Handset manufacturer Apple and wireless carrier AT&T both had good quarters all because of the iPhone 3G.

AT&T experienced strong wireless gains, led by 2.4 million 3G iPhone activations in the third quarter of 2008. The No.1 wireless carrier said that of the 2.4 million iPhone activations, 40 percent were to wireless customers who were new to AT&T, delivering arapid growth in wireless data.

"I am particularly pleased with the customer response to the iPhone 3G," said Randall Stephenson, chairman/CEO of AT&T, Dallas, TX.

"The new customers we're winning are high-value, with attractive revenue and churn profiles," he said. "We're expanding the market, as users adopt more data and media-rich services and access a wide array of applications.

"These achievements are positive for the future of our business."

Based on third-quarter customer response, AT&T expects continued growth in terms of iPhone 3G activations and is confident in the long-term value created by this investment in acquiring high-value, data-centric wireless subscribers.

iPhone 3G delivered the carrier high-value subscribers with significantly higher ARPU and lower churn than the postpaid subscriber average.

The iPhone did a lot for Apple last quarter as well.

According to handset manufacturer Apple, the iPhone outsold the BlackBerry last quarter.

Apple sold about 6.9 million of its iPhone 3G units in its fourth quarter and Research im Motion only sold 6.1 million BlackBerrys.

The iPhone's success brought Apple's net income up 26 percent, to $1.14 billion. The manufacturer's revenue increased 27 percent, to $7.9 billion, from the $6.22 billion from just last year.

For AT&T, wireless growth was also driven by increased retail postpaid subscriber additions and continued rapid adoption of wireless data services.

"We were pleased with our results," said McCall Butler, spokeswoman for AT&T. "We had great wireless growth; we accelerated our ramp in U-verse TV and business services were stable.

"Data growth was a big driver in wireless, and we believe we have a significant opportunity to grow data revenues moving forward - only 17 million of the devices on our network are 3G and only 22 percent of our postpaid subscriber base has an integrated device," she said.

For the quarter, AT&T's consolidated revenues totaled $31.3 billion, up 4.0 percent versus reported results in the same quarter last year and up 3.3 percent compared with third-quarter 2007.

This quarter AT&T set a record with 1.7 million net gain in retail postpaid wireless subscribers, up nearly 40 percent from the same quarter last year. This is the largest total for AT&T in any quarter, ever.

The company experienced 50.5 percent growth in wireless data revenues from Internet access, messaging, email and related services.

"The iPhone was a big factor in third-quarter growth," Ms. Butlet said. "The iPhone is positioning us for continued success, particularly by bringing in high-value, data-centric customers with ARPUs more than 1.6 times and NPVs more than two times the average postpaid subscriber."

AT&T's total wireless revenue was up 15.4 percent.

Mobile TV also contributed to AT&T's growth.

The wireless carrier reported a strong ramp in AT&T U-verse TV subscribers, with a net subscriber gain of 232,000 to reach 781,000 in service.

"Across our operations, AT&T continues to execute and deliver solid results," Mr. Stephenson said. "In wireless, we posted a record postpaid subscriber gain.

"Trends in business services continue to be stable, with a major turnaround in wholesale revenue growth," he said. "AT&T U-verse video gains continue to accelerate, helping transform our consumer business."