Summary
1. AT&T Wireless may be looking to focus more of its marketing efforts at higher income subscribers. 2. The carrier will seek to piggyback on Apple’s iPhone being “such a game changer.” 3. The customers at the upper end, especially those who use the iPhone, will be more inclined to be interested in “what...[other wireless] device[s] can do.”
Analysis
AT&T may be realizing that there is a good chance that Verizon Wireless could take a sizable lead in terms of US subs over the next several years. If such a change in ranking would occur, then AT&T would want even more for the “financial metric...get[ting] updated.” AT&T wishes to have more of an emphasis on “profit margins.” The idea may be that although Verizon would have a much higher number of users as it will continue to target every possible subscriber, AT&T’s more focused approach could lead to bigger earnings.
Another possible way to deal with being a clear number two would be to emphasize “connections per person and connections per household.” So, the number of subscribers would not be as important as the total number of opportunities to make money. AT&T would also want to be able to continue to state that it has “more wholesale subscribers of any U.S. carrier.” All in all, just as the case with Sprint Nextel, AT&T will spend more time “think[ing] outside the box.”
