That’s because of the 1.8 million iPhones the carrier sold, 40 percent of them went to new customers that came to the carrier for the iPhone. We knew the iPhone was fairly popular on Sprint’s network — the carrier sold out of its stock of the iPhone 4S the first day it was available back in October.

Although 1.8 million iPhones may pale in comparison to its competitors, it was Sprint’s first quarter selling the iPhone, after all. AT&T sold 7.6 million iPhones during the quarter, but the carrier had a nearly four-year head start on Sprint. Verizon, meanwhile, sold 4.2 million iPhones last quarter.

While new customers may be coming in the door, it’s still costing Spring some extra dough. The carrier said Wednesday that the costs of subsidies it paid during the quarter went up from $1.2 billion to $1.7 billion in the last year, which was ”primarily due to the launch of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, which on average carry a higher subsidy rate per handset as compared to other handsets.”

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It probably shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. After all, most expect Apple’s next iPhone to support 4G LTE technology, which runs at least in part on AWS spectrum. Verizon has especially invested heavily in AWS to enable its LTE network, planning to spend about $4 billionto buy airwaves from the cable providers. But Ray’s definite statements go a long way toward confirming Apple will at least have the building blocks of LTE support in place with its next-generation iPhone. Update: T-Mobile reached out to let us know that Ray in fact has not seen Apple’s specific roadmap, but that he believes “Apple has the option to move to AWS with the roadmap of chipsets on the market today.”

That isn’t a guarantee that T-Mobile will be an iPhone carrier with the next iPhone’s launch. Ray was careful to note in talking with Cnet that Apple could easily not take advantage of the device’s hardware compatibility and skip reaching an agreement with T-Mobile. Also, AWS antennas in an iPhone 5 might just be needed to support LTE, so there’s no guarantee that Apple will extend its use to 3G networks like the HSPA+ network that T-Mobile employs. But adding AWS compatibility has implications beyond just T-Mobile.

In the U.S., other big players that use AWS spectrum include Cricket and MetroPCS, both of which use the band for their CDMA networks. Cricket reaches around 7 million customers, while MetroPCS’s network covers 8.9 million subscribers. In Canada, the other major market where AWS spectrum is used, upstart low-cost alternatives to the big three, Wind Mobile and Mobility, have AWS networks, and major providers Bell and Rogers are using it to build out their own next-gen LTE networks.

Apple simplified its product offerings with the iPhone 4S by including world phone support, providing compatibility with a wide range of spectrums. Adding AWS support would not only put LTE support within reach, it could also potentially open up the iPhone to a whole new segment of customers, should Apple choose to explore 3G support on the AWS band as well.

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In a statement, the company said:

We stopped supporting CarrierIQ with iOS 5 in most of our products and will remove it completely in a future software update. With any diagnostic data sent to Apple, customers must actively opt-in to share this information, and if they do, the data is sent in an anonymous and encrypted form and does not include any personal information. We never recorded keystrokes, messages or any other personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so.

Sprint has admitted to receiving data from CarrierIQ’s software, but it denies using it to track its customers, as has AT&T, which says it uses the information for network management. Verizon, on the other hand, has denied using the software, as has Google on any of the Android phones it makes.

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One of the chief complaints against AT&T for as long as it has had the iPhone has been its tendency to drop calls with alarming frequency. The new study by Metrico, a wireless performance measurement company, indicates that AT&T’s call failure rate of 2.8 percent was actually better than Sprint’s (3.7 percent), though it was worse than Verizon’s (2.1 percent). Metrico tested call performance in five major unnamed U.S. cities it says are “representative” of the overall country, and used more than 6,000 voice calls to get its results.

The iPhone 4S performed poorly in general in terms of call failure rates when compared to the competition in terms of Android and BlackBerry devices, which could be attributable to the fact that it packs both CDMA and GSM support into a device originally designed to work with just one or the other, but did much better than average in terms of data performance.

Data and web browsing was where AT&T really shined. It managed more than double the average download speeds of both Sprint and Verizon, with 3210 Kbps vs. 1071 Kbps for Verizon and 581 Kbps for Sprint. Sprint’s low score echoes user complaints that prompted the network to tell reporters it’s “taking the reports of problems [...] seriously.” It’s no surprise that AT&T dominates when it comes to data scores, since it’s the only iPhone carrier to offer HSPA+ speeds thanks to its upgraded GSM network, which the 4S supports.

Despite the difference on paper, Metrico rated all three major U.S. iPhone carriers very highly in terms of their ability to deliver full data reliably to customer devices. Still, comparative web page load times might give those still deciding between carriers something to think about: AT&T devices loaded pages in 1.29 seconds on average, compared to 2.6 seconds on Verizon and a relatively sluggish 6.44 seconds on Sprint.

Sprint took the lead when it came to voice quality when speaking, however, though AT&T wasn’t far behind. Out of a possible maximum score of five, Sprint ranked 3.95 when speaking, while AT&T was next at 3.85 and Verizon came in third at 3.5. In terms of voice quality when listening, AT&T was highest with 3.82, with Sprint second at 3.72 and Verizon last at 3.55. Metrico uses an algorithm to score call quality objectively.

Metrico stresses that the study isn’t meant to delineate a winner among the three iPhone 4S carriers, and suggests that users will have a different preference based on needs. But in a smartphone market where data and data services are increasingly replacing voice calls both in terms of usage trends among users and revenue drivers for carriers, AT&T’s data performance could actually make it the best among the three for the average smartphone user. That might not be the case for long, however, since a future iPhone could well include LTE support, which is an area where AT&T lags behind Verizon considerably.

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Speaking to MarketWatch, AT&T President of Emerging Devices Glen Lurie said that “churn [the number of customers who cancel their services] has not moved at all.” That’s pretty much in keeping with what we saw in a third-party report from analytics firm Localytics earlier this month.

Lurie went on to praise Apple and its flagship smartphone, noting the record-breaking numbers AT&T saw in terms of iPhone 4S sales so far. AT&T is also still having trouble keeping up with demand, Lurie said, with customers currently facing a week or two delay in order to get their hands on a 4S when ordering from the carrier.

Network speed is one of AT&T’s primary advantages over the competition with the iPhone 4S, and it could be one reason users aren’t eager to switch providers. It’s the only carrier that can offer HSPA+ speeds on the device, and subscribers on Sprint have complained of slow browsing on 3G connections.

Still, AT&T’s competitors also appear to be happy with the iPhone’s sales performance on their networks. Sprint confirmed early on that the iPhone 4 and 4S beat its previous one-day sales record by a wide margin, and Verizon said during its most recent quarterly report that iPhone 4 and 4S sales remain strong. In other words, it doesn’t look like anyone has to lose in order for AT&T to win in this case.

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Localytics found that of the iPhone 4S devices running apps using its popular analytics platform, 56 percent use AT&T for voice and data services, while Verizon comes in second with 32 percent, and Sprint is a distant third with just 12 percent of all iPhone 4S impressions.

Judging by the numbers, Sprint seems to have taken more customers from Verizon than from the market-leading AT&T, since the iPhone 4 split between AT&T and Verizon is 60/40. Localytics points out that the differences may be attributable to the fact that AT&T has a larger pool of existing subscribers who are eligible for contract renewal, and therefore subsidized pricing on iPhone hardware, whereas Verizon’s iPhone customers have just locked in to two-year contracts as of earlier this year, when the iPhone 4 made its debut on the network.

AT&T boasted earlier that it had signed up 1 million iPhone 4S users in just its first four days of availability, more activations than for any previous iPhone launch. During its last quarterly earnings call, Verizon said it activated 2 million iPhones during its last complete fiscal quarter, which is close to the 2.7 million activations AT&T claimed during the same period, but the Localytics data suggests the 4S could be widening the gap once again.

AT&T is also the only U.S. carrier that can offer HSPA+ speeds for the iPhone 4S, since both Verizon and Sprint’s networks use CDMA tech, which doesn’t support the boosted 3G network capabilities. Faster data speeds could be especially attractive to customers considering a device like the iPhone, which has a strong focus on data connectivity, but a lot of AT&T’s advantages at this point can probably still be attributed to its early exclusivity deals and strong existing iPhone customer base.

As we enter the holiday season, which usually see strong numbers in terms of iPhone sales, it’ll be interesting to see how the carrier distribution landscape continues to change.

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The 2 million Verizon iPhones sold actually represents a dip in iPhone activations compared to the previous quarter, but they weren’t alone: AT&T and Apple itself also saw sales of the smartphone drop off as customers were reportedly anticipating the iPhone 4S, which went on sale last week. Last quarter, AT&T sold 3.6 million iPhones compared to Verizon’s 2.3 million, both higher than this quarter’s tallies. But Verizon is closing the gap: Last quarter they trailed Verizon’s iPhone sales by 1.3 million; this quarter they trailed by a mere 700,000. And it should be pointed out that AT&T’s numbers include iPhone 3GS sales as well, which incidentally, are selling really well.

Verizon has been selling the iPhone since February, and while it appears Apple’s smartphone has been a decent tool for acquiring new customers, it has been more effective as a way to upsell its existing customers. Verizon revealed Friday that during the quarter, 20 percent of iPhone customers came to them from a different carrier, and the remaining 80 percent were already Verizon subscribers, according to a Bloomberg report.

Overall, the iPhone continues to help Verizon’s bottom line, but it’s not the sole reason the carrier doubled its overall earnings during the quarter to $1.38 million, from the $659 million it reported a year earlier, when it was iPhone-less. On Friday, it said it sold 5.6 million smartphones during the quarter, half of which were Android phones.

Although it said it “sold out” of iPhone 4S units on the first day it was available, Verizon didn’t offer any further insight into how many of the devices it has sold so far. AT&T said it has activated “more than 1 million” iPhone 4S devices already.

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AT&T sold 4.8 million smartphones during the third quarter, which accounted for an impressive two-thirds of all post-paid sales. Android device sales also more than doubled vs the year-ago quarter, and non-iPhone devices now account for nearly half of AT&T’s smartphone sales.

While the iPhone actually lost ground from the same time the previous year (5.2 million activations during the third quarter 2010), the fact that Apple’s 16-month old iPhone 4 and reduced-priced older models, could still show such high numbers this year vs last when the iPhone 4 would have been only a few months old is very impressive.

It’s also worth noting that the iPhone was still an AT&T exclusive in Sept. 2010, whereas this year, Verizon began selling the device in February. So, to recap, with the addition of another major U.S. carrier as competition, and with hardware that’s more than a year old, iPhone sales on AT&T only slid by 400,000 units. I can’t help but think the brand new iPhone 4S with both its hardware and software improvements could significantly slow the ability of non-iOS smartphones to play catch-up again next quarter.

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Open Signal Maps doesn’t have data on every state (sorry, people of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire). While AT&T took 31 states, Verizon would be fastest for iPhone 4S owners in six states. Sprint didn’t test fastest in any state. At least they’ve got that unlimited data plan going for them?

Open Signal Maps does include the caveat that this is not a comparison of the three carriers’ networks vis-a-vis each other. Rather, this is a test of how the iPhone 4S only operates on each different network. Here’s the explanation:

What’s the difference? Well, the iPhone 4S is a dual-mode phone that supports AT&T’s 3G network, which uses HSPA technology, and Verizon and Sprint’s 3G network, which runs on EVDO. AT&T has recently upgraded their existing HSPA network to HSPA+, which offers almost double the speed of their original 3G network, and the iPhone 4S supports this newly upgraded technology. Verizon and Sprint aren’t actually far behind: have both rolled out next-generation 4G networks, and Verizon’s LTE network in particular was blazing fast in our recent testing. But since the iPhone 4S doesn’t support those networks, they’re not included in our analysis.

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Nikkei Business Online (via TechCrunch) is the source of the report, and also notes that the iPhone 5 will support CDMA as well as GSM, which could open up the possibility that NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile carrier, might also be able to get in on the action sometime down the road. Japan is one of the last major markets where iPhone availability is still limited to one carrier. China, another lucrative market where that’s currently the case, also seems to be on the verge of entering a partnership with a second provider.

A growing trend

Early this year, Apple opened up iPhone sales to a second provider in the U.S. when it introduced the CDMA iPhone 4 on Verizon’s  network. It also started selling the iPhone 4 factory unlocked, so iPhone buyers could take their business (albeit minus 3G speeds) to T-Mobile, which it turns out has a very high number of customers using Apple’s smartphone.

Apple’s trajectory with exclusivity reflects a very smart and elaborate plan which helped make the iPhone the success it is today, and now that exclusive carrier deals are ending, Apple stands ready to reap the rewards it has sown.

Why exclusivity used to matter

In the beginning, exclusivity served to help Apple gain concessions from cellular providers it might otherwise not have been able to negotiate; the iPhone carries no on-device carrier branding, unlike most other phones, and also doesn’t come with a lot of pre-installed bloatware from network operators, the way most non-iOS phones do. Apple essentially cut carriers out of the software and services side of the equation, and even though it had its marquee brand and the success of the iPod backing up the potential success of an iPhone, it wasn’t necessarily a “sure thing.”

Aside from appeasing carriers, exclusivity also made it easier for Apple to guarantee a uniform experience across all its iPhone devices in the early days, but more importantly, it helped promote an air of scarcity around the phone. The iPhone is by no means a limited edition collectible, and Apple was doubtless happy to sell as many as it could produce, but making it available on only one carrier at launch helped it feel like a rarity without any artificial limitations on production numbers.

Why exclusivity no longer matters

But exclusivity has exhausted its early usefulness. Carriers no longer need convincing that Apple’s model can be lucrative for them, even if it does mediate their relationship with customers to some extent. Apple doesn’t need to make concessions to negotiate with carriers anymore; if anything, the reverse is true.

Also, the illusion of scarcity is no longer necessary to make Apple’s products appealing in the eyes of buyers; even after more than a year since introduction, the iPhone 4 is the highest selling Apple smartphone in the U.S. and iPhone owners are the most likely to stay with their handset maker more of any smartphone buyers.

On the flip side, ending exclusivity across most major markets opens Apple’s business to a huge number of new potential customers. Android devices are available in more markets and on more networks than Apple’s iPhone. Anything that helps narrow that gap should help Apple win back market share from Google’s mobile OS.

The staged ending of exclusivity also means that Apple effectively gets a brand new launch every few years. An iPhone might not be totally new anymore, but it’s new to a network’s subscribers if an exclusivity deal was previously in place on a competing network. That will help it appear more attractive to customers tied to their carrier who’ve been watching and waiting as their friends on other networks had all the fun. Restricted access breeds interest; Apple likely anticipated that when it penned the original iPhone exclusivity deals with AT&T and others around the world.

Everybody wins

In the end, we all benefit from Apple’s approach to exclusivity. Consumers get a pure iPhone experience, mostly unadulterated by carrier demands, software and restrictions. Apple gets more control over its product, and a staged global rollout of its handset that keeps momentum rolling in its favor. Carriers, too, benefit. Even those that suffered as rivals rode the early success of the iPhone now get a chance to steal some of that thunder at the expense of their competitors; Verizon has AT&T’s history of sub-par iPhone service in major urban areas to parlay into switched subscribers, for instance.

The iPhone 5 will be a massive hit when it arrives (most likely next month), but if it also comes with expanded availability thanks to the continued erosion of exclusivity deals with carriers worldwide (and at home in the U.S., too), sales of Apple’s latest smartphone should easily smash previous records. This is definitely the one to watch.

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There is still no deal for the carrier to offer the iPhone, Wang Jianzhou told the Wall Street Journal. But the two are talking about 4G.

Bloomberg reports:

“China Mobile and Apple hope to find a solution for close collaboration” on the TD-LTE network and compatible products, Wang said in an interview in Dalian today. “We discussed this issue with Apple. We hope Apple will produce a new iPhone with TD-LTE. We have already got a positive answer from Apple.”

To be clear, TD-LTE is not the same LTE (subscription required) that AT&T and Verizon are deploying here in the U.S. The technology is slightly different, and it will require a device maker to put a separate radio inside the phone to work on the TD-LTE network deployed by China Mobile and a few other carriers, including Clearwire in the U.S. If Sprint were to go along with Clearwire’s TD-LTE plans, then the deal with China Mobile might lead to a 4G iPhone for Sprint too.

China Mobile wants the iPhone to add more subscribers and keep pace with competitor China Unicom, which does offer Apple’s smartphone.

Apple has been focusing its efforts on the Chinese market — with success so far. In its most recent quarter, Apple said it racked up more sales in the country than hometown favorite Lenovo had during the same time period.

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Sprint would be the only U.S. carrier to offer an iPhone with an unlimited data option for new subscribers, which Bloomberg’s sources say is the reason it plans to offer such a plan. It should provide a good reason for consumers interested in the iPhone 5 to choose Sprint over AT&T or Verizon for their purchase, especially considering that iPhone owners tend to use quite a bit of mobile bandwidth. Despite high usage among iPhone owners, recent studies suggest Android users are actually ahead when it comes to smartphone data, however, so Sprint may not have to account for a very dramatic spike in usage if and when it begins offering the iPhone.

The Bloomberg report also echoes the WSJ‘s report that the iPhone 5 would be available from Sprint beginning next month in October. That’s also in keeping with many other recent reports regarding the next iPhone’s general availability. Neither Sprint nor Apple offered a comment on the report as of publication.

Would unlimited data sway you to Sprint for your next iPhone purchase?

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The new iPad-ordering process takes users through a step-by-step selection process, starting with the choice of color for their device and followed by the selection of storage and connectivity options. Finally, if you’ve chosen a 3G-capable model, you’ll be presented with a choice of carriers, between either AT&T or Verizon in the U.S. It’s a much more logically laid out approach to iPad shopping, when compared to the long list of every available model that it replaces, and it should lead to less consumer confusion. Plus, it just looks a lot better.

Also new is the use of “In stock” in place of “Within 24 hours” for products that Apple has on hand and ready to ship. This is a much more direct statement of the product’s availability, and it should also discourage calls from frantic customers if an order delivery happens to fall outside that 24-hour shipping window for whatever reason. Other items that are not in stock continue to use the shipping window time frame to display stock availability (e.g., “Ships: 2–4 business days”).

Nothing revolutionary, but this is another sign that Apple is keen on improving its customer-facing experiences wherever possible, even when it comes to the smallest details.

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In addition to the iPhone 5, Sprint, which has a total subscriber base of 52 million as of the close of its most recent financial quarter, will also begin selling the iPhone 4 around that time, according to the report. If accurate, Apple’s smartphone will then be available to all the top three major U.S. carriers, since Verizon began selling the iPhone 4 earlier this year, in addition to original iPhone carrier AT&T.

More carrier choice is always a good thing for cell phone customers, and Sprint will definitely benefit from having the device that still remains the most popular single smartphone model in the U.S. The only thing that may disappoint some about the report is that it seems to indicate we’ll see a later introduction date for the iPhone 5 than has been reported, as the WSJ‘s sources indicated mid-October instead of earlier in the month or late September, as previous reports suggested.

Sprint remains the only major U.S. carrier with an unlimited data plan in place, so that might be a major selling point for data-hungry iPhone owners if it stays in place. Will Sprint offering the iPhone prompt a change in carriers for anyone?

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Localytics is represented on around 70 million iPhone handsets worldwide, with clients like News Corp., Skype and Turner (which makes titles like Robot Unicorn Attack and Adult Swim, among others), so it’s drawing from a fairly large pool to come up with these numbers. It seems surprising that Verizon should have such a big slice of the iPhone 4 pie, since AT&T had an eight-month head start on Verizon with the device.

But perhaps it was to be expected, since so many were so dissatisfied with AT&T’s service for so long. And, since Apple waited before releasing a new iPhone, many more iPhone owners would’ve seen their contracts expire than is usual during Apple’s upgrade cycle. Freed of commitment and without any new hardware in the immediate future, many might have seen an iPhone 4 on Verizon as a good opportunity to jump ship. If Verizon can attract switchers even with a significant timing disadvantage, we can expect it to fare even better should the iPhone 5 comes out on both networks at the same time, which will happen according to Verizon’s own CFO.

Another possibility is that customers are rushing to secure Verizon iPhones in an effort to lock in grandfathered unlimited data plans. Localytics notes that Verizon’s iPhone 4 share has jumped quite a bit in June and July, up 2.8 and 3.6 percentage points vs. the previous month, respectively. Verizon was first reported to be planning to end unlimited data soon back in March, though the company had discussed the possibility even last year. The end of unlimited plans was confirmed in June. The new usage-based pricing model for smartphone data took effect Thursday, July 7.

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The report, co-authored by Lorraine Luk and Yukari Iwatani Kane (co-authorship is often used in orchestrated leaks to defray responsibility, should the company’s plans change from what has been reported), says that Apple has placed orders for important components ahead of a launch in late September. People familiar with the matter told the WSJ that the new iPhone should be fairly similar to the iPhone 4, only with a smaller, thinner design and an 8 megapixel camera. This confirms what we’ve heard from other sources, like France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard back in May.

The WSJ also claims that the new iPhone will have Qualcomm wireless chips, which is again something we’ve heard before. Qualcomm chips are currently used for Verizon iPhones, but the GSM model iPhone 4 uses an Infineon chip instead.

The company’s fifth iPhone model was supposed to arrive in the summer, as per the usual upgrade cycle, the report asserts, but it wasn’t yet ready for mass production. That’s due partially to assembly issues that manufacturer Hon Hai had with the new design, according to “two people familiar with the situation.” These new claims echo what the WSJ reported yesterday about Apple’s manufacturing plans for its next-generation handset.

Beyond the iPhone arriving in the fall, buyers can expect bigger changes in store for 2012′s iPhone release, the WSJ says. A “major iPhone revamp” is planned for next year, the report says, including new methods for charging, which Electricpig suggests might mean inductive charging. Also in keeping with what we’ve heard before (even from Apple itself), the WSJ reports that Apple is working on a cheaper phone, one that boasts an edge-to-edge display. No word on when such a device might be expected.

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