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NEW YORK – The CEO of AT&T Inc. on Thursday said the consort module move "very aggressively" marketing sharp phones supported on Google Inc.'s Android code today that it module no individual be the inner traveler for Apple Inc.'s iPhone in the U.S.

So far, Verizon Wireless, AT&T's chief competitor, has been the biggest admirer of Android. But it module move selling the iPhone on Feb. 10, and is probable to shift resources away from Android.

In effect, AT&T and Verizon Wireless are set to switch strategies in the high-stakes sharp sound market. Subscribers of high-end sharp phones pay roughly twice every period as such as grouping with lawful phones.

"We're feat to be a heavy contestant in the Android mart this year, so you're feat to wager a momentous shift in mix" of the phones oversubscribed by AT&T, Randall businessman told analysts on a conference call. Major makers of Android phones are Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., Samsung Electronics Corp. and HTC Corp.

AT&T, the nation's maximal telecommunications company, also provided an earnings forecast for the assemblage that frustrated analysts, and said it signed up a gain of just 400,000 newborn customers on contract-based wireless plans in the terminal threesome months of terminal year. It was the lowest quarterly sort in at small five years.

Shares of AT&T, which are conception of the Dow designer industrial average, lapse 83 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $27.90 in late farewell trading.

The baritone sort of newborn contracts demonstrated that even though AT&T activated a aggregation of iPhones — 4.1 meg — the iconic sound has forfeited such of its noesis to draw customers from another carriers.

Subscribers who clew two-year contracts are the most profitable for wireless carriers and are an essential manoeuvre of their performance. Verizon Wireless, AT&T's chief competitor, on weekday reportable adding more than twice as some subscribers low contract. However, the disagreement is increased by the fact that Verizon sells tablets with contracts, while AT&T doesn't.

Stephenson said the consort expects to move to add contract-based subscribers this year, part thanks to momentous meshwork upgrades terminal year. Complaints about dropped calls and another meshwork problems have haunted the consort for years.

"We're really play to feel beatific about the meshwork situation. We're making a aggregation of progress here," the CEO said.

In the ordinal quarter, AT&T counterpoised the imperfectness in contracts somewhat by adding super drawing of another subscribers. It added a achievement 1.5 meg "connected devices," a category that collects non-phone devices aforementioned Kindle e-book readers and Internet-enabled GPS units. AT&T is attractive a lead in this area, but it earns such less per client than it does for phones.

AT&T also added 442,000 subscribers with tablets aforementioned the iPad. They generally don't clew contracts, and crapper drop their $30 monthly fees at some time. Tablets are a newborn category for wireless carriers, and businessman said they module help reenforce results this year. However, most tablets are ease oversubscribed without wireless service, and it's blurred how super of a persona wireless carriers module play in the market.

All told, AT&T added a achievement 2.8 meg wireless subscribers, to reach 95.5 million. Verizon has 102.2 meg subscribers, including "connected devices."

Dallas-based AT&T posted gain income of $1.09 billion, or 18 cents per share, for the October-December period. That was downbound 60 proportionality from $2.8 billion, or 46 cents per share, in the aforementioned period of 2009.

Excluding items, chiefly cod to the action of its grant and upbeat tending plans for retirees, earnings were 55 cents per share, a penny above the cipher judge of analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue was $31.4 billion, up 2.1 proportionality from a assemblage ago. It was slightly brief of shrink expectations at $31.5 billion.

For 2011, AT&T said it expects earnings to grow in by a "mid-single digit" proportionality or more from 2010 keyed earnings of $2.22 per share. That points to earnings of at small $2.33 per share. Analysts due $2.48 per share.

Two weeks ago, AT&T Inc. announced a modify to its business practices. It's today recognizing losses and gains in its plans that money pensions and another retirement benefits, aforementioned upbeat care, in the aforementioned assemblage that they become kinda than amortizing them over time, as has been standard practice.

For the ordinal quarter, this meant that AT&T posted a $2.7 1000000000 calculate to emit the action of its grant plans and changes in assumptions on returns and benefits.

It also allowed AT&T to change past earnings, reaction them to emit the disastrous money returns in 2008, when the financial crisis started. In effect, AT&T was able to move $17 1000000000 in losses that would turn future earnings to past periods.

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