Survey: 73% of iPhone users are fine with AT&T's service
Filed under: iPhoneIf you're the kind of person who loves quoting that ".5%" number given by Jobs at the press conference a few weeks ago as proof that AT&T's reception problems are overblown, you'll love this. A new survey released by Yankee Group says that 73% of iPhone users polled are actually "very satisfied" with their cell phone service. In fact, only 69% of smartphone users in general say they're happy with their provider, so not only is AT&T's service satisfactory according to this survey, but it's actually better than other services. Why is AT&T so hated when their service is actually good? Yankee Group explains: it's not that the service is great, it's more that the phone is awesome. Customers really love their iPhones, and so even when the reception isn't very good, the overall experience scores high. AT&T says it's just a perception problem: "There's a gap between what people hear about us and what their experience is with us. We think that gap is beginning to close," according to a spokesman. I'll say this: I carried my iPhone all over San Diego at Comic-Con last week, and the reception I got was just plain terrible. My net connection barely worked, calls were dropped, and I couldn't check email even when I needed to. But I'll admit that the AT&T problems exist in a strange place -- not only does the iPhone's otherwise shining example of user experience helping to outweigh AT&T's problems, but customers' high expectations for the iPhone probably have something to do with all of the complaining as well.TUAWSurvey: 73% of iPhone users are fine with AT&T's service originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments AT&T - iPhone - Yankee Group - Smartphone - Apple
AT&T activation numbers show iPhone 4 dominance
Filed under: iPhoneI guess we can take potshots at AT&T all day, but the proof is in the pudding. Or activations, in this case: 3.2 million iPhone activations in Q2, which is 10 times the number for the 3GS the year before. Oblivious to the noise about AT&T's network, a full 27% of those activations are new customers for AT&T, which has to be chafing someone's drawers over at Verizon. Here's hoping AT&T takes the $30.8 billion in revenue and sinks it right back into infrastructure or lowering cost to consumers. Full press release from AT&T here. [via 9to5mac]TUAWAT&T activation numbers show iPhone 4 dominance originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments IPhone - AT&T - Verizon - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Apple
The history of Apple and AT&T's marriage of convenience
Filed under: iPhoneWired has just published a lengthy article that outlines the often uncomfortable partnership between Apple and AT&T. The overall thread of the article isn't anything new. Apple isn't happy with AT&T's flimsy network infrastructure; meanwhile, AT&T, though certainly happy with the increased profits it's gained thanks to the iPhone, feels as though Apple hasn't held up its end of the whole "partnership" angle, since Apple is insisting that AT&T solve its network problems on its own. What's most interesting and entertaining about the article are some of the anecdotes. Within a few months of the iPhone's introduction in 2007, AT&T, finding itself pummelled by unprecedented demands on its network, met with Apple and tried to get the company to put some data-sipping restrictions on the device. AT&T wanted YouTube to run only over Wi-Fi, run at lower resolution, or restrict videos to a minute of playback. Apple flat-out refused. "No, we are not going to mess up the consumer experience on the iPhone to make your network tenable," said an Apple employee (according to Wired). When AT&T threatened to escalate the matter to its executives, Apple staffers said, "Fine, we'll escalate it to Steve and see who wins." Apparently, an AT&T rep once suggested that Steve Jobs wear a business suit to a meeting with AT&T's board of directors. The response? "We're Apple. We don't wear suits. We don't even own suits." At the same time, Steve Jobs considered severing ties with AT&T only a few months after the iPhone's launch. Only two things kept Apple from dropping AT&T in 2007: the iPhone would have needed to be redesigned completely in order to function on Verizon's CDMA network, and it was also unlikely that Verizon would handle the additional data load any better than AT&T had. As an international iPhone user, my own experience with AT&T has been mercifully brief and limited to them telling me that they wouldn't allow me to get a prepaid SIM so that I could use my New Zealand iPhone in the US for two weeks. After reading the Wired piece (which is an intriguing read and highly recommended), I still can't say that I'm sympathetic toward AT&T. I will say that it seems like any US carrier who tied itself to the iPhone in 2007 would likely have found itself in the same state as AT&T. AT&T's profits are up, but its reputation is circling the drain, ... and its image is unlikely to recover anytime soon.TUAWThe history of Apple and AT&T's marriage of convenience originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments AT&T - Steve Jobs - IPhone - Apple - Verizon