Rogers: iCanada

The econalypse hasn’t stopped people from buying iPhones. In its third quarter, Canada’s Rogers Wireless sold 255,000 iPhones and added 191,000 new customers, helping to nearly double the company’s profit during a period of nasty economic turbulence. “Customers embraced the iPhone,” Rogers COO Nadir Mohamed said on a conference call. “The number of activations … is simply phenomenal.”

Like AT&T (T), Rogers is heavily subsidizing the iPhone’s upfront purchase cost and that is a bit of a financial burden. But it’s one that should be offset by the revenues generated by the device’s new owners. As AT&T noted a few weeks back, iPhone users generate more revenue per person than the typical wireless user. And that’s clearly been the case with Rogers. Most of Rogers’ iPhone subscribers opted for monthly voice and data packages and that increased average revenue per user four percent year-over-year to $78.46. Better still, one-third of iPhone buyers were new Rogers subscribers and they’ve all been locked into three-year contracts. And that’s certain to put the hurt on Rogers’ rivals, who’ll reveal the extent of their suffering when they next report earnings.