Hasta La Gadget!

AT&T just posted its earnings for the first quarter of 2013, and the market couldn’t help but ding the company, which is now trading down in after hours markets. The business as a whole posted a net income of $3.7 billion, which is slightly up from $3.6 billion one year ago. Meanwhile, company revenues took a slight hit, which sit at $31.4 billion — down 1.4 percent from the previous year. In terms of the company’s wireless business, though, there’s plenty of reason for optimism. The company was able to snag an additional 296,000 postpaid subscribers and put a solid 1.2 million people on smartphone plans during the quarter. For those keeping track, smartphone sales now account for 88 percent of AT&T’s postpaid handsets. Unsurprisingly, the company is making more money than ever off of its data plans, which account for $5.1 billion of the company’s business. As for the wireless segment as a whole, income is up 21 percent and AT&T is pulling in revenues of $16.6 billion with a 28 percent profit margin.

Encouraging signs were also revealed for U-verse, as the company’s broadband service netted an additional 731,000 internet subscribers and 232,000 television subscribers during the quarter — its best performance in two years — for a grand total of 8.7 million subscribers. Naturally, one segment of Ma Bell’s business isn’t looking too hot, and that’s the traditional wireline business, as revenues have fallen 10 percent from the previous year. Given the size of this segment, and the weakening demand for the service, it’s easy to understand why investors might be slightly uneasy, even in light of all the encouraging news.

Filed under: Wireless, HD, Mobile, AT&T

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Source: AT&T

American telecommunications giant AT&T announced its Q4 2012 financial results this afternoon, which reflect $3.9 billion in losses for Ma Bell’s final fiscal quarter of last year. However, the company’s also posting “record smartphone sales” of 10.2 million last quarter — “the most by any US carrier,” it claims. As it’s Q4, the results for the full year are also in; AT&T revealed $7.3 billion in net income across the entirety of 2012. That’s what we’d call a marked change from last year’s losses.

In terms of phones, AT&T activated 8.6 million new iPhone customers (16 percent of which were totally new to the company), up 1 million over 2011’s Q4 and nearly double that of Q3 2012. No specific number is given on Android sign-ups, but AT&T’s calling it the “best-ever sales quarter for Android smartphones” — when those 8.6 million iPhones are subtracted from the overall Q4 2012 sales of phones (10 million), it’s not looking so good for non-Apple built devices. On the U-verse front, the latest lifetime subscriber numbers reflect 8 million TV and high-speed internet users, with 192K joining in Q4 2012.

Operating revenues just barely exceeded those of 2011, reaching $127.4 billion, offset by $114.4 billion in expenses (down $3 billion over 2011). Customer numbers also grew in 2012, by a healthy 1.086 million people, the vast majority of which are contract customers (approximately 70 percent). Needless to say, things seem to have gone pretty okay for AT&T in 2012, despite a rocky final quarter. Not too bad for the least loved mobile carrier in the US.

Update: This post originally reflected $3.9 billion in profit for Q4 2012, when it should’ve reflected losses. Please excuse our error!

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Tablets, Wireless, HD, Mobile, AT&T

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As if there were any shortage of on-demand options, AT&T’s giving U-verse TV subscribers more choice by offering multi-platform access to its growing catalog of films for a small monthly fee. The add-on service, dubbed Screen Pack, will allow users to instantly watch any of the 1,500 currently available titles from their home TV set, tablet or smartphone (via the U-verse app) or on Uverse.com for $5 per month. And for those who aren’t quite sold on the idea of tacking additional charges onto their bill, AT&T’s arranged for a free preview window that’ll run until this coming Sunday the 13th. So, if you’re a U-verse TV sub that needs your entertainment to follow you pretty much everywhere, you now have yet another solid option. Official PR after the break.

Continue reading AT&T Screen Pack gives U-verse TV subs on-demand access to 1,500 films

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, Internet, HD, AT&T

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Source: AT&T U-verse TV