Australia has one of the strongest premium smartphone markets in the world, and carriers such as Telstra, who recently lifted the price of their mobile services offering are benefitting, however it’s a different story in the USA where carriers are bleeding billions in losses with their mobile smartphone market crashing.

AT&T T-Mobile US and Verizon Communications collectively lost over A$7 billion in smartphone hardware sales over the past 12 months compared to the previous year with carriers blaming brands for a lack in new features that could motivate people to upgrade.

However, it’s a different story in Australia.

Yesterday Telstra CEO Vicky Brady claimed that ‘significant demand for mobile data and increased plan prices had helped the Telstra overcome so-called customer “churn”.

Brady confirmed that demand for mobile data was up more than one third over the past 12 months.

“We’ve seen incredible growth in data on our mobile network of around 35 per cent in FY23,” Ms Brady said, while presenting the company’s end-of-year results.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) recently reported that smartphone sales have only declined by 7.6% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to Quarter 1 of 2022. 1.6 million units were shipped in Q1 of 2023; in comparison, 1.7 million shipped during the same period 12 months prior, and 2.1 million in Q4 of 2022.

In the USA the top three US carriers have lost billions in revenue as smartphone sales dwindle in a reversal of the pandemic boom and the fall is not over according to IDC.

T-Mobile’s hardware sales fell 23% last quarter, while AT&Ts slipped 7% and Verizon’s postpaid phone upgrades dropped 34%.

Executives partly blame smartphone makers for a lack of new devices, claiming that customers are waiting longer between upgrades.

Verizon Chief Executive Officer Hans Vestberg said on a recent earnings call that there haven’t been any “major” new devices recently, while T-Mobile Chief Financial Officer Peter Osvaldik said customers are “happy with their devices” for longer time frames.

Almost a third of new phone buyers are holding onto their old device for at least three years, up from just 20% in March last year claims analysts.

Yesterday Telstra has delivered a 5.4% increase in revenue to $23.2 billion, profits after tax are up 13.1% to $2.1 billion after the carrier lifted the price of their mobile plans.

There was also a 9.6% lift in underlying EBITDA to $8 billion. The latter was at the very top of the company’s guidance range of $7.8 billion to $8 billion and ahead of the consensus estimate of $7.94 billion.