Sprint Wireless Attracts 1.5 Million iPhone Users In Q2, 2012

Sprint Wireless released Q2 2012 earnings on Thursday which revealed 1.5 million iPhone sales. According to the report 40 percent of the quarter’s iPhone sales were new post-paid subscriptions. The report matches much of the wireless carriers Q1 2012 report which also claimed 1.5 million iPhone sales of which 44 percent were new wireless subscribers.

While those numbers are significant for the wireless carrier which has suffered horrible user churn in the past it still lags far behind AT&T Wireless which sold 3.7 million iPhones in the June quarter and 5.5 million in the first quarter and Verizon which sold 2.7 million iPhones down from 3.2 million in the first quarter.

Analysts largely expected an iPhone sales dip as the iPhone 4S is nearly one year old while Samsung’s Galaxy S III is much newer and features the more popular Google Android OS. Sales will likely pick up once again when the iPhone 5 debuts.

Overall Sprint Wireless currently manages 56 million subscriber accounts and suffered a net loss of $1.4 billion or 46 cents per share. Despite retaining users Sprint’s losses increased compared to Q1 in which it reported an $847 million loss at 28 cents per share. Sprint Wireless witnessed its current losses largely because of subsidies which grew to $1.5 billion. The iPhone carries with it a higher subsidy rate because of Apple’s higher selling price to carriers.

Overall Sprint Wireless experienced an operating loss of $629 million.

Despite iPhone related losses Sprint added 442,000 post-paid subscribers, up 68% from Q1 which may be reason enough to place much of its hopes on the September or October release of the iPhone 5.