Q1

Alltel releases some Q1 stats: 385K net new subs

Brian Dolan — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:43:44 -0400

While Alltel recently became a private company, the carrier still decided to release a number of key metrics for its past quarter. The company's revenues totaled $2.3 billion, which is an 11 percent increase over Q1 2007. In addition, Alltel reported a net loss of $125 million. However, those losses were mostly because of costs related to the merger, according to the carrier.

Subscribers: The carrier added 385,000 net new subscribers during the first quarter of 2008. The figure includes 163,000 net postpaid subscribers, 183,000 prepaid subscribers and 39,000 reseller net adds. The all-time high of net new subscribers marks a 63 percent increase over the same period a year ago.

ARPU: Alltel posted average revenue per user (ARPU) of $53.64, up 2 percent from last year. Data ARPU hit $7.50, which is 60 percent higher than last year.

Churn: Alltel posted a post-pay churn of 1.34 percent and total churn of 1.83 percent.

For more:
- check out our metric charts to see the latest net-subs, ARPU, and churn data of the industry's carriers
- read this Alltel Q1 press release

Clearwire clears 400K subscriber mark

Brian Dolan — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:35:24 -0400

Clearwire posted a first quarter loss that was nearly double its year-ago loss because of increasing network buildout costs. The $176.4 million loss is close to twice last year's $92.6 million figure. Clearwire's total revenue rose 76 percent to $51.5 million, up from $29.3 million last year.

Subscribers: Clearwire added 48,000 net new subscribers during the quarter. The carrier ended the quarter with about 443,000 total subscribers.

ARPU: Clearwire reported a slight increase in average revenue per user (ARPU): $36.86, up from $35.80 last year. The carrier pointed to increased sales of VoIP and PC cards as well as an improvement in international sales as reasons for the ARPU uptick.

Churn: Clearwire posted domestic churn of 2 percent for the first quarter of the year and 2.2 percent consolidated churn, which includes its international markets.

For more:
- read this Clearwire's Q1 press release

Sprint loses 1.09 million subscribers

Brian Dolan — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:22:49 -0400

During its first quarter earnings call this morning, Sprint Nextel did not disclose any more details on its Clearwire pact or discuss recent rumors that claimed Deutche Telekom may buy it. However, Sprint Nextel did note that it may sell some assets after its first quarter net losses expanded to $505 million. Losses in the year-ago period totaled $211 million. Those aren't the only losses facing Sprint: Q1 postpaid subscriber defections totaled 1.09 million. First-quarter revenues of $8.0 billion represented a 9 percent decline from the same quarter last year and a 6 percent fall from the fourth quarter of 2007.

Subscribers: Sprint's wireless business claimed 52.8 million total subscribers at the end of Q1, a decline the firm said reflects a smaller post-paid and affiliate base, partially offset by increases in prepaid and wholesale.

Churn: Postpaid churn came in at 2.45 percent compared to 2.3 percent in both Q1 and Q4 of 2007.

ARPU: Wireless ARPU slumped to $56, a 6 percent decline over year-ago totals and a 4 percent sequential decline. Sprint said data growth partially offset declining voice revenue, with data contributing more than $11.50 to overall postpaid ARPU in the first quarter and more than $14--roughly one quarter--of CDMA ARPU. Sprint credits overall year-over-year data growth of 19 percent to strong sales of aircards and demand for messaging services.

Forecasting only marginal improvements in the current quarter, Sprint said it may seek waivers or amendments from its creditors, but believes enough cash is in its coffers to continue operations and repay all its maturing debts through the end of 2009.

"Improving the customer experience and being more selective about the customers we acquire should improve churn, but we expect that post-paid subscriber losses will improve only marginally from first-quarter levels," CEO Dan Hesse said during the analyst call.

For more on Sprint's Q1 debacle:
- read this release

Leap adds 230,000 net subs

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

After a one day delay for the results, Leap Wireless reported a net loss of $18.1 million for its first quarter, which is less than the $24.2 million loss it posted in the year ago period. Leap's sales, however, rose 19 percent to $468.4 million, up from $393.4 million. Service revenues also rose to $398.9 million from $321.6 million, but equipment revenue dropped to $69.4 million from $71.7 million. The carrier added 230,000 net new subscribers during the quarter.

For more on Leap's Q1:
- read this AP article

RadioShack's Q1 hampered by Sprint

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:59:55 -0400

RadioShack weathered a 4 percent drop in same-store sales because of lower sales in Sprint postpaid wireless. The electronics store company managed to recoup some of the net income thanks to increased sales from GPS units, prepaid wireless and digital cameras. Were it not for the Sprint postpaid sales decline, RadioShack said its same-store sales would have risen by 0.7 percent. Total revenues at the company were $949 million, down $43 million from last year.

For more on RadioShack's Q1:
- read this AFX article

North America and India boost Ericsson's Q1

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Ericsson's first quarter results included a 55 percent drop in net income to $446 million, but still managed to beat analysts' expectations thanks to the networks division and increased sales in North America. The company's first quarter also included a restructuring charge of about $134 million. Total sales grew 4.8 percent to about $7.4 billion, which topped the average analyst's expectation of $7 million. Ericsson also noted that India was now its second largest market.

For more on the Q1:
- read this Ericsson Q1 press release

Motorola's earnings hampered by weak phone sales

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Motorola posted a $194 million first quarter loss, which is greater than the $181 million loss posted this time last year. Net sales at the company came in at $7.45 billion, down from $9.43 billion in the first quarter of 2007. Sales at the mobile devices unit hit $3.3 billion, down 39 percent from the first quarter last year. The unit also reported an operating loss of $418 million, an increase over last year's $233 million loss during the first quarter. Motorola shipped 27.4 million handsets during the period.

For more on Motorola's earnings:
- read this Motorola Q1 press release

iPhone: T-Mobile Germany confirmed; 3G version '08

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that T-Mobile is the exclusive iPhone carrier in Germany. The phone and details are in line with yesterday's UK O2 announcement. Orange is expected to announce its exclusive iPhone deal for France tomorrow.

According to a report from Pocket-lint, Jobs announced at the O2 iPhone launch press event: "We are working on the next iPhone already, the one after that and the one after that... You can expect a 3G iPhone later next year." Jobs' comments fall in line with the various 3G iPhone rumors that we've been hearing, though he didn't give any further indication of exactly when the 3G phone would make its debut. As we reported yesterday, The Street claims it will come out in Q1 next year with A-GPS capabilities.

For more on iPhone's European launches:
- read thisÃ‚Â press release from the companyÃ‚Â

Related articles:
- Apple announces O2 iPhone dealÃ‚Â
- Report: T-Mobile, O2, Orange get iPhone

Apple announces O2 as UK iPhone carrier

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Apple has quelled the iPhone rumors in the U.K. today by announcing O2 as its exclusive carrier partner in the U.K. Beginning November 9, O2's 18 million subscribers can purchase an iPhone for about $526 with an 18-month contract. Since O2's EDGE network only covers about 30 percent of the U.K., the companies are offering iPhone users in the U.K. free access to any of the Cloud's 7,500 WiFi hotspots across the country. iPhone users can pick from either a $70, $90 or $110 monthly calling plans (click to enlarge):

O2's CEO Matthew Key said internal surveys show 80 percent of O2's high value subscribers want an iPhone and 40 percent of customers at rival carriers are willing to switch to a new carrier for an iPhone.

The Street also has an interesting report: An A-GPS-equipped 3G iPhone is set to ship in Q1 next year. The Street says inside sources tell it that Apple has teamed up with Broadcom's Global Locate for the chip. While the report is still very much in the rumor mill category, a 3G phone certainly needs to have A-GPS capability to make way for lucrative mapping applications, family/friend locator services and other up-and-coming GPS apps.

For more on Apple's O2 deal:
- read the press release here
- and read this report from The Street

Sprint formally launches femtocell, Airave

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:59:54 -0400

Last month we reported on a rumor that claimed Sprint would launch its femtocell service in Q1 of next year, but it turns out the carrier has launched the service for subscribers in Denver and Indianapolis today. The "Airave" femtocell is a rebranded version of Samsung's Ubicell, and aims to boost cellular coverage for Sprint subscribers while they are at home. Here's what the device looks like (click to enlarge):

While Sprint is not counting any of the minutes an Airave-equipped customer uses at home against the subscriber's calling minutes, the service costs an additional $15 per month for individuals and $30 per month for subscribers with family plans. The Airave itself costs $49.99 at Sprint stores. The service will expand throughout the Denver and Indianapolis areas and will be launching in Nashville soon. Expect a nationwide launch early next year.

For more on the Airave:
- read the press release

Nokia preloads Microsoft apps on handsets

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Nokia announced plans to begin preloading Microsoft's applications onto its handsets in 11 countries. The applications include Windows Live Hotmail, Messenger, Live Contacts and Live Spaces. N-Series owners who live in 11 European and Middle Eastern markets, which include France, UK, Germany and Spain, can begin downloading the applications onto their mobile phones right away. The companies hope to begin preloading the software on Nokia's mass-market Series 40 handsets in Q1 of 2008.

While Nokia's phones have been unable to download Microsoft applications previously, this initiative will allow the applications to sync up with the handset's features more seamlessly. For example, the communications applications can sync up with the phone's contacts list and the phone's pictures can be more easily uploaded to the Internet.

For more on Nokia teaming up with Microsoft:
- read this article from the WSJ (sub. req.)

Sprint Airave takes on T-Mobile Hotspot@Home

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:59:56 -0400

T-Mobile unveiled their Hotspot@Home service and accompanying dual-mode handsets back in June, and now it looks like Sprint may be following in its footsteps. Sprint is set to offer Samsung's similar Ubicell hardware, which the company showed off at CTIA back in March--turns out that Sprint will be bringing the device to its network in order to launch a very @Home-like service, called Airave in Q1 2008. PhoneNews.com's sources claim that the service will have two pricing tiers: One is a flat-rate $4.99 a month fee that will simply boost a users cellular signal while at home. The other, which is more similar to T-Mobile's service, offers unlimited calling through the Ubicell and costs $15-a-month ($30-a-month for a family plan).

Sprint's rumored offering brings with it a few key differences, however: the Ubicell has a range of 5000 square feet, works with any Sprint phone (except iDEN), can support up to 3 phones or 1XRTT data sessions simultaneously and allows you to filter access to the phones/data cards of your choice. Reports, however, indicate that EV-DO speeds will not be available until late 2008 and iDEN will not be supported. ~~All of that, of course, is on top of the usual features like seamless handoff between WiFi and CDMA and unlimited free calls over WiFi. Might we have an @Home killer on our hands?~~

For more on Sprint's ~~dual-mode~~ femtocell play:
- see this Gizmodo article

UPDATE: This is, in fact, a femtocell, not a WiFi play as noted in the comments below. Apologies for the confusion.

T-Mobile USA's revenues make up 23% of DT's

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

T-Mobile USA continues to buoy its European parent's financial situation, revenues from T-Mobile USA make up about 23 percent of DT's total revenue. Here's how the U.S. carrier's Q2 breaks down:

Subscribers: T-Mobile USA now has nearly 27 million subscribers, after adding 857,000 net new subs during the second quarter. Of those, 687,000 or 80 percent were contract customers.

ARPU: T-Mobile USA's blended ARPU was $53 during the quarter, up from $52 in the first quarter of the year. Data services revenues totaled $616 million in Q2, representing 14.7 percent of blended ARPU, or $7.80 per customer. During Q1 those revenues made up 14.3 percent of blended ARPU, or $7.50. Net income for Q2 was $350 million, up 11 percent from $315 million in Q1.

Messaging: Uptake in SMS and MMS drove ARPU's growth as the total number of SMS and MMS messages increased to 18 billion in Q2, compared to almost 16 billion in the Q1 and 8 billion in the Q2 of 2006.

Churn: Contract customer churn was 1.8 percent during the quarter, down from 1.9 percent in Q1 and 2.2 percent in Q2 of 2006. Blended churn of both prepaid and contract subscribers was 2.7 percent for the quarter, slightly up from 2.6 percent Q1 of 2007.

For more on T-Mobile USA's Q2:
- read this press release

Qualcomm captures mobile chipset lead from TI

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:59:58 -0400

According to a report from iSuppli, for the first time since the research group started the yearly reports, during Q1 Qualcomm surpassed Texas Instruments as the world leader in circuited chipsets for mobile devices.

Even though it's staring down a ban on U.S. imports of certain handsets, Qualcomm sales have grown especially for handsets using its 3G technology for CDMA networks. According to iSuppli's senior analyst Francis Sideco, Qualcomm's first-quarter supremacy rests on its dominance of the EV-DO market, which TI doesn't service.

TI alsoÃ‚Â posted less than stellar quarterly profits and a lukewarm revenue forecast for the quarter ahead. Qualcomm is expected to post strong financials later on today for its most recent quarter.

For more on the iSuppli study:
- read this article from InformationWeek