iPhone Activations Grow, But Not with AT&T
(Image courtesy of BusinessInsider)Now that Apple and its iPhone partner AT&T have both revealed quarterly results, one thing is clear: U.S. growth for the device ain’t where it’s at.BusinessInsider is reporting that AT&T has only activated 2.7 million iPhones over the last quarter -- a 13 percent drop from the 3.1 million activations in the previous December quarter. Meanwhile, Apple’s international shipments were roughly flat year-over-year at 8.752 million.That said, AT&T’s iPhone activations in the March quarter actually grew 69 percent year-over-year, from 1.6 million in the first quarter of 2009 to the 2.7 million announced this week. But that pales in comparison to Apple’s worldwide iPhone shipments, which grew 131 percent year-over-year -- equating to worldwide growth that’s more than twice as fast as the U.S. market, where AT&T has an exclusive on the device.So what does that mean for the iPhone as Apple presumably prepares to launch its annual refresh of the handset in early summer? According to BusinessInsider’s Dan Frommer, “This is one reason why Apple should start selling its iPhone through more U.S. carriers, especially Verizon Wireless, the nation’s biggest.“We think a lot of the lagging growth in the U.S. is a result of many peoples’ reluctance to switch to AT&T, the only U.S. iPhone carrier, and stronger competition from other carriers’ rival devices, including impressive Google Android-powered phones and cheap Blackberry devices,” Frommer suggests.We’re sure that’s a revelation that’s not lost on Apple, who thus far appears to be a staunch ally of its U.S. provider, despite their checkered reputation for often-lousy 3G service on their network.“So if Apple really wanted to maximize its U.S. iPhone sales -- which, given the platform land-grab nature of today’s smartphone market, it should want to do -- it needs to start adding more carrier partners as soon as its AT&T exclusive is up,” Frommer concludes.
http://www.maclife.com/article/news/iphone_activations_grow_not_att
