AT&T Tops Earnings Expectations on 4.7 Million iPhone Sales, Strong Pickup for Shared Data Plans
AT&T on Wednesday reported better-than-expected earnings on revenue of $31.5 billion.
The telecommunications giant also said it sold 4.7 million iPhones in the quarter, and signed up two million customers for its new shared data plans in just five weeks. The company said it added 678,000 net wireless customers in the quarter, including 151,000 contract customers.
AT&T said its iPhone sales were hampered by inventory constraints, noting that “the vast majority” of iPhone sales in the quarter went to existing customers looking to upgrade. On a conference call with investors, the company said it activated twice as many iPhone 5s as its nearest competitor.
Overall, the company sold 6.1 million smartphones, with a total of 44.5 million such devices now on its network. That’s up eight million from a year ago, and 1.4 million from the prior quarter.