Sprint today announced results from its third quarter that were a mixed bag of both good and bad. The Now Network added nearly 1.3 million net subscribers in the third quarter, but 485,000 of those were prepaid, and 835,000 were wholesale or affiliate subscribers. So, Sprint technically only added 304,000 subscribers (these subscribers are postpaid, new two-year activations).
Sounds good, right? But now for the bad news, the third largest carrier only garnered an operating income of $208 million, resulting in a $301 million net loss. Discussing the company’s quarter, Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO said:
“Sprint’s focus on creating the best customer experience with simple, unlimited plans and innovative products and services continues to strengthen our brand and drive positive results.” He continued saying “We are adding to our customer base, our ARPU is increasing, and as a result our wireless revenues are growing.”
Let’s be fair, this report does come after the launch of some pretty impressive phones like the the Epic 4G Touch (which released only a month ago), the Samsung Conquer 4G, Motorola Photon 4G, the Samsung Transform Ultra on Boost Mobile, and the Motorola Triumph. Honestly, I wouldn’t take any stock in these Q3 results – I am more interested in what the company reports in Q4, when the iPhone 4 and 4S get more time to trickle out.
[via Sprint]