IT’S OFFICIAL: iPhone is Coming to Canada!
April 29, 2008
Canada’s largest telecom, Rogers Communications Inc., has announced it will be the official carrier for Apple’s iPhone in Canada. Apple gives Rogers an exclusive product to sell at a time when competition in the cellphone market is set to increase.
“We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned,” Rogers CEO Ted Rogers said a statement.
“By far the most important news for the stock today is that Rogers has signed a deal to launch the Apple iPhone later this year,” - National Bank Financial analyst Greg MacDonald wrote in a note to clients. “It is safe to assume the launch will be before the important holiday season and possibly before the back to school third-quarter period,” - he added.
“This was a robust start to 2008 both operationally and financially for which I’m thankful to our loyal customers and our thousands of hard working employees,” said Ted Rogers. “While many challenges lie ahead in the coming quarters, we are well on track to deliver another year of strong growth in both subscribers and profitability.
Rogers said it plans to release more details on the Canadian debut of the iPhone later. The company didn’t disclose any other information in a statement today. Apple, based in Cupertino, California, expects to sell 10 million iPhones this year. The popular touchscreen handset was originally launched at the end of June last year in the United States.
The company posted more than double first quarter profits, due in part to growing Internet and digital cable subscribers. Rogers earned $339 million or 53 cents a share for the quarter, up from $167 million or 26 cents a share for the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue was up 14% to $2.56 billion.
Rogers added 46,000 subscribers to its voice-over-cable telephony services on a net basis. Its Internet subscriber base grew by 41,000 to 1.5 million, and digital cable households climbed by 49,000 to 1.4 million.
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