Carly may have to trade in her motorcycle for a moped unless T-Mobile can stop bleeding customers. The culprit they’re blaming for their loss of customers in the 3rd quarter? The iPhone 5, or rather the lack thereof.
The No. 4 U.S. carrier said it lost 492,000 contract customers in the third quarter. That’s down slightly from the 557,000 it lost in the prior quarter, but more than the 389,000 it lost a year ago. The company blamed the iPhone 5 launch in part for the continued defections.
All three of T-Mobile’s major competitors, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint sell the iPhone, while T-Mobile goes wanting.
Total revenue for the company dropped 6.4%, to $4.9 billion, as higher device sales partly offset the 8.7% drop in service revenue.
The in-the-pink network lost 492,000 contract customers, which was down from a 557,000 loss in the June quarter, but up over the year-ago quarter when it reported a loss of 389,000 contracts.
A press release from T-Mobile directly points a finger at the release of the iPhone 5 as a factor in the exodus of their customer base.
