Android Keeps On "Winning"
AT&T says that 7.6 million iPhones were activated last quarter, and 9.4 million smartphones overall were sold. Impressive numbers, but be careful.
As Eric Slivka of MacRumor notes, this doesn’t necessarily mean that 7.6 million of the 9.4 million smartphones sold were iPhones because “activated” can include older devices given away or sold through a third-party.
Still, AT&T says the “majority” of iPhone activations were of the iPhone 4S (which was new). And it’s probably safe to assume that overall, the vast majority of the activations were sales. If that is indeed the case, that means the iPhone outsold all Android phones combined on AT&T’s network.
AT&T does say that they set a sales record for Android devices (as they did with iPhone). But they only give the vague, Amazon-like: “more than twice as many Android smartphones were sold versus the fourth quarter a year ago”.
AT&T’s statement reads a lot like, “we love you too Android, we just love iPhone more”.
Two Buck Chuck
I give AT&T a lot of shit (and rightfully so for jackassery moves like this). But it’s important to remember that their main competitor, Verizon, is also a sleazy carrier. Today brings the perfect example of that.
The largest carrier in the U.S. is apparently about to start charging a $2 fee if you pay your bill online or over the phone, sources tell Droid Life. Yes, they’re charging you to pay your bill. The only way to avoid the charge is to set up automatic payments which some people, like myself, don’t want to do.
What a total shitbag move. Verizon is actually incentivizing many people not to pay their bill. Pure greed.
Update 12/30: That didn’t last long.
AT&T’s Unlimited Data*
*at the slowest, shittiest speeds they can possibly provide
If you live in a big city like New York or San Francisco, I can’t imagine why you’re still using AT&T. Seriously, just switch to Verizon, it’s wonderful. But millions are sticking with AT&T and as a present this Christmas, they’re getting flaming bags of shit sent their way.
I’ve had at least a dozen friends in the past couple of weeks says that they’ve received messages from the carrier saying their service will soon be throttled. Why? AT&T claims they’re using 12 times more data than the “average smartphone user”, and in an effort to maintain their network, they’ll start reducing the speed of their data.
It’s complete and utter bullshit.
These are people who pay for unlimited data (which AT&T has since discontinued, but they were all grandfathered in). AT&T doesn’t want to face the backlash if they kick them out of those contracts, so instead they’re taking more subtle, slimy maneuvers to make sure they can screw over long-standing customers.
Great headline/picture combo. The “fan” in the picture shows just how much he loves AT&T. Except that he’s in Japan. Where they don’t have AT&T. Nice work, CNN.
Q:Something I've been wondering about a long time. The new iPhone drops more calls than the old one. Arrington is using a pre-paid AT&T phone and has "rock solid" reception (per his post). My old AT&T phone works in my basement with full bars and my iPhone does not. But in all your writing, you've never bothered to consider that maybe, just maybe, Apple makes great software and computers yet, with only 4 years in the game....bad phones? In your words, AT&T is too scared to defend itself......
Anonymous
There is no question that the iPhone is not a great phone — it’s a great device, not a great phone. In the U.S., hopefully soon we’ll see how bad it is compared to other smartphones when it gets on at least one more network.
I never seem to hear too many complaints from countries not covered by AT&T though. And when I was in Japan a few months ago, the iPhone (3GS, at the time) worked great — much better than it ever has on AT&T stateside.
But yes, AT&T is also scared shitless to defend itself.
Love The iPhone 4, Shit On AT&T
After reading all of the reviews of the iPhone 4, the major takeaways:
- All agree it’s the best smartphone ever.
- All agree that FaceTime is awesome.
- The consensus on the battery life ranges from much improved to hugely improved.
- The thing seems to be indestructible.
- AT&T sucks.
The last point is rather humorous. At least 2 of the 5 reviews (WSJ and Boing Boing) brutally rip apart AT&T. The others have nothing nice to say.
I’m seriously starting to wonder if it’s not in AT&T’s best interest to move on from iPhone exclusivity. It’s gotten to the point now where it’s not at all odd to see major publications take a shit on their brand in a high-profile review.
After reading all the complaints for the past 3 years, I can’t believe anyone would actually sign up for AT&T unless they were doing so just so they could get an iPhone. AT&T’s inability to handle the device has poisoned the entire well.
As soon as the exclusivity ends and people start jumping ship to the other carriers, I bet AT&T sees a major upswing in network reliability. For three years now they’ve proven that they can’t (or won’t) take the steps to fix the network. So the only option is to have the users fix it for them — by leaving, and reducing the strain.
But it may not matter at that point.
When the iPhone exclusivity ends — and it will end — they’re going to be left with one of the most destroyed brand names in history at this rate.
Naturally, AT&T doesn’t want to lose paying customers (and the new ones that will sign up thanks to the new iPhone), but they may be selling off the future to reap the rewards in the present.
See the rock? See the hard place? That’s AT&T smack dab in the middle. Feel free to take a shit on them. Everyone else is.
How AT&T Plans to Lift Its Image Via Social-Media - Advertising Age
One vocal and visible critic of AT&T service, TechCrunch blogger MG Siegler, thinks acknowledging holes in service and outreach might be able to quell at least some backlash for the brand. “It’s enough for a certain percentage of people,” he said. “A lot of people complain about Comcast, but when they get someone person-to-person reaching out, a lot of people feel better, even if it doesn’t actually serve long-term problems.”
In other words, trick people into thinking your service doesn’t suck.
iPhone 4 Order Security Breach Exposes Private Information
Despite entering their username and password, the AT&T system would take them to another user account.
If this is true, alongside the colossal fuck-up that has been the iPhone 4 pre-order, and given the recent iPad info leak incident, and given that, you know, AT&T just doesn’t work most of the time, Apple seriously needs to rip-up the exclusivity agreement and move its device to other carriers ASAP.
AT&T is far too big of a liability in just about every regard now. Apple is a company that prides itself on customer experience — and yet they’ve tethered themselves indefinitely to a company that is perhaps the biggest customer nightmare of all time.
AT&T makes sweeping changes to data plans -- Engadget
My initial reaction would be outrage that AT&T is killing off unlimited data plans, but I’m so happy that tethering is finally coming to the iPhone (a year late) that I almost don’t care.
The pricing does seem reasonable for most iPhone users, but I’m sure I’ll go over some months, so I’ll be paying more.
I think the killing off of unlimited data for the iPad is particularly lame — this was a huge point Apple touted leading up to launch. I’m sure they’re not happy about that.
From Engadget:
We spoke to Mark Collins — AT&T Mobility’s senior vice president of data and voice products — about the changes for a few clarifications on the company’s strategy, and he made it crystal clear that the concept of unlimited data is a thing in the past.
It was fun while it lasted.
AT&T to offer iPhone insurance for $13.99/mo « Boy Genius Report
So, over the life of your 2-year contract, this would cost you $335.76. Or, more than the iPhone itself. Even the expensive model.
Oh, and you’ll still have to pay a deductible if you do lose the thing ($199 for a 32GB iPhone 3GS).
God I hate AT&T — they should really call this option the “subsidy recouper,” because that’s basically what this is.
