Sprint Sells Tons of iPhones, Adds 1.6 Million Subscribers, Posts $400 Million 4Q Loss

[Phillip Swanson]

Sprint’s 4th quarter marked the first time the benefits of the iPhone would influence their bottom line. Sprint’s earnings report definitely felt the iPhone influence, but not a way that excites investors.

Sprint’s subscriber base increased during the 4Q last year as the company added 1.6 million subscribers. The company sold 1.8 million iPhones last quarter as well, with 40% of Sprint iPhone buyers being new customers. However, in spite of all this positive data Sprint reported a net loss for the quarter reporting operating losses of $438 million up from $139 million during the 4Q last year.

The cost of admission into the iPhone party and Sprint’s ongoing mission to consolidate it’s network technology as the carrier moves to 4G LTE has sliced the carrier’s operating margin in half. This cut in margins resulted in a $1.3 billion net loss for the year which actually beat many Wall Street projections by a small amount.

The question for Sprint as they move forward with the iPhone in tow: “Will the benefits of Apple’s device outweigh the cost of investment?” If Sprint can stay afloat long enough to finish their 4G LTE network conversion, and continue to add iPhone and other users each year, the answer will likely be yes. But, there’s no guarantee that will happen, and with Apple’s phone bleeding the company dry in the short-term Sprint can’t afford for any mistakes.

Source: Mac Rumors

[swifty7]

I'm overall happy with Sprint but they really need to improve their 3g network speeds so that it stays constant.

[ginob13]

isnt that a picture of and iphone 4?

[Airwaves182]

isnt that a picture of and iphone 4?

Yea silly picture

[prozac4312]

DAMN they got boned...holy hell.

[boxxa]

From a financial standpoint, if Sprint is making money from subscribers, their net loss could be a result of them dumping money into new technologies and expanding for their LTE technology. I don't think necessarily that Sprint not doing good or bleeding money.

[unison999]

isnt that a picture of and iphone 4?

I think they have iPhone4 as well as iPhone4S.
A co-worker here has either Sprint or Verizon, she has an iPhone4 (not an 4S I checked).


They mention new subscribers, what about the numbers for the subscribers they lost? That also cut into their profits.

I am thinking about going back to Sprint, getting sick of AT&T bad signals. Need one with ability to use unlocked GSM so I can use it when I am out of the country.

[sziklassy]

From a financial standpoint, if Sprint is making money from subscribers, their net loss could be a result of them dumping money into new technologies and expanding for their LTE technology. I don't think necessarily that Sprint not doing good or bleeding money.

Sprint has been posting nothing but losses for years. They gambled on wimax and failed. Here's to hoping their LTE pans out, and they actually build out the network, because currently it is abysmal.

[Raybeast]

ModMyi BF3 Aftershock got released, you should do an article on how terrible it is.

[Captinsmooth]

What an amazingly obvious and shortsighted article! Your points concerning Sprint are absolutely correct and totally taken out of context. It's correct in stating the number of phones sold by Sprint and their losses for the quarter. HOWEVER, once Sprint pays Apple for the phones, they rake in money for two years. At $70 per month, that's an astounding $1680, meaning they'll gross over 1350 per phone sold. The loss you indicate (also experienced by other carriers) is simply a short-term cash flow issue.

Next time, try looking at situations for longer than 3 months at a time. I realize you may be challenged in attempting this, but give it a try! With practice, you may actually be able to look at such things as yearly profits! Wow! You'll be right there playing with the big boys.

[drama3434]

I just jumped from AT&T to Sprint, the 3G speeds are really slow, Sprint claims once it's all converted that our iPhone speeds should be faster than AT&T or Verizon!

[Eonhpi]

I believe that they loss a lot and but that because they spent do much on network upgrades and such just in my area they have built 6 more towers and will be more within the next say 6 months or so. They are just a little behind but once they are done they should be with or more above AT&T or Verizon .

[SergeantMAC]

I just jumped from AT&T to Sprint, the 3G speeds are really slow, Sprint claims once it's all converted that our iPhone speeds should be faster than AT&T or Verizon!

Ya so says Sprint ha

[JLick]

I'm satisfied with Sprint. And yes, they're only at a loss currently because of the money they owe Apple. Not gonna repeat everything Captainsmooth said, but ye it's easy to do some quick calculations to see how much money they will gross from this...

[Antman217]

I just jumped from AT&T to Sprint, the 3G speeds are really slow, Sprint claims once it's all converted that our iPhone speeds should be faster than AT&T or Verizon!

Yeah by the time they update their 3G to be even half the speed of AT&T or Verizon, everyone else will be on 4G

[Nickaroni22]

I just jumped from AT&T to Sprint, the 3G speeds are really slow, Sprint claims once it's all converted that our iPhone speeds should be faster than AT&T or Verizon!

That's what all providers say......

[Dayvidpriddy]

I jumped ship and switched to Sprint as well, unfortuntely, their data connection just doesn't work, period! Most people barelly get 0.20mbps download speed. After a few weeks I could no longer deal with it, it cost me a fortune to leave after the 14 day grace period, the fact they even charge a fee when their data is next to non-existant is unbelievable and should be a crime!

Don't go to Sprint people, you will regret it...trust me! They can't handle the data and their entire data network is basically dead! Don't believe me? Hit up Sprint forums and check out the iPhone 4S forums, there are numerous threads about no data speeds, one has over a half a million views and over 2,400 posts!

Don't switch to Sprint people!

[sziklassy]

I jumped ship and switched to Sprint as well, unfortuntely, their data connection just doesn't work, period! Most people barelly get 0.20mbps download speed. After a few weeks I could no longer deal with it, it cost me a fortune to leave after the 14 day grace period, the fact they even charge a fee when their data is next to non-existant is unbelievable and should be a crime!

Respectfully, what were you waiting for? Two works should be plenty of time for you to realize there is no decent speed in your area.