“Verizon paid dearly to put iPhones in the hands of subscribers in the latest quarter, holding back its profits in the hope that its customers will rack up higher monthly bills and stay loyal,” Peter Svensson reports for The Associated Press.

“The quarter saw the launch of the iPhone 4S, the second model to be sold by Verizon, and it was clear that many had been waiting for it,” Svensson reports. “Verizon sold 4.3 million of them, and 7.7 million smartphones total.”

“Verizon Wireless subsidizes each smartphone by hundreds of dollars, figuring that it will make the money back in service fees over a two-year contract,” Svensson reports. “That means the wireless division, though still highly profitable, posted a rare drop in operating income for the fourth quarter.”

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Brian X. Chen reports for The New York Times, “The loss was primarily because of the impact of previously announced noncash pension charges, the company said. The company said that revenue climbed 7.7 percent, to $28.4 billion in the quarter, from $26.4 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.”

Chen reports, “Adjusted for the pension charges, the per-share income was 52 cents, just below the expectations of Wall Street analysts of 53 cents a share. Revenue was right in line with forecasts, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.”

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