Andre Yoskowitz
8 Feb 2012 18:39
Sprint, after spending billions on bringing the iPhone to their network, has taken a larger than expected loss for the Q4 2011.
The company confirmed it paid $15.5 billion to Apple for a four-year commitment on the iPhone, the first of which, the iPhone 4S, went on sale in October.
During the quarter, which ended at the end of December, Sprint activated 1.8 million of the smartphone. Rival AT&T activated 7.6 million and Verizon did 4.3 million during the same period. Making Sprint's number much more impressive (for the carrier) was the fact that 40 percent of the activations were from customers that were new to the company.
Contract-based subscribers jumped 161,000 for the quarter, a rare gain for the carrier which makes most of its money from contract-free customers.
While the jump in subscribers and activations was certainly nice for the carrier, it came at a very steep price. The company saw a quarterly loss of $1.3 billion, their largest in 3 years. Losses related to the iPhone came in at the equivalent of $350 per phone sold.