Business

AT&T announced yesterday that their 3rd quarter earnings rose 41% from the previous quarter. It has not been a secret how much success AT&T has had with selling Apple’s iPhone. But this is the first time we have seen real numbers associated with that success and just how much impact AT&T’s exclusivity agreement with Apple has had on AT&T’s overall financial health.

Although the acquisition of BellSouth and the streamlining of jobs also played a role, the 2 million new wireless subscribers in the third quarter certainly played a big part. Most of these new subscribers can be attributed to the introduction of the iPhone.

Chief executive Randall Stephenson cut customer turnover in the wireless business and signed a record number of new users to contracts, helping to counter the loss of more home-phone lines. About 1.2 million people agreed to long-term deals, and AT&T now has a total of 65.7 million wireless users.

Again, AT&T’s 5-year U.S. exclusivity with Apple and the iPhone can only mean good things for the wireless carrier.

[Via Washington Post]

BuyerTRAX’s Barry Gilbert claims Apple will be the dominant handset sold during the holiday quarter this year surpassing competitors such as Motorola, Samsung and LG.

The analyst’s prediction for the number iPhone sales during this holiday quarter are between 1.6 and 1.7 million which would outpace rivals and claim the name of top selling phone in the US.

Gilbert continues to rave about iPhone sales. He’s quoted by Forbes as saying “The iPhone has momentum that is basically unparalleled.”

But a previously reported story about Apple restricting iPhone sales to Credit/Debit cards and two per visit could mean the company would want to reserve iPhone stock for the holiday season.

Via: Macworld UK

Orange had casually confirmed they would be the sole carrier of the iPhone in France once it launched later this year but it would be plagued with problems ranging from revenue sharing issues to unlocking laws that would prevent the sale of the device. Orange however remains optimistic that all issues will be obliterated and that the iPhone will release on schedule.

Previously there were disagreements concerning how much of a cut Apple would get a month from Orange. However that has since been worked out.  Afterwards a report surfaced that said Apple could encounter some problems in bringing the iPhone to France due to unlocking issues.

MacNN reports that Apple and Orange have struck a deal and are confident the iPhone will arrive by November.

Via: MacNN

RIM has announced that their quarterly sales during the iPhone’s availability haven’t been hurt at all. While it would be hard to see how many iPhone owners considered a Blackberry, it is obvious that RIM will have some serious competition considering that the device sold 1/3 of the amount of Blackberries for that quarter.

And the iPhone was sold only in the US during its availability while the Blackberry sold worldwide. Even then Apple sold 1 million handsets while RIM sold 3 million globally while 1.5 million were new users.

However, this is only sales data. We have to remember that the two Smartphones appeal to two totally different markets. The Blackberry for business and the iPhone for the average consumer. That might’ve caused Apple to sell more handsets compared to RIM but just looking at the hard data, the launch has been successful for the iPhone.

So while Apple may come out on top and dominate the Smartphone market, it’s still important to note the differences in each phone and who they cater. If Apple were to wage a war against RIM, they’d have to beef up their corporate support.

Via:… more...

The mass bricking of iPhones may be costing consumers some trouble to the tune of a couple hundred dollars but Navizon who offers a Pseudo GPS solution for mobile devices will be getting hit where it hurts: the pocket book.

We’ve covered Navizon’s Software based GPS solution for the iPhone before which was available as a 15 day demo before charging users $24.95 to use it without any limits.

However, the 1.1.1 update disables all 3rd party Software which seriously affects Mexens Technology who offered Navizon to iPhone users via Installer.app but there is an upside for people who purchased the Software.

Everyone who paid for the license will be refunded their $30 as less than 200 were sold. If you need more information on the refund, contact Navizon and they should hook you up.

[Via: Arstechnica]

Apple has inked a deal with Interdigital to provide cellular technology for upcoming iPhones which include current 2G and potential 3G hardware.

It’s refreshing to see some mention of 3G technology and the iPhone in the same sentence (however it sucks that AT&T put a 3G logo on all iPhone SIM cards, hey Apple where is my 3.6Mbits?) but the deal with InterDigital extends beyond wireless connectivity.

The deal includes a 7 year licensing agreement to provide cellular technology and wireless technology to Apple for about $56 million through out the deal’s duration.

Via: Engadget

Press release below:

Apple(R) today
announced it sold its one millionth iPhone(TM) yesterday, just 74 days after
its introduction on June 29. iPhone combines three devices into one-a mobile
phone, a widescreen iPod(R), and the best mobile Internet device ever-all
based on Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface and pioneering software
that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their
fingers.
  “One million iPhones in 74 days-it took almost two years to achieve this
milestone with iPod,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We can’t wait to get this
revolutionary product into the hands of even more customers this holiday
season.”
  Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple
II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.
Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-
winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional
applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its
… more...

Who would’ve thought that even with the millions splurged on its wireless network in preparation for the iPhone that AT&T is dropping “the fewest dropped calls” campaign.
Can you hear me now?

The marketing campaign started in March last year but it was flawed from the getgo.
The irony is that the Ads were based on a report by Telephia that clearly stated AT&T was not the most reliable network. Even funnier was AT&T’s competitor T-Mobile was the only one capable of claiming the title of “fewest dropped calls”.

Since Cingular and now AT&T has taken some legal flack over it they are now dropping the slogan (like its hot) because almost good is good enough.

Via: Digg

The rumor of France Telecom’s Orange winning the exclusive right to sell the iPhone in France was false according to Orange executive director Louis-Pierre Wenes in an interview with Paris Match magazine. Wenes also mentioned it would take weeks not days for a company to finalize agreements with Apple for this exclusive contract.

Now that this part of the rumor is false it certainly causes skepticism towards how legit the rest of the rumor is. Does this mean that Deutsche Telekom in Germany and O2 in the UK are simply paper thin rumors? Maybe Vodafone has a chance after all…

[Via Forbes]

If you were driven mad by the flurry of rumors surrounding the iPhone’s European launch you can rest assured that we now have concrete evidence of what networks the Euro-phone is launching on and a set date of when more information will come in.  Les iPhones viennent, les iPhones viennent!

Three carriers have been announced for the iPhone in Europe: Orange, O2 and T-Mobile. Now if you’ve been desiring an iPhone and live in Europe you surely have been keeping up on the rumor mill and you’ll know that T-Mobile had been heralded as the German carrier, this is correct (is it just me or is the Apple-o-sphere been a leaky faucet when it comes to rumors)?

Next up is Orange and O2. The earlier has been selected for France and the later for the U.K. (start saving your pennies Aaron)! However it gets interesting, similar to AT&T all three carriers have had to cut out a revenue sharing deal with Apple. Previously these figures were only speculated upon by analysts and Bloggers but we have a concrete number this time: 10% of voice and data revenue for every iPhone user… more...