T MOBILE US INC (NYSE:TMUS) has sold 500,000 iPhones within the first quarter of 2013. The company’s new “un-carrier” strategy is boosting the company’s profits but not as much as the new iPhone 5 has.
The company has added 579,000 new customers and an estimated 500,000 iPhones. The percentage of new customers wasn’t disclosed. T MOBILE US INC (NYSE:TMUS) also lost 199,000 postpaid customers. That’s a significant improvement by 61 percent from last year, and they gained 202,000 prepaid customers as well as 3,000 branded customers. This was the first branded customer growth since 2009.
T MOBILE US INC (NYSE:TMUS) has also found a lot of success with their Simple Choice and Value plans. They report 36 percent of their customers are on these plans compared to 30 percent from the last quarter of 2012. Unfortunately for the company, the increase in lower-cost plans means that service revenues have gone down by 7.1 percent year over year.
T-Mobile’s chief executive officer John Legere explained, “Our first quarter operating metrics and financial results are showing positive impact from the changes we began making in the fourth quarter.”
The carrier’s EBITBA earnings jumped from 12.4 percent quarter over quarter but decreased by 7.5 percent year over year.
Legere added, “The combination of T-Mobile and MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS) creates an even stronger disruptive force in the U.S. wireless market. Together, as America’s Un-carrier, we’ll continue our legacy of marketplace innovation by tearing up the old playbook and rewriting the rules of wireless to benefit consumers. Things only get more exciting from here, having brought T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS) together to create the wireless industry’s value leader and premier challenger.”
Just two months ago, T-Mobile unveiled their contract-free plans, then several weeks later they added the iPhone 5. As the last major carrier to add the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) phone, it’s a big deal. On the last day of April, T-Mobile finalized their merger with MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS).
T MOBILE US INC (NYSE:TMUS) could make a big comeback financially.