AT&T announces Q2 2012 results, 3.7 million iPhones sold

AT&T has announced their second quarter results, and this time around the iPhone accounted for 3.7 million or almost 73% of the 5.1 million smartphones sold. 22% of those were to new AT&T customers. Net income was $3.9 billion, up from $3.6 billion, in the year-earlier quarter, and consolidated revenues totaled $31.6 billion, up 0.3 percent . Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive officer, said:

We executed well across the business and posted another strong quarter with growing revenues, expanding margins and double-digit earnings growth. Our mobile Internet leadership continues, with solid gains in smartphones and tablets, plus our wireless margins have never been better. And most impressive, with this growth, we also achieved our best-ever postpaid wireless churn, which points to the premier experience customers receive on our network. All of these things add to our confidence and enthusiasm looking ahead.

In addition, with disciplined cost management our cash generation continues to be strong. This allows us to invest aggressively in our growth platforms while returning substantial value to shareowners through dividends and share repurchases.

Obviously AT&T no longer enjoys iPhone exclusivity in the U.S., but compared to Verizon, who just recently reported a 45% mix of iPhones in their smartphone mix, the relationship remains lucrative.

The numbers are down slightly from last quarter, when AT&T sold 4.3 million iPhones with a 78% mix. The current iPhone 4S was released back in October of 2011 and the next generation iPhone 5 is widely expected to be released in October of this year. Generally, iPhone sales can slow as rumors of a new model increase and shoppers hold off on purchases until the next generation device appears. Also, rival platforms like Android put out a more consistent stream of new devices, and this year AT&T and Nokia recently launched the Windows Phone powered Lumia 900 as well. (An interesting question is how much, if any, of that 5% different went to Microsoft as opposed to Google.)

Apple announced their earnings later today, and iMore will be providing our usual color and commentary.

More information on AT&T's earnings, including video and full press release, is available via the link below.

Source: AT&T