Sprint: iPhone Owners Will Eventually Make Us The Most Money

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Despite strong iPhone sales, Sprint reported a net loss of $1.2 billion last quarter.
The iPhone 4S launched on Sprint on October 14, 2011.

Sprint took a huge hit when it brought on the iPhone. While Apple’s smartphone has undoubtedly been a godsend for the smaller carrier, Sprint signed on to pay over $15 billion in iPhone subsidies over the next four years. Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse even took a $3.25 million pay cut to appease shareholders after his company agreed to the pricey iPhone deal with Apple. You’d think that Hesse would be a little peeved.

He’s not. On the contrary, Hesse reiterated today that he believes Sprint’s iPhone customers will become its most profitable subscribers. The only catch is that Sprint won’t make money on the iPhone until at least 2015.

“We’re very happy with it,” Hesse said of Sprint’s deal with Apple, during the company’s annual shareholders meeting Tuesday. “Carrying the iPhone will be quite profitable.”

“We believe in the long term,” Hesse said. “And over time we will make more money on iPhone customers than we will on other customers.”

Finally, a carrier that makes sense.

Hesse said back in March that Sprint subscribers who own iPhones are likely to be the most loyal. Unlike AT&T and Verizon, Sprint plans to offer unlimited data even when the iPhone gets LTE data speeds. Sprint is actively working on deploying its LTE network by 2013, and Apple is expected to introduce a 4G iPhone later this year.

Source: AllThingsD

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