AT&T Gives First Report on iPhone Subscriptions

AT&T has revealed the first details on how many people have signed up to use Apple's iPhone. However, this announcement came as part of this carrier's quarterly financial report, so it only covers the first 1.5 days this smartphone was available.

The iPhone debuted on June 29, and AT&T's most recent fiscal quarter ended June 30, so this carrier is currently only willing to say how many new iPhone new subscribers there were during the first 36 hours it was on the market: 146,000.

Good or Bad?

So far, investors don't seem to be taking this as good news. In the wake of AT&T's announcement, shares of both Apple and AT&T are down, with the iPhone's maker off about 2.7%.

People were clearly expecting there to have been more new subscribers. However, it's possible those who are displeased with the 146,000 figure aren't taking all the factors into account.

For one thing, it doesn't even count the whole first weekend the iPhone was on sale. Sunday of that weekend was on July 1, and therefore not included in this number.

Also, because of a huge initial rush, many people who had bought an iPhone had trouble getting their subscription in the first few days.

What's inarguably good news is another statistic from AT&T: about 40% of the iPhone subscribers are new to this carrier.

What About July?

AT&T didn't say how many new iPhone subscriptions there have been during the month of July. Richard G. Lindner, AT&T’s chief financial officer, did say that sales of this smartphone "continue to be strong in July with store traffic above historical levels."

It probably won't until after the end of this carrier's current quarter that it gives numbers on iPhone sales for July, August, and September.

Another iPhone?

The number of iPhone subscribers could get a boost from another direction: there are persistent rumors that Apple intends to introduce later this year a smaller, less expensive version.

This device, typically referred to as the iPhone Nano, is supposedly going to be basically an iPod with voice capabilities, eschewing the mobile Internet capabilities of the current model.

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