Reporting its fourth quarter 2011 earnings, T-Mobile USA blamed its large postpaid customer losses on the launch of the iPhone 4S. The carrer saw a contract customer loss of 706,000 during the period, a higher number of losses than was seen in the prior quarter and nearly double the total from the year-ago quarter.
“Branded contract losses improved through the third quarter of 2011, however the launch of the iPhone 4S reversed this trend to a branded contract customer loss of 706,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011”, the announcement states. “The sequential and year-on-year increase in customer losses is a result of intense competitive pressure from the launch of the iPhone 4S by three nationwide competitors in the fourth quarter of 2011… Sequentially, the decline in branded net contract customers was driven primarily by higher branded contract deactivations as a result of the launch of the iPhone 4S by three nationwide competitors in mid-October”.
T-Mobile saw its proposed sale to AT&T terminated late last year.
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