Sprint Sells 1.8 Million iPhones in 4Q 2011, 40% to New Subscribers
Sprint today became the last of the three major U.S. iPhone carriers to report earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011, disclosing that it sold a total of 1.8 million iPhones during the quarter. While well below the 7.6 million activations reported by AT&T and the 4.3 million activations reported by Verizon, Sprint's iPhone surge helped it achieve a new record high subscriber base of 55 million customers.
Notably, 40% of Sprint's iPhone purchasers were new to the carrier, highlighting the device's ability to attract customers from other carriers. That percentage is on par with AT&T's reporting during its early quarters of iPhone availability, although that number has tapered off for AT&T over time as those who wanted to switch made the move and new carriers such as Verizon and now Sprint have leveled the playing field somewhat.
While Sprint was undoubtedly pleased with the impact of the iPhone on subscriber numbers, it did have a short-term impact on Sprint's earnings with margins being eroded by the upfront subsidies the carrier paid to Apple for the devices. Sprint's total subsidy payments increased roughly 40% year-over-year and sequentially, hitting $1.7 billion.
Between the iPhone launch and Sprint's "Network Vision" initiative to consolidate and simplify its network technology as it moves to 4G LTE, the carrier's operating income margin was sliced nearly in half, leading to a net loss of $1.3 billion for the carrier. That performance did, however, beat Wall Street expectations by a small amount, and the carrier views the short-term hit to profitability in attracting iPhone customers to be an investment in the carrier's future. Sprint's strategy in negotiating to land the iPhone did indeed involve an effort to "bet the company" on the iconic device as Sprint struggled to keep up with AT&T and Verizon.
Popular Stories
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development.
Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag.
Timing
Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false.
The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence.
Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476
The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick.
"We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote.
If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices.
With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...