The Magical iPhone Helps Sprint Earn More Revenue and Customers Despite Losses

[Maura]

Mixed news for Sprint today, as reported on by AllThingsD’s Ina Fried, with the company announcing a big net loss for the fourth quarter of 2011, but increased revenue and customers. As far as the bad(ish) news goes, Sprint reported that it lost $1.3 billion or 43 cents per share on revenue of $8.7 billion for the three months ending December 31, according to Fried. This is up from a loss of $929 million or 31 cents per share on revenue of $8.3 billion for the same period in 2010. But now for the good news, as Sprint also reported that it gained more than 1.6 million customers in the fourth quarter of 2011, including prepaid, wholesale and contract. The company also revealed during its earnings conference call that it sold 1.8 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, which was the first quarter in which it had the iPhone, with 40% of those sales being to new customers. In total over the year, the company added more than 5 million net new customers and grew wireless service revenue by more than 5 percent, said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, who is overall very happy with Sprint’s performance, singling out the iPhone for particular praise:

“Our strong fourth quarter performance illustrates the power of matching iconic devices like the iPhone with our simple, unlimited plans and industry-leading customer experience,” said Hesse.

Source: Sprint Posts Wide Loss, Big Gain in Revenue and Customers - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD
Sprint Sells 1.8 Million iPhones in Initial Quarter - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD

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[PapaNoHair]

Not much good news if the bottom line is more losses then before. Sad because I really like Sprint - but wonder how much longer they can hang on.