World of Apple

Yesterday AT&T released an earnings report for its fourth quarter of 2009. In the report the official carrier of the iPhone in the U.S. reported that it had activated 3.1 million iPhones during the quarter, just shy of last quarters record of 3.2 million.

AT&T added another 2.7 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, with a 2009 total of 7.3 million bringing the carrier to 85.1 million subscribers in total.

“We had a solid 2009 and led the industry in the biggest growth driver — mobile broadband,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive officer. “Looking ahead, customer demand for connectivity, particularly mobile broadband and IP data, continues to be strong, and AT&T is well positioned at the center of this growth. Our fundamental outlook for the business is quite positive.

“Our significant investments in IP infrastructure — both mobile and fixed — provide the next-generation growth platforms for us,” Stephenson said. “Our leadership in mobile broadband will continue to set us apart as we roll out even faster 3G speeds this year and begin deploying 4G capabilities in 2011. Our IP-based U-verse service continues to scale nicely, improving our consumer revenue profile. And we continue to see solid growth from mobile broadband and IP data services in the business segment.”

AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was actually down on the previous years coming in at $30.9 billion compared with $31.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Boy Genius Report has today briefly noted that AT&T and Apple are “contemplating” launching an 8GB iPhone 3GS for just $99.

AT&T and Apple currently offer an older 8GB iPhone 3G but this move would represent a complete departure from the iPhone 3G.

During today’s third quarter 2009 earnings report from official iPhone carrier AT&T the company revealed that 3.2 million iPhones were activated during the quarter. This figure represents the highest quarterly total of iPhone activations with the carrier.

AT&T’s third-quarter integrated device growth included 3.2 million iPhone activations, also the company’s largest quarterly total to date, with nearly 40 percent of the activations for customers who were new to AT&T.

AT&T also reported that iPhoned accounted for 74% of total postpaid activations of “integrated devices” offering either a physical or virtual keyboard in addition to voice capabilities. 40% of iPhone activations were from customers who were new to AT&T.

AT&T received two million subscribers during the quarter, the highest third quarter in the carriers history.

AT&T will today begin rolling about MMS for iPhone customers in the U.S., the patch which will enable the service will be available from iTunes and will allow iPhone users to begin sending and receiving photos and videos.

The rollout will begin late on Friday morning, Pacific time.

MMS Update: We know you’ve been eager for this service so we wanted to offer a quick update on the launch plans for MMS on Friday, Sept. 25. Late morning, Pacific Time, on Friday, the new carrier settings update enabling MMS should be live and ready to download through iTunes. We’ll provide the steps and all of the details you need right here at that time.

Additional reports earlier this week suggest that AT&T is nervous about the launch of MMS having done some preliminary testing the carrier is said to have suffered strain on servers and infrastructure.

AT&T has announced that MMS will finally be available to US iPhone owners on September 25th, the official news comes after a report that Apple could release iPhone OS 3.1 next week. Despite the announcement of MMS availability AT&T still has no news on tethering support only saying that it will be offered “in the future”.

MMS will be enabled for iPhone 3G and 3GS owners on that day via a software update.

In the press release AT&T also makes mention that it is constantly striving to improve network capacity.

In addition to Apple answering the FCC’s questions regarding the supposed rejection of Google Voice apps from the iPhone app store.

In Apple’s response the company said that it has not rejected the official Google Voice app but “continues to study it”. Apple’s main concerns lie with how the app contrasts with “the iPhone’s distinctive user experience” and “disables Apple’s Visual Voicemail.”

AT&T’s (below) response clearly states that the official iPhone carrier had no role in Apple’s consideration of Google Voice or related applications. The Apple and AT&T deal prohibits the operation of VoIP calls on AT&T’s network, but AT&T plans to “take a fresh look” at authorizing VoIP apps that run on 3G.

Google’s response is strange completely redacted as seen below.

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Following the rejection and removal of Google Voice apps from the App Store the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has now begun an investigation into the process involved in app approvals and what role AT&T plays in the process.

To offer some background, Google Voice is a service originally known as Grand Central, at the most basic function Google Voice offers a single phone number of your choice that will ring multiple phones, e.g. work, home, mobile, etc. Along with this unified number there is also a unified voice mail system, accessible via the web. Google Voice also allows listening in on voice mails as they’re being left, setting custom away messages for different callers, blocking of telemarketers and many more features.

Several third party Google Voice apps had been available on the App Store for some months and Google had submitted the official app for review not long ago. The apps main functions are to facilitate dialling out of the phone using the Google Voice number, sending SMS messages, showing a call history and access to the online voicemail system.

On July 27 Apple rejected Google’s official iPhone app and removed all the previously approved apps from the App Store causing uproar amongst the media and iPhone owners. At the time it was unclear whether the decision was Apple’s or AT&T’s, it was later revealed that AT&T was most likely behind the ban.

Today it has been revealed that the U.S Federal Communications Commission has taken interest in the matter. In letters sent to Google, AT&T and Apple the FCC makes mention to an ongoing case started by Skype which questions wireless open access and also another case regarding handset exclusivity.

All the letters as well as the document containing details about RM-11361 can be seen below.

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During its fiscal Q209 results AT&T credited the iPhone once again with driving revenue for the company, currently the iPhone makes up just under half of AT&T’s total revenue.

During the quarter AT&T activated 2.4 million iPhone subscribers, 34 percent of them were new to AT&T. According to AT&T’s figures this makes the iPhone responsible for more than 60 percent of carriers 1.4 million subscriber increase in the quarter.

The release of the iPhone 3GS dented AT&T’s bottom line slightly with the carrier subsiding each device by up to $400. ”Increased operating expenses in the second quarter of 2009, in part, reflect volume-based acquisition costs associated with the success of the iPhone 3GS launch,” read AT&T’s report, ”AT&T’s iPhone customer characteristics are attractive, with ARPUs significantly higher than and churn rates well below the company’s postpaid averages; as a result, robust iPhone demand drives strong recurring revenues and substantial long-term value.”

In related news AT&T CEO Randal Stephenson said during the Fortune: Brainstorm tech conference that, “There will be a day when [we] are not exclusive with the iPhone”. Stephenson failed to comment on Apple and AT&Ts relationship.

MacDailyNews has republished an internal AT&T memo which states that the iPhone 3GS launch day created the best sales day ever in AT&T’s retail stores.

1. Fact of the Week: On June 25, the day Michael Jackson died, text messages sent on our network spiked at 65,000 messages per second — the largest volume ever recorded — surpassing events like American Idol voting and New Year’s Eve, when millions of our customers wish their friends and family a happy new year via text.”

2. “iLaunch day 2009 was one for the record books, as AT∓T customers scrambled to get their hands on the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet.

Here’s a look at some of the milestones we achieved:

* Best-ever sales day in our retail stores
* Second-largest traffic day in our retail stores
* Most transactions processed via our IT systems in a single day
* Most upgrade eligibility checks in a single day
* Largest order day in att.com history
* Largest features sales day in att.com history

On this year’s launch day, iPhone sales exceeded sales recorded on 2008’s iPhone launch day, Black Friday 2008 and Dec. 26, 2008 — all heavy-volume sales days. In fact, this year we surpassed 2008’s launch day sales at about noon Central time, and sustained our previous peak hour record, also set in 2008, for 11 straight hours.

AT&T has put together a guide on how to obtain an iPhone 3GS tomorrow. The iPhone 3GS will be available at over 2,200 AT&T locations on launch day as well as the 211 Apple Retail Stores in the USA.

All AT&T stores will open at 7 a.m. local time to serve pre-order customers but be sure to check your confirmation email as some units are not due to arrive until after June 19. Anyone who hasn’t pre-ordered can turn up during normal business hours and will be served on a “first come, first served” basis.

Customers new to AT&T who wish to transfer their current number to AT&T should bring a copy of a bill from their current carrier. Customers will be asked to provide account information as it appears on record with their current provider, including:

• Account number
• Name of the account holder
• Account holder’s Social Security Number or Tax ID
• Billing address
• PIN or password (if applicable)

AT&T will initially only sell one iPhone 3GS to every new customer.