Sprint added 1.1 million cellphone users, its highest additions since early 2006. Of those, it also saw its first gain in contract subscribers for the first time since spring 2007, adding 58,000 for the first time.
The company could directly credit Android to the gains. About 69 percent of Sprint’s new were buying smartphones. At the end of its fiscal year, 50 percent of its total base was on one of the more advanced devices, most of which use Google’s platform on the network. Roughly 10 percent of the base upgraded just in the fall.
Executives didn’t expect the Verizon iPhone to have a major impact on sales, although they were elusive on any specific strategy. Sprint had a “substantial and aggressive” plan to get customers on contract that discouraged them from leaving as well as a strong device lineup. They pointed to the loyalty shown in the fall as an indicator, including both the growth and churn. At 1.86 percent, the customer turnover for contract users was the company’s lowest for any fall quarter in its history.
