans. Verizon and AT&T both have larger and more robust networks. But while I can continue to get good service while paying half the price and keeping unlimited LTE data I will stay put. I can't imagine what my 15GB data I used last month on Verizon or AT&T would have cost me. It is nice not to have to look over your shoulder at your data usage.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-cfo-apples-iphone-5s-and-5c-do-not-support-lte-25-ghz-spectrum/2013-09-11
"Sprint can barely turn a profit because of Apple."
Experience is largely related to one's area, but when selecting a carrier I looked at the big four. Unless you have a corporate discount, I found Sprint to be in the same price range as AT&T and Verizon. T-mobile was significantly cheaper and offers more. For example, free HD Voice, tethering, and international calls. In a recent Nationwide test Sprint ranked last in terms of data speed with AT&T coming in first, T-Mobile a close second, and Verizon a close third. Sprint was a distant fourth.
“…because of Apple.” is the new “in bed” to be appended to news articles.
Experience is largely related to one's area, but when selecting a carrier I looked at the big four. Unless you have a corporate discount, I found Sprint to be in the same price range as AT&T and Verizon. T-mobile was significantly cheaper and offers more. For example, free HD Voice, tethering, and international calls. In a recent Nationwide test Sprint ranked last in terms of data speed with AT&T coming in first, T-Mobile a close second, and Verizon a close third. Sprint was a distant fourth.
I am not like some people that run the speediest app non-stop but I see speeds anywhere from 5 Mbps to as high as 20Mbps. On a phone at least in my experience anything over 5 Mbps is overkill. It is not like we are downloading massive files so I am not sure what 35Mbps would accomplish on a phone other than Speedtest bragging right. Most of us are just streaming audio/video, using apps, checking, email, or surfing and I never have to wait for data on LTE on any app I use. Not sure how you came to that conclusion when both AT&T and Verizon limit your data to a very small cap on their cheapest plans. If you are comparing the Sprint unlimited plan to the smallest and cheapest data plans then that is true that the price difference is not that big. But if you compare it to a 4GB plan it is a pretty large difference. T-Mobile is not an option for me since their coverage is practically nonexistent where I live but I like their plans and their attempt to shake things up. You are right that everyone will have different experiences which is why I strongly suggest sites like sensorly or root metrics instead of carrier maps to get accurate data. Much of the slow Sprint data collected was during the 3G and network vision upgrade phase so take that into account since that data is out of date. In cities and states where Sprint has deployed LTE like much of Georgia I really appreciate both the speed and the unlimited aspect of LTE.
I am sorry for the caps but...
IPHONES AND IPADS SHOWING UP ON CHINA MOBILE WEBPAGE !
http://www.10086.cn/cmccclient/index.htm
IPHONES AND IPADS SHOWING UP ON CHINA MOBILE WEBPAGE !
http://www.10086.cn/cmccclient/index.htm
Yeah, but the link just gives me this:
That link was not for China Mobile. Big to do about nothing....
That link was not for China Mobile. Big to do about nothing....
Ok must depends on way I used to get there. wait
Follow the link from the Reuters article,which takes you to a China Mobile page... Its all in Chinese, but click on the bottom right link & you will see a page with iPads, iPhones,app store, ios7 links!!!!!!!!!
Reuters :
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/30/us-chinamobile-apple-idUSBRE99T06R20131030
China Mobile page about TD LTE:
http://www.10086.cn/1111/
Page after following bottom right link on main page:
Want to earn money & help your family without going anywhere.........I make $60h - $92h...how? I'm working online now its ur turn to make money at home...................... Buzz55.?om
Just open Home tab nd make money
My experience with Sprint is bad customer service.
Capitalism is a problem so long as greed and pure profits is all that matters. What ever happened to rewarding people for the good they do, and not just how badly they can extract profits from consumers?
Ask Wall Street. Apple’s doing that and getting pounded.
Sprint is up nearly 2% as of this writing. Wanna know why?
Because the subscriber losses were totally expected. If you've been paying attention at all, you would know Sprint has been running two separate networks, doubling their cost structure as part of the bad Nextel acquisition. That network is finally shut down and the subscriber losses should greatly slow then turn around as the network overhaul is completed.
I bought Sprint under $3/share and so far their turn-around is on track. People smart enough to pay attention will make out like bandits.
Sprint is up nearly 2% as of this writing. Wanna know why?
Because the subscriber losses were totally expected. If you've been paying attention at all, you would know Sprint has been running two separate networks, doubling their cost structure as part of the bad Nextel acquisition. That network is finally shut down and the subscriber losses should greatly slow then turn around as the network overhaul is completed.
I bought Sprint under $3/share and so far their turn-around is on track. People smart enough to pay attention will make out like bandits.
You are exactly right. Now that they are repurposing all that old Nextel 800MHz spectrum that should also vastly improve indoor penetration for homes and buildings. The Nextel merger was a complete disaster but at least it is over and done with now and all the old Nextel people that wanted to leave have finally gone and now they can finally operate one network which will save a ton of money and also improve the Sprint network.
Glad the company made some money, but I expect the exodus to continue.