Bernstein: The Richer Get Richer in U.S. Wireless

In what he’s calling a “mid-quarter update,” Sanford Bernstein telecom analyst Craig Moffett says the rich — AT&T ( T ) and Verizon Communications’s ( VZ ) Verizon Wireless unit — are turning in impressive results while second-tier providers Sprint Nextel ( S ) (number 3 in the US) and Deutsche Telekom’s (DT) T-Mobile (number 4), and C-tier providers MetroPCS ( PCS ) and Leap Wireless ( LEAP ), are putting up some pretty dispiriting numbers. “Never before has the divergence between the high end and low end of the Wireless market been so stark,” writes Moffett. Churn rates at both AT&T and Verizon remain low in their most recent reports, while subscriber growth was better than expected. Each company is being helped by hit phones, such as the 6.9 million Apple ( AAPL ) iPhones sold in Apple’s September quarter, and the Research in Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry Bold, which as Eric reports today , seems to be having strong initial ... (link)