AT&T doing “OK”, reports 42 percent increase in income
As if getting exclusive rights to just about every new handset of not wasn’t enough, it seems that the company is also turning record profits. AT&T announced today that they pulled in a net income of $3.1 billion in Q3 this year, crushing the competition in their path. This amounts to a 42 percent increase over the same time frame last year. It’s a sizable change in which last year’s profits held firm at $2.2 billion. While much much of this progress is due to the company’s acquisition of Bell South, they also got more than a little help from a tiny and not-hyped product known as the iPhone.
Att rocks my world.
Also it has nothing to do with all the blogs “not” hyping their products. Obviously they did this all on their own.
If not for the iPhone and acquisition of BellSouth, I’m sure the numbers wouldn’t be so favorable. All I’ve heard for the most part is complaints regarding their service (although my wife is satisfied with her cell phone on AT&T). For heavy users like myself who rely on data as well, it doesn’t compare to Verizon. I’m a TMO user, but I think it’s time to switch over to a network that provides the speed and good quality (although high rate packages) in Verizon. The Pearl will be a nice addition to their roster (it’s about time!).
well churn and customer base growth clearly don’t indicate a strong dissafisfaction with their service. sounds like you’re a hater is all.
and as for the bell south and iphone piece, kudos to ATT for recognizing the business opportunity and being smart to move on them. it’s not like they hit a lottery here, all these moves are strategic and well played.
Att sucks out here along with spit qworst alhell heloi just muches off spit towers. But over all att sucks her
Good, when you consistently bring the top handsets to your consumer base, it’s no big surprise.
what the hell did galvatron just said?
and well they made a couple biz decisions that payed off for them…
Obviously Verizon missed out on some very big opportunities this year. They passed on the Iphone and sat and did nothing while At&t, Bell South and SBC became one. Along with the acquisitions of Dobson Communications, wireless spectrum from Aloha Partners and the very loud rumors of them buying Echostar, you can be sure the divide between At&t and Verizon grows more and more as time goes bye.
Galvatron’s post might be one of the most incomprehensible things I’ve ever seen in my life. it’s spectacular in its utter nonsense.
re: the post, well it’s no surprise. AT&T has money and might, and they’re obviously unafraid to scoop up phones left and right.
Galvatron, quit sniffing the cleaning supplies. Target doesn’t pay you to get high and post in here.
I bet they could get even higher profits if they put all phones available in the stores too rather than just online. Sure, I would order online but it’s the shipping and handling that I worry about. I mean who knows what those UPS guys do to it or for that matter, the USPS.
@ bye_bye_jack
Not an AT&T hater considering my wife uses the service and I pay the bill. As for strategy, let’s face the facts…Apple only had one vendor to select from in the US, and it was AT&T.
Apple did not want to create two versions of the phone considering they wanted to go international. That would result in additional manufacturing costs, and cut into their demand for a percentage of operating costs. Obviously T-Mobile wouldn’t be an able player in the US market, so AT&T was the last standing player for Apple. Strategy, I think not on AT&T’s part. Right place at the right time, and that’s based on the technology that they are in, being GSM. It’s not like they decided to go GSM years ago because they knew the iPhone was coming out.
As for the acquisition of Bell Atlantic, they’re now 100% whole after the merger considering the fact that Cingular was a joint venture of SBC Communications and Bell Atlantic.
Not a hater, just a realist who looks at the numbers and facts. Want a hater? Try Sprint…and I’ve never used the service in my life. I’ve only heard and witnessed one bad event/call after another. And what do the numbers say? 1 million subscribers leave in just one quarter. No wonder the CEO stepped down.
@bluehorseshoe
You must have missed the earlier stories when the iPhone was released that Verizon passed on the offer from Apple and then offered it to AT&T next.
What are you talking about bluehorseshoe, Bell Atlantic is Verizon and has absolutely nothing to do with at&t. Bell Atlantic changed there name into Verizon after they acquired GTE in 2000. And yes, I agree Apple never wanted to create two versions of the Iphone but they did want to launch with Verizon but they turned it down. I not only read about this but many Verizon reps themselves jumped at the chance to tell me how they passed on it and listed a bunch of BS reasons why.
@ Lucas and jman
My bad…meant Bell South. Being from the North East, it’s embedded in me for some reason. As for Apple going to Verizon first, they did, but two things:
1. Verizon didn’t offer the flexibility to share revenue, etc. with Apple, which Apple knew would most likely happen, thus getting AT&T’s attention
2. International expansion.
Verizon wasn’t digging the demands Apple put on the table, and rightfully so. But at the same time, I don’t believe that Apple had any true intentions on going with Verizon. They threw their demands on the table to see if Verizon would bite, if so, then great, they actually bought into the demands…however at the same time, word leaks out that they went to Verizon first, thus peaking AT&T’s interest and getting them to be more flexible and aggressive in order to snatch the iPhone away from Verizon.
Sure, Verizon was first and turned it away, but it was just part of the plan for Apple to get AT&T to give them what they wanted, and allowing them to go international/global on the manufacturing side.
I’m not sure if I agree with that logic. Once turned down by Verizon, wouldn’t Apple’s bargaining position be weakened, not strengthened?
Just because it didn’t work out during the first discussion doesn’t mean you couldn’t go back to the table. Happens all the time on Wall Street when companies discuss deals, buyouts, etc.
Never a weak position when you have something that the industry will want. Just a matter of who is more agressive.