AT&T Activates 1.6M iPhone 3Gs, Wireless Business Grows

Even though AT&T's first quarter profits were down 9 percent, they seen substantial growth in their wireless and data business which can be mostly attributed to the activation of 1.6 million iPhone 3Gs during the quarter. AT&T's revenue for the quarter was $30.57 billion, down just 1 percent from the same quarter one year ago.  Net income, however, was down 10 percent from a year ago with AT&T posting $3.1 billion in net income for the quarter. AT&T's wireless revenue was $11.64 billion, up 9.8 percent from a year ago.  Their data revenue was $6.25 billion, up 4.7 percent from a year ago.  AT&T grew its wireless subscriber base by 1.2 million.  They now have 78.2 million wireless subscribers, up 6.9 million over the past year.  The number of 3G devices on AT&T's network more than doubled over the past year.  Of the 1.6 million iPhone activations, 40 percent were new to AT&T.

"I am particularly pleased with the success of our iPhone 3G initiative, which has driven strong high-end customer growth and delivered financial benefits ahead of our original outlook," said AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson. "Business and consumer expectations for mobility are on the rise, wireless innovation is flourishing and the opportunities ahead are substantial.”

So where in the world did they lose all of their profits?  Well, their voice and directory services are mostly to blame.  AT&T's voice revenue was $8.5 billion, down 12.2 percent year-over-year.  Also, their directory business revenues were $1.25 billion, down 10.7 percent from a year ago. Alright, so you get the point, AT&T is thriving thanks to the iPhone, and home phone and directory services are going the way of the dodo.  If AT&T keeps on seeing numbers like these, who knows how much money they will be willing to throw at Apple to keep the iPhone AT&T exclusive.

Related articles