“Finally striking a deal with Apple may just have kept T-Mobile from losing nearly half a million customers over the last quarter, according to a new report that examined the impact of the iPhone on America’s fourth-largest carrier,” Kevin Bostic reports for AppleInsider.
“A new study out from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimates that between 300,000 and 400,000 total customers who would have otherwise left wound up staying with T-Mobile in the wake of the iPhone’s launch on that carrier,” Bostic reports. “Even when the carrier didn’t officially offer the iPhone, T-Mobile was somewhat reliant on Apple’s handset. As many as one-in-five of T-Mobile’s customers were using unlocked versions of the iPhone on the carrier’s network.”
Bostic reports, “Following the device’s launch in April, T-Mobile touted a ‘gangbusters’ first day of sales, and there were reports of customers lining up outside of T-Mobile stores to get their hands on the iPhone 5. In the first month after launch, T-Mobile reported selling more than half a million iPhones.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: T-Mobile is due to report Q2 2013 earnings results on August 8th.
I was thinkn the same thing when I saw the iPhone ads for tmo.
Lines outside a T-Mobile store? I don’t recall ever having seen that. Maybe Apple has a few drops left in the tank after all, even though that would seem to contradict the Grand Narrative™ that it’s sputtering. [Also: played out, passé, drifting, leaderless]
I called T-Mobile a couple months ago, to complain about the cost and threaten to switch to another carrier, and they upgraded me to an unlimited data plan and reduced the my monthly bill temporarily. Who hands out unlimited data plans anymore? Crazy.
Maybe so, but a visit to T-mobile.com shows 4 phones prominently displayed up top: a Blackberry, a Sony, a Samsung, and an HTC. Below that are promotions for the Nexus 4 and other android shlock.
If Apple was a huge moneymaker for T-Mo, you can be certain that iPhones would be prominently displayed up front. They aren’t , because iPhones are not new.
What, BB is new? HTC, who just announced losing money, is new? Sony, wtf? Samdung who would be nowhere except for telling from Apple, paying off “research” companies and tech journalists. Anyone else?
Yes, if you bothered to lift your eyes from the electronic gadget in your hands, you would see BB10 is newer than the iPhone 5.
If you don’t think retailers/carriers push what makes them the most money, you are fooling yourself.
Everyone knows that Apple skims off the most app revenue of any major platform, because it does have the biggest app store. But we’re not talking about handset maker or app store profits.
Apple would be wise to stop the market share erosion sooner than later. I know the MDN thinks that Porsche earns more money than Ford, but it just isn’t true. Serving the whole market, from top to bottom, is the secret to industrial prosperity. Apple seems not to have learned that lesson.
Go to their stores and you will see HUGE iPhone 5 signs. But yeah go on the web to AT&T,Verizon, an T-Mobile you’d think the iPhone doesn’t exist. It is never in ANY of their mailings to me either.
Dichotomy:
Advertise what brings the customers in …
Sell what brings the money in …
Too bad the t-mo didn’t act sooner, I bailed after 12 years with them. On the flip side, I love Sprint.
Walked by a T-Mobile Store today, didn’t pop inside. Sidewalk had a sandwich board advertising a Samsung Galaxy 4. Not a single poster or sign on any window visible from the street showing an iPhone. Whatever they are doing, Apple doesn’t seem to be very important..