AOL reported its Q4 2012 quarterly earnings yesterday, and they revealed that the dial-up business is still alive and well, sadly. The company reported that during the quarter, they made $174.2 million for “subscription” services. This accounts for a whopping 29% of AOL’s total revenue for Q4 2012. If you ask us, that’s quite a huge chunk for services that should be obsolete by now.
Of course, revenue from subscribers is down 10% from the same time last year, in which AOL was raking in almost $200 million from dial-up customers, but their revenue saw a 4% growth from last year as well, proving that the company is slowly starting to see its dial-up business cut back a bit, and is earning more revenue elsewhere.
Then again, we shouldn’t be too surprised. While broadband internet is now the norm, there are sadly still some people who don’t have access to it, namely those who live rural areas. Of course, they could get satellite internet, but it’s really expensive for the speeds you get, and most people just end up going with dial-up for the time being.
AOL ended the year with a total revenue of $2.2 billion, and an operating income of $1.2 billion ($68.2 million for the quarter). As far as net income, the company scored $35.7 million for the quarter, and $1.05 billion for the fiscal year. It’s a little scary to hear that AOL’s revenue depended on subscriptions for 29% of it, but advertising made up a whopping 68% of their revenue, so they probably don’t have anything to worry about.
AOL dial-up business brings in $174 million in Q4 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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