“Sprint Nextel, the nation’s No. 3 cellphone carrier, on Wednesday reported a net loss income in the fourth quarter of $1.3 billion, or 43 cents a share, in contrast to a net loss of $929 million in the same quarter a year ago. The company said revenue climbed 5 percent to $8.7 billion,” Brian X. Chen reports for The New York Times. “Wall Street analysts had forecast a loss of 38 cents a share and revenue of $8.7 billion, according to a survey by FactSet.”
“Sprint’s earnings illustrate the impact of Apple’s iPhone on the network. The October-to-December period was the first quarter that the company offered Apple’s smartphone, which has been a best-seller for its rivals AT&T and Verizon. The company said it sold 1.8 million iPhones. The iPhone is crucial ammunition for Sprint in its battle for new subscribers,” Chen reports. “While smartphone sales are soaring in the industry, the number of new customers signing up for phone contracts has been shrinking because so many people already have cellphones. Sprint’s bid to lure subscribers to its network is its unlimited data plan, which AT&T and Verizon no longer offer.”
Chen reports, “It appears to be working. Sprint said it added 1.6 million net subscribers in the October-to-December period, its best quarterly gain in six years and up from the previous quarter, when it added 1.3 million subscribers. Forty percent of its iPhone sales were to new customers.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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I looked at Sprint because of the unlimited plan. I found you had to wait an unlimited amount of time for a page to download: I went elsewhere for my 4S.
They were waiting for you to plonk down an unlimited amount of funds with them to make the loading of their web page finish within a limited amount of time.
If only T-mobile got the iPhone…
I’m waiting for cricket to get it. Even if it’s one of the older models, I’d be happy to finally get the data plan. Until then it’s an ipod touch and a dumbphone for me.
I got my first iPhone but I chose AT&T because if the speed.
I’m satisfied with AT&T but I must say the network isn’t perfect. I get zero coverage when I went to pro bowl! I can’t make a call, Siri, etc…
it has also happened to some other places that aren’t really considered away from the city.
However, when I do get coverage, my speed shoots up to 8mbps but mostly around 5mbps though
I pay $56 monthly because of work discount
Got 4 Sprint iPhones and returned them 4 days later. The unlimited data is horribly slow.
I switched from T-Mobile to Sprint when the iPhone 4S came out & I have no regrets. It has the best coverage in Silicon Valley where I live & beats T-Mobile in the South Bay area of San Diego. Sans the iPhone, the problem of customer attrition would have continued for the no.3 carrier.
I work for a Sprint dealer in NH and have an unlimited everything plan for $30 a month. If not for that, though I would be on Verizon. Everything everyone says about the network being slow is completely true, at least around here. It’s absolutely awful. Streaming Pandora over 3G is a funkin’ joke. Anyone that tries to spin Sprint as not being slow is full of shoot. Real recognizes real.