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Sprint halves quarterly losses to $767m, sells another 1.5m iPhones

Sprint halves quarterly losses to $767m, sells another 1.5m iPhones

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sprint iphone
sprint iphone

Sprint has posted its financial results for Q3 2012, revealing a net loss of $767 million, down from $1.38 billion last quarter. America's third-largest carrier added 410,000 postpaid subscribers, a slight decline from last quarter's 442,000 additions. iPhone sales remained stable: the company says it sold 1.5 million during the quarter, exactly the same as in Q2. However, this quarter saw AT&T and Verizon report increased iPhone sales of 4.7 million and 3.1 million, respectively, so the iPhone sales gap between America's big two and Sprint is definitely increasing. Additionally, Sprint's losses in the same period last year were actually $301 million, so interpretation of its current performance really depends on what you compare it to.

Sprint's transition to LTE is an ongoing effort, and while it's behind its larger rivals, it's moving in the right direction. It says LTE is now available in 4,300 sites over 32 cities, and will roll the service out to another 115 cities "in the coming months." Japanese carrier SoftBank recently agreed to buy Sprint for $20.1 billion, and subject to approval from various regulatory bodies will take ownership of the company in the coming months. We'll have to wait and see what effect SoftBank's investment will have on the ailing carrier's fortunes.