AT&T (NYSE: T) might not be the biggest wireless carrier in subscribers anymore, but it is the leader in smartphone users. The carrier captured twice as many smartphones than any other U.S. carrier, AT&T announced today based on comScore’s research. According to comScore’s M:Metrics, A&T had 11.8 million smartphone customers in March, more than double the 5.1 million customers of the combined Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Alltel and totaling 47% of all U.S. smartphone customers. Sprint (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) trailed the top two with 4 and 3.7 million smartphone users, respectively.
AT&T is lumping what it calls ‘quick-messaging phones’ into the smartphone category under the overarching label of ‘integrated devices.’ Smartphones and quick-messaging phones together have more than doubled in subscribers over the past year, the company said. Now, nearly 32% of its postpaid customers use an integrated device.
The carrier attributed its smartphone success to its 3G network, 20,000 U.S. Wi-Fi hotspots, choice of handsets and smartphone-driven advertising campaigns, including plans for an upcoming one highlighting its smartphone leadership. AT&T also pointed out that it was the first carrier to offer BlackBerry and a Windows Mobile and Symbian smartphone. To date, it offers 5 different open operating systems, 9 Wi-Fi capable devices and 5 touch-screen phones. Unlike Verizon, a CDMA operator, its GSM phones work across the globe.
AT&T also singled out a few devices, the BlackBerry Bold and Nokia E71x in particular, as important to its smartphone strategy. What it didn’t mention, however, is that – like most wireless trends these days – its smartphone success was in part driven by Apple.
Apple shipped 3.8 million iPhones 3G in the first quarter of the year, capturing 1.5% of the market. The popular handset was surpassed by Verizon’s BlackBerry Curve in Q1, but it still made up more than 50% of AT&T’s smartphone sales. AT&T said in Q1 that it activated 1.6 million iPhones for the quarter, bringing its total iPhone base to 6 million. The carrier might be trying to establish itself as the smartphone leader without the iPhone because it could lose exclusivity of the iconic device come 2011. AT&T has also made statements this week that the iPhone is not in fact a smartphone. It labeled it a mini-computer to help its cause against SlingPlayer, but an AT&T spokeswoman confirmed that the iPhone was considered in its smartphone numbers.
Still, while it might not have gotten the recognition it deserves from AT&T today, I wouldn’t feel too bad – the iPhone’s not exactly hurting for media attention.
Not mentioning Apple is simply trying to distance themselves from Apple… this would mean that they have a business strategy that does not include Apple in the future…. Hello, Verizon, I might suspect…