AT&T has announced its Q3 earnings and stats, detailing another impressive quarter of mobile data revenue growth and overall smartphone activations.
The number two carrier said its mobile data revenues grew 30.5 percent year-over-year to $4.8B as subscribers on data plans increased by 21.5 percent over the past 12 months. AT&T added 2.6 million wireless subscribers in the third quarter and now serves 92.8 million users, crediting the leap to accelerating smartphone adoption, increases in prepaid subscribers and growth across a host of connected devices including ereaders, security systems, fleet management and GPS units.
In all, AT&T activated 8 million postpaid integrated devices during the period; 57.3 percent of its 67.7 million postpaid subscribers now own integrated devices, up from 42.0 percent a year earlier. In terms of its shining star, the carrier activated 5.2 million iPhones in the third quarter of 2010, a whopping 62 percent higher than the 3.2 million quarterly activation record set in Q2. In total, the carrier achieved revenues of $31.6B, up 2.5 percent quarter-over-quarter and increasing 2.8 percent year-over-year.
Q4 2010 is likely the last year AT&T will enjoy exclusivity on iPhone sales, so it should interesting to see how the loss will affect future subscriber and earnings numbers. With Verizon likely gaining a CDMA version of the iPhone, as well as iPad-suited mobile data plans, AT&T will obviously take a huge hit. The question remains, however, as to how AT&T will counter the blow. 2011 should prove very interesting as the nation’s top two carriers continue to fight for smartphone dominance.
