T-Mobile blames its poor performance on lack of iPhone

By Brian Tufo
last updated

Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG reported yesterday that profits for the September quarter beat expectations but said that poor performance in their U.S. business is due to its lack of ability to carry the iPhone. Chief Executive Rene Obermann said:

Consumers like T-Mobile but they also want to have the iPhone," which T-Mobile USA "has no chance of getting in the short term.

In Europe, Deutsche Telekom, had exclusivity with the iPhone but they have recently lost that perk. With rumors of the iPhone coming to Verizon, things aren't looking good for T-Mobiles future in the U.S.

[ Apple Insider ]

Brian Tufo
17 Comments
  • That squashes that rumor
  • If I could get an iPhone on T-Mobile in the US that was UMTS enabled, I would do it in a heartbeat. Without UMTS T-Mo is useless where I live because the coverage sucks.
  • T-Mobile should blame it's poor US performance on it's poor network, it's below sub-par regular phones and junky Android devices.
  • Tmobile did it to themselves by using a different 3G band. Their network may be fast but the coverage is pretty poor. I left Tmobile for the original iPhone so their statement is true.
  • @TK Ill give ya the poor network and subpar phones, but lets not refer to Android as "junky". Android as an OS is fine, the hardware they put it in could be considered "junky"... just sayin.
  • See, I like TUAW take on this.
    Blaming the void of a certain phone as the reason you're losing subscribers is stupid.
    Verizon doesn't have an iPhone, it's gaining. Sprint, same. AT&T, they were still gaining before the iPhone.
    T-Mobile is just failing because their phone selection is low (which is why I always buy unlocked now that I'm with them), their pricing isn't aggressive enough, and their network isn't as robust as even Sprint's.
    Instead off the parent company whining, they need to take that massive pile of money they have and help build up their US branch.
  • They fail to mention that the reason why they don't have the iphone is because they're service sucks. Which is why they have poor performance in the first place. idiots
  • it's a weak argument... T-Mo isn't doing well because they are poorly managed in the US.... they used to at least have perks, such as free tethering, no data caps.... but now even those are being whittled away... they are going in the wrong direction and will probably continue to bleed customers....
    yeah, better handsets and surely the iphone would help them... but they REALLY need to improve their 3G coverage... enough of the "we have 4G speeds".... doesn't do much good if it isn't available in all markets... still waiting for it here in metro Detroit area... and even with widerspread coverage... T-Mo is still cursed with 1700 that has piss poor building penetration compared with 850... what T-Mo really needs is:
    a) better coverage for their 3G network, and better roaming agreements for areas they don't serve
    b) invest in 700 LTE... solves the 1700 issue....
  • "AT&T, they were still gaining before the iPhone."
    I don't know about that. There has been a lot of analysis showing that without the iPhone saving their bacon AT&T would have probably ended up sitting down near T-mo at #3 instead of up near Verizon at #2.
  • I loved tmobile. best carrier i ever had. left for a Pre, as an iphone alternative. Bad bad move. So i think this has tons of weight. i'd love to be back on tmobile, with tmobile rates on an iphone. my next phone is gonna be an iphone so if they dont' have it clearly not having the iphone kept them from getting me as a customer. Plus my service was great but i never leave cities.
  • I used my first 2 iPhones on tmobile and left them because I wanted 3G speeds.........it's pointless to use any smartphone on edge .
  • Tmobile poor performance is due to there crappy networks and poor excuse for Indian customer service and not honoring there phones warranties.
  • I'm forced to be on T-Mobile because AT&T has zero coverage where I live in Los Angeles. (Me and all my iPhone neighbors jailbreak and unlock so we can use the iPhones at home.)
    My ONE complaint is the incompatible 3G technology between the iPhone and T-Mobile. (Edge speeds are fine, but it would be nice to have 3G.) I have to say everything else about T-Mobile has been, in my experience, fantastic.
    My phone bill is almost half of my AT&T friends, I rarely EVER drop a call, and customer support has always been stellar. (Although I've only had to call a fraction of amount I had to call AT&T. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've had to call.)
    So, I hope that quote about the iPhone not officially coming to T-Mobile "in the short term" means we'll see it at the same time Verizon does next year. But, until then, I'm extremely happy with my T-Mobile iPhone. :-)
  • I'm another one who left tmobile for the iPhone 4. If they had any decent phones I may have stayed
  • Or maybe the lack of 3G network. Just sayin.
  • Yes, but T-Mobile does produce pretty great mob ads.
    Here's their latest one:
    http://creativity-online.com/work/tmobile-welcome-back/21750
    (iPhone friendly link)
    And, for those that missed it, here was one of their first ones:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM
  • That's exactly why I left T-Mobile. Coverage was fine for me in San Francisco. Customer service was fantastic. Data plan was unlimited. Best of all I could pay full price for my phone and pay lower monthly rates with no contract. But as a long- time iPod Touch user, I wanted an iPhone. Tried an excellent Android phone with T-Mobile but just didn't like the Android UI and missed my iOS apps, so I left T-Mobile for ATT very reluctantly and told them when I left that I would have stayed if they had the iPhone.