If the debut of the iPhone on Verizon didn’t trigger quite the mass exodus of Android users that some had expected, it could be because the carrier is more of a stronghold for Google’s mobile OS than anyone expected.
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Verizon Android Users Probably Just Holding Out for iPhone 5
That means those who will grab the handset won’t have to worry about switching between different carriers around the world, as long as the carrier to use supports the same operating frequency in the GSM network.
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Unlocked GSM iPhone 4, Now Available in US Apple Online Store
Looking at the numbers, the Verizon iPhone had very little impact on the carrier. But they don’t tell the whole story.
Originally posted here:
How the iPhone 3GS Makes AT&T Look Better Than It Should
AT&T today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2011, offering a glimpse at the performance of a significant partner of Apple’s for the iPhone and the first data on the carrier’s sales since it lost exclusivity in the United States with the launch of the CDMA iPhone on Verizon.
According to the press release, AT&T activated 3.6 million iPhones during the quarter, up nearly a million from the year-ago quarter. The figure has, however, historically included both sales of new devices and re-activations of previously-sold devices either handed down or resold by their owners, making it impossible to correlate the figure directly with Apple’s own sales performance.
AT&T reports that 23% of iPhone subscribers were new to AT&T, a figure that has steadily declined over the past year or so as the carrier has increasingly already attracted many of the customers most interested in the device.
Perhaps the most notable piece of data is AT&T’s claim that the churn rate for iPhone subscribers was unchanged over the year-ago quarter, indicating that significant numbers of AT&T iPhone customers are not fleeing to Verizon as many observers had expected.
On a broader scale, AT&T reported record smartphone sales of 5.5 million and 10.2% revenue growth in its wireless division. The company’s subscriber base also grew by 2 million to reach 97.5 million.
Apple will release its own earnings for the quarter after the markets close later today.
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Verizon’s new HTC Thunderbolt 4G smartphone has been a big draw at the carrier’s retail stores, in some cases selling more than Apple’s iPhone, according to a recent report.
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HTC Thunderbolt More Popular Than iPhone in Verizon Stores, Analyst Says
The iPhone 5 will not be offered by T-Mobile as part of the AT&T deal, as the carrier will remain an independent company.
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iPhone 5 Not Coming to T-Mobile
Engadget posts a purported internal AT&T sales document sharing details of Apple’s iOS 4.3 launch scheduled for next Friday, March 11th. According to the document, the personal hotspot functionality included in the update, which the carrier has already announced that it will support will be limited to three connected Wi-Fi devices.
According to this here slide, which details a bit of insidery AT&T information about the impending release of iOS 4.3, Ma Bell’s iPhone 4 will have its Personal Hotspot restricted to use with just three devices. Just about every MiFi / mobile hotspot device we’ve ever seen — including Verizon’s iPhone 4 — has supported five WiFi devices, but unless AT&T pulls a 180 here, it’ll be limiting its iPhone to just three connections.
Apple’s own iOS 4.3 preview page offers similar language with additional detail revealing the limitations:
You can share your connection with up to five devices at once over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB – with up to three of those connections using Wi-Fi.
Apple elaborates even further in a footnote on the page, revealing device limitations for each of the connection methods:
Personal Hotspot requires a supporting hotspot tethering plan from your carrier and works with up to three devices over Wi-Fi, three devices over Bluetooth, and one device over USB.
Interestingly, while identical language is present on Apple’s iOS 4.3 preview pages for customers in Canada, Australia, Japan, and many other countries, suggesting that the limitation is Apple’s and not AT&T’s, pages for customers in European countries simply mention the total limit of five devices.
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Fresh on the heels of confirmation that AT&T will support personal hotspot functionality for the iPhone 4 when the feature debuts with iOS 4.3 next week, the carrier today also announced the launch of new postpaid subscription data plans for tablet devices such as the iPad.
Like the prepaid options that have been offered until now and continue to be offered, the new data plans do not require a contract and offer the same options of $14.99 per month for 250 MB and $25 per month for 2 GB. For a limited time, the carrier is offering the first month free for customers signing up for 2 GB subscription plans.
AT&T today introduced convenient new postpaid billing options for tablets. Beginning today, customers can choose between AT&T’s existing prepaid billing options or the new postpaid plans. The new plans can be added to customers’ existing monthly wireless statements, offering the simplicity of a single monthly bill. For a limited time, customers who activate a new postpaid $25/2 GB plan will receive the first month free.
The new postpaid billing option will be available across AT&T retail locations, as well as att.com, Best Buy, Fry’s, select Nexcom locations, and Walmart stores nationwide.
Tablet plans cover 30-day periods, with overages for postpaid customers charged at $10 per GB.
While the new offering come in at the same price points as the prepaid options, the option of delaying payment by shifting from prepaid to postpaid can be enticing, and shifting billing onto a customer’s existing wireless bill from AT&T can simplify payment and record-keeping procedures for customers.
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Several weeks ago, we reported that AT&T iPhone customers with access to iOS 4.3 beta versions were finding that the personal hotspot functionality was working with their existing tethering plans, but the carrier had yet to offer any official word on whether it would support the functionality once the software launched to the general public.
Electronista now reports that AT&T has indeed confirmed that it will support personal hotspot functionality on existing tethering plans with the public launch of iOS 4.3 on March 11th. Hotspot functionality will require that users have the $25/month DataPro plan with 2 GB of data plus the $20/month add-on tethering plan that the carrier recently augmented with an additional 2 GB of data capacity.
AT&T on Wednesday night confirmed with Electronista that it would start supporting the Personal Hotspot feature in sync with the launch of iOS 4.3. Subscribers will have the same support as Verizon customers when the update pushes out to the GSM iPhone 4 on March 11. Pricing should stay the same as for basic tethering and will need its new DataPro hotspot/tethering plan, which combines 4GB of total data with connection sharing for $45.
While the personal hotspot functionality is included in iOS 4.3, it does require carriers to specifically support the feature. Given that AT&T has been slow to adopt similar features such as tethering in the past, some customers had been concerned that the carrier would not offer hotspot services at launch.
Verizon is already able to offer hotspot functionality with its version of the iPhone, pricing its plans in a package of unlimited phone data for $29.99 per month with a separate 2 GB bucket of data for hotspot and tethering priced at an additional $20 per month. The carrier is, however, planning to drop its unlimited plan in favor of tiered pricing this summer, although tethering/hotspot add-ons will presumably continue under a similar pricing structure.
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