Rogers has reported that during its summer quarter, and the introduction of Apple’s iPhone 3G – 255,000 units were sold between July 11th and the end of September. As competitors feel the massive impact on losing portions of their customer base, Rogers likens itself to a smaller AT&T.
Despite friction between would-be iPhone users and wireless telecom giant Rogers prior to the iPhone 3G launch, many customers have opted for data plans, which Rogers is reporting has increased the company’s “average income per user.” Apple’s coveted device helped the company propel its net subscriber additions to 191,000.
AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone here in the United States, has seen its profit and user base skyrocket since launching the original iPhone. Most recently, AT&T broke its own record with iPhone 3G activations.
Rogers’ exclusive deal to carry the iPhone 3G in Canada is having a serious impact on its rivals. None of which happen to run a GSM cellular network (like AT&T’s), which would be compatible with Apple’s iPhone. Very similar to what is happening here in the states (only a smaller scale), roughly 33% of Rogers’ new customers are converting from other carriers.
The damage done to rivals should be manifested in results over the next few days, according to estimates by Desjardins Securities analyst Joseph MacKay. He anticipates that Bell Canada’s subscriber adds will have plummeted from 137,000 in the spring to 85,000 in the summer as a result of potential customers either staying with or switching to Rogers. Telus will have fared better but should still have dipped eight percent year over year to 125,000 new customers in the period.
Both Bell and Telus have faced a similar situation to those of American providers Sprint and Verizon over the course of the summer, with few direct alternatives to the iPhone on their own networks. Both launched the Samsung Instinct and the HTC Touch Diamond in the summer but haven’t reported iPhone-level sales for any one device.
Long term, most of the carriers unable to run the iPhone (because of their network), should be moving over to Long Term Evolution standard for 4G, leaving CDMA behind for good. While the likes of Verizon and Sprint are currently unable to handle Apple’s iPhone, what the future holds for all companies has yet to be determined. Be sure to check out our iPhone Worldmap to get an overview on Apple’s global expansion efforts with the iPhone.
