iPhone News Updated

Rogers says iPhone boosts wireless subscribers

Rogers says iPhone boosts wireless subscribers

Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI) says Apple’s iPhone helped boost the number of new wireless subscribers by about three per cent to 199,000 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, compared with 183,000 new additions in the year-ago period.

About 130,000 iPhone 3G devices were activated, 40 per cent of those new subscribers, Rogers said Tuesday.

The wireless additions were slightly higher than analyst estimates of 195,000 new cellphone customers in the December quarter, which is usually the period of greatest growth in the wireless sector because it includes the Christmas selling period.

However, UBS analyst Jeffrey Fan said the iPhone results missed his estimates.

“The pace of iPhones sold fell to 10,000 per week and the drop from Q3 was more than expected,” he wrote in a note.

The sentiment was echoed by Dvai Ghose of Genuity Capital Markets who wrote in his own analysis that the iPhone additions were “surprisingly weak.”

“While the iPhone was less of a new product in (the fourth quarter), we assumed that iPhone net additions would be in line with the third quarter because of the Christmas period and the fact that Bell and Telus faced BlackBerry Storm availability issues.”

Research in Motion’s (TSX:RIM) BlackBerry Storm — coined the iPhone killer by technology watchers — was expected to be a hot seller for the holiday season.

Rogers, Canada’s largest cable TV and wireless communications operator, also reported it gained only 4,000 net additions to its basic cable TV operations in the fourth quarter, compared with 20,000 additions for the same 2007 period.

Digital cable subscriptions grew by 61,000 in the quarter, same as last year’s growth.

Rogers plans to release full financial results for the fourth quarter on Feb. 18.

Shares in the company were down nearly six per cent in late morning trading, falling $2.19 to $35 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

“Rogers ended 2008 with healthy growth in both our wireless and cable subscriber bases reflecting our innovative offerings that have the features, convenience and value that Canadians want,” Alan Horn, chairman and acting CEO of Rogers Communications, said before stock markets opened Tuesday.

“While our fourth-quarter cable subscriber additions reflect the challenging economic backdrop, we continued to enhance our high penetration levels in Internet and home phone and achieved success during the fourth quarter with our seasonal digital cable campaign.”

[Thanks: http://www.ctv.ca]

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