Apple appears to be reaping the benefits as more and more feature phone users trade up to smartphones. The company carved out a huge chunk of AT&T and Verizon smartphone sales for the second quarter of the year, according to financial results released by both companies.
AT&T announced on Tuesday that 62 percent of its total subscribers are using smartphones. The company sold 5.1 million smartphones in the second quarter, representing 77 percent of its postpaid device sales. While iPhone sales are down from the last quarter—a typical slowdown that comes as the prospect for a next-generation model approaches—AT&T sold 3.7 million iPhones, or 73 percent of its smartphones sales in the last three months.
This follows Verizon's announcement that 50 percent of its subscriber base is now using a smartphone, and the company sold 5.9 million total in the second quarter. As with AT&T, iPhone sales declined sequentially, but the 2.7 million iPhones that Verizon sold represent 45 percent of its smartphone sales.
Combined, the iPhone netted 58 percent of smartphone sales from the two largest US carriers, which share two-thirds of the US mobile market. Most of the remaining sales were shared among various Android device makers.
Sprint, which has about one-sixth of the US mobile market, also sells iPhones, though it hasn't announced figures for the second quarter of this year. T-mobile, holding a 10 percent share, still does not offer any Apple devices. Apple did expand iPhone sales late in the quarter by tapping into the pre-paid market, with the iPhone 4S now available from Virgin Mobile and Cricket.
Apple will announce its own quarterly financial results this afternoon, with global iPhone sales expected to top 30 million. Be sure to check Ars for our live coverage of Apple's quarterly call at 4pm CDT.
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