by Michael Santo — Wednesday, July 27, 2011, 11:09 AM EDT
RadioShack to Dump No. 4 T-Mobile for No. 1 Verizon
Radioshack announced yesterday that it will be dumping T-Mobile for Verizon, causing another blow to the nation's #4 wireless carrier.
With Verizon being the nation's No. 1 carrier (at least until AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile is complete), the move makes sense. Verizon's customer base is 3x that of T-Mobile's. In addition, one would assume that with the move, RadioShack would have access to Verizon's iDevices, as well.
The change will take place in September, with T-Mobile's last day being September 14, and Verizon moving in the very next day.
With the announcement, shares of RadioShack rose 19 percent. The news came on the same day that RadioShack announced its Q2 2011 earnings, with sales falling to $941.9 million from $962.3 million in a one-year period. Net income fell to $24.9 million, or 24 cents a share, from $53.0 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier.
The stock rose sharply on the day. RadioShack ended the day at $15.69, up $2.60 or 19.9 percent.
The separation between the two companies came less than six months after RadioShack claimed that Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA unit had "materially breached" their contract. RadioShack never elaborated on what that "material breach" was.
T-Mobile appeared to be prepared for the jettisoning, as Hernan Daguerre, T-Mobile director of communications, said in an e-mailed statement that "We are currently focused on higher-return national retailer opportunities and we expect to announce new channel growth in the coming weeks, which will be more than double the number of RadioShack doors currently offering T-Mobile products and services."
Tags: RadioShack, T-Mobile, Verizon