AT&T: iPhone Accounts for 78% of Smartphone Sales in Q1

AT&T activated 5.5 million smartphones in Q1, including 4.3 million iPhones (78%), with 21 percent new to AT&T. Smartphones represented more than 78 percent of postpaid device sales. (For Q4 2011, AT&T reported a blockbuster 9.4 million smartphone activations including 7.8 million iPhones). At the end of the quarter, 59.3 percent, or 41.2 million, of AT&T's postpaid subscribers had smartphones, up from 46.2 percent and 31.5 million a year earlier.


For the quarter, AT&T's consolidated revenues amounted to $31.8 billion, up $575 million, or 1.8 percent, versus the year-earlier period. Earning came in at $0.60 diluted EPS compared to $0.57 diluted EPS in the first quarter of 2011.


"We continue to capitalize on our terrific momentum in mobile Internet," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive officer. "Smartphone and branded computing device sales continue to set a record pace, mobile data revenues were up nearly 20 percent, and we achieved this growth with expanding margins. These results add confidence in our outlook for the year."


Some highlights:


Added 726,000 wireless subscribers in Q1 to reach 103.9 million in service.


ARPU for smartphones is 90 percent higher than for non-smartphone subscribers.


Total wireless revenues, which include equipment sales, were up 5.4 percent year over year to $16.1 billion.
Wireless service revenues increased 4.3 percent, to $14.6 billion, in the first quarter.


Wireless data revenues — driven by Internet access, access to applications, messaging and related services — increased by more than $1 billion, or 19.9 percent, from the year-earlier quarter to $6.1 billion.


First-quarter wireless operating expenses totaled $11.7 billion, up 3.4 percent versus the year.


About 25 million, or 61 percent, of all smartphone subscribers are on tiered data plans compared to 38 percent a year ago, and more than 70 percent have chosen the higher-tiered plans.


Wireline revenues were $14.9 billion in Q1, down 0.8 percent versus the year-earlier quarter and down slightly sequentially. First-quarter wireline operating expenses were $13.1 billion, down 1.2 percent versus the first quarter of 2011 and down slightly sequentially.


Total business revenues were $9.2 billion, down 0.8 percent versus the year-earlier quarter. Business service revenues declined 0.3 percent year over year, compared to a year-over-year decline of 4.4 percent in the year-ago quarter, and were essentially flat sequentially.


Total AT&T U-verse subscribers (TV and High Speed Internet) reached 6.2 million in the first quarter. AT&T U-verse TV added 200,000 subscribers to reach 4.0 million in service.


AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet delivered a first-quarter net gain of 718,000 subscribers to reach a total of 5.9 million, more than offsetting losses from DSL.


Overall, AT&T added 103,000 wireline broadband connections.
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