iPhone to help AT&T grab record smartphone sales this quarter

From CNET News.com: AT&T is looking at some happy holidays thanks to a new record expected for smartphone sales.

The carrier anticipates breaking its previous quarterly record by ringing in sales of more than 6.1 million for the final quarter of 2011.

Speaking at the UBS 39th Annual Global Media and Communications Conference (PDF) in New York earlier today, AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said that the carrier has already sold around 6 million smartphones just in October and November.

And since December is typically a strong month, the company is looking to handily beat its previous record of 6.1 million phones sold.

The robust quarter was due in no small part to Apple's latest iPhone. A large number of customers were waiting for the iPhone 4S to upgrade from their existing handsets. AT&T had previously said that it activated more than 1 million new iPhones just in the first five days after the device debuted.

J.P. Morgan analysts expect AT&T to add around 450,000 new postpaid subscribers for the fourth quarter, compared with 1.2 million for Verizon Wireless and 250,000 for Sprint.

A full 36 percent of all of AT&T's postpaid subscribers for the quarter will be iPhone users, said J.P. Morgan. And 57 percent of AT&T's phone sales will be iPhones, compared with 33 percent in the third quarter.

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