Previewed at WWDC, launching in the fall.
U.S. Cellular to Begin Offering Apple Products Later This Year
As part of its quarterly earnings release today, U.S. Cellular announced that it will begin carrying Apple products later this year, although the carrier offered no additional details on its plans.
Carriers offering the iPhone generally see short-term hits to their profitability due to upfront subsidies that are typical in the U.S. wireless industry, although many carriers have viewed that impact as acceptable in order to gain access to the popular device. Apple has also routinely demanded that carriers commit to purchasing certain numbers of iPhones over a period of years, something that some carriers have been reluctant to do for fear of being stuck with unsold devices.
U.S. Cellular, which has 5.7 million subscribers, may become the last of the top U.S. carriers to offer the iPhone. Major carriers Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile all now offer the device, while Leap Wireless/Cricket began selling the iPhone last year. MetroPCS is also likely to begin offering the iPhone following its merger with T-Mobile, although an offering is said to not be imminent. The last of the top carriers, TracFone, also offers the iPhone through its Straight Talk partnership with Walmart.
Update 9:37 AM: U.S. Cellular has issued an additional statement to AllThingsD:
"We have a number of strategies in progress to increase loyalty and attract more customers, including our announcement today that we will begin offering Apple products later this year. By further strengthening our device portfolio, we'll give consumers another great reason to switch to U.S. Cellular, and enable our existing customers to choose from an even wider variety of iconic smartphones, and enjoy the outstanding U.S. Cellular customer experiences they deserve. Our smartphone penetration is currently 43 percent of core market customers and growing quickly. We believe there will be strong, ongoing demand for smartphones and data products and services from our customers, and we have significant room for growth in this area.The move marks a reversal for U.S. Cellular, which said in late 2011 that it had declined to carry the iPhone due to "unacceptable" terms being offered by Apple.
Carriers offering the iPhone generally see short-term hits to their profitability due to upfront subsidies that are typical in the U.S. wireless industry, although many carriers have viewed that impact as acceptable in order to gain access to the popular device. Apple has also routinely demanded that carriers commit to purchasing certain numbers of iPhones over a period of years, something that some carriers have been reluctant to do for fear of being stuck with unsold devices.
U.S. Cellular, which has 5.7 million subscribers, may become the last of the top U.S. carriers to offer the iPhone. Major carriers Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile all now offer the device, while Leap Wireless/Cricket began selling the iPhone last year. MetroPCS is also likely to begin offering the iPhone following its merger with T-Mobile, although an offering is said to not be imminent. The last of the top carriers, TracFone, also offers the iPhone through its Straight Talk partnership with Walmart.
Update 9:37 AM: U.S. Cellular has issued an additional statement to AllThingsD:
We will be selling iPhone products later this year. We don’t have any additional information at this time but will follow up closer to the launch. The deal we’ve made to sell iPhone products is right for our business today, because we now have an LTE solution that enables a successful partnership with Apple.Update 10:27 AM: Dow Jones Newswires reports that U.S. Cellular has committed to purchase $1.2 billion worth of iPhones over a three-year period.
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67 months ago
"Top" US carriers. US Cellular? The same US Cellular that left Chicago despite having stadium rights there?
Was about the say the same thing. I'm not even a USCC customer and I am appalled by their actions here. Selling their customers to Sprint, and forcing everyone to get a new phone (due to incompatibility, even though both are CDMA). Talk about a company giving the middle finger to its partner stores, customers, and customer choice in the midwest.
67 months ago
My wife has US Cellular, and in our travels it has consistently had much better coverage than AT&T or Verizon.
67 months ago
This is huge for the mid-west. I don't personally use US Cellular, but my office does! This could be good for us.
67 months ago
I left US Cellular in 2009 for the iPhone. They are the best carrier in Iowa hands down, as far as coverage goes. Their plans used to not have free roaming though, so we'll see. I can predict we'll be switching back to US cellular and ditching AT&T when they get these.
67 months ago
The move marks a reversal for U.S. Cellular, which said in late 2011 that it had declined to carry the iPhone due to "unacceptable" terms being offered by Apple.
2011 is the year we switched to AT&T and this was the reason.
We'd been customers with US Cellular for about 11 years and had pretty good customer service, coverage, etc.. but their smartphone selection had been abysmal for the longest time. Of course when we switched to AT&T they started offering more advanced Android phones because Mary N. Dillon had taken over.
67 months ago
According to the OP, U.S. Cellular said "We will be selling iPhone products later this year," and looking at their press release, I see it only mentions "Apple products." (emphasis mine)
I don't know about you, but my money is on them selling leftover iPhone bumpers. :p
I know you are being sarcastic about the bumper comment, but I think you and other people are wondering what "Apple products" means and if it implies the iPhone. Later in the conference call the CEO, Mary Dillon, state that they are hoping to have lower churn when they offer the iPhone. So, they will definitely be carrying the iPhone, but maybe the iPad too.
67 months ago
You know, I seem to recall hearing a US Cellular radio commercial that said that anyone that wanted an iPhone was stupid.
That must be their target market now.
Anyone know where we can find a transcript or recording of that commercial?
That must be their target market now.
Anyone know where we can find a transcript or recording of that commercial?
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