Sprint CEO Says iPhone Customers Are More Profitable Than Other Smartphone Customers

[Maura]

Boy Genius Report has a story today on an interview on Mobile World Live with Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, where he talks all about the importance of the iPhone to Sprint. Although Sprint’s taking up of the iPhone has been criticized by some industry commentators, Hesse is confident that it was the right move for the company, and that having iPhone customers on board is very much a plus. “Subsidies are heavy for the iPhone,” he told Mobile World. “This is the reason why a high percentage of new customers is important, but iPhone customers have a lower level of churn and they actually use less data on average than a high-end 4G Android device. So from a cost point of view and a customer lifetime value perspective, they’re more profitable than the average smartphone customer.”

Hesse went on to say that iPhone sales have “exceeded expectations” for Sprint, and that the company is actually managing to poach customers from AT&T and Verizon. “Four out of every 10 iPhones we sold are for new customers. That’s roughly double the rate of either of our competitors, so we’re pulling a lot of customers from our competitors,” he told Mobile World.

Source: Sprint CEO defends company's decision to bet it all on Apple's iPhone