14 DAY TRIAL // Research and advisory firm Yankee Group has released the results of a study based on the effect of Apple’s iPhone on mobile carriers in the United States. The device is said to “immensely” improve customers’ overall impression of the operator brand.
Yankee Group says the operators who agreed to carry Apple’s iPhone “uniformly report hits to their profit margins due to the device.” So the obvious question arises: why on Earth are they carrying it?
Well, according to the research, there’s a significant silver lining here. The firm says that “carrying the iPhone immensely improves customers’ overall impression of the operator brand, especially among Apple users.”
For other OSes or device brands (Android and Samsung being the primary examples), the impact is significantly smaller.
“From a financial perspective, the device—or, more precisely, the relationship with Apple that goes with it—carries significant challenges,” said Rich Karpinski, Yankee Group senior analyst and author of the report in question.
“But it also brings subscribers in droves as well as significant improvements in how those users view operator brands. With the latest iPad focused strongly on 4G, and an LTE iPhone likely to appear later this year, U.S. operators that find ways to successfully manage the ‘i-challenge’ will win,” added Karpinski.
Yankee Group’s report, “iPhone Conundrum: Profit Drag or Halo Effect?”, covers key aspects for the three major iPhone carriers in the United States, starting with AT&T. For this operator in particular, Yankee says the iPhone caused a halo effect.
“Among Apple users, AT&T ranks No. 7 out of 20 top mobile brands. Among all users, it ranks No. 14,” the study says.
While the impact on AT&T’s brand grew over time, Sprint saw immediate gains, said the firm.
“Sprint’s impression scores nearly doubled just in the first quarter selling the device,” according to the report.
As for Verizon, the data showed the least impact: “Verizon does not see a corresponding boost in its brand among core Apple users. Overall, customers seem to value Verizon’s brand highly, regardless of the device they use.”