When Verizon Wireless introduced its own version of the iPhone in February, analysts and others had concerns about the impact it would have on AT&T iPhone sales. Judging by AT&T’s
first-quarter results at least, not much. The carrier’s iPhone activations increased by a million from a year ago to 3.6 million and AT&T sold a record 5.5 million smartphones overall during
the quarter. Nearly half (46%) of AT&T’s 68.1 million contract customers now own smartphones, up from 34.7% a year earlier.
Nevertheless, the carrier added only 62,000 contract
customers in the first quarter compared to 512,000 a year ago. AT&T added 2 million total wireless subscribers, mostly through connected devices like its MiFi hotspot tool. Wireless data revenue,
driven by messaging, Internet access to apps and other services, increased by $1 billion, or 24%. Apple sold 322,000 tablets during the quarter, down from 442,000 in the fourth quarter.
Overall, AT&T reported first-quarter revenue of $31.2 billion, up 2.3% from a year ago. Net income of $3.4 billion, or 57 cents a share, jumped 39% from the year earlier on the strength of the
company’s wireless business. Read more here.