Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) on Friday said that the launch of the iPhone XS series could improve its average revenue per user (ARPU) next quarter, as most people are subscribing to services packages carrying higher monthly fees.
“We are optimistic that the new full-screen iPhones will stimulate replacement demand from our subscribers,” chairman David Cheng (鄭優) told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s launch of the iPhone XS. “That may give a boost to the company’s ARPU.”
Local telecom operators have seen their ARPU spiral downward over the past few years due to intensifying price competition. In May, the competition became even stiffer as all major telecoms cut 4G flat rates to a record low of NT$499 a month, reducing their ARPU.
Two million mobile users switched to the NT$499 rate plan on a two-year service contract, National Communications Commission statistics showed.
To further spur iPhone replacement demand, Chunghwa Telecom on Friday said that those who have subscribed to the NT$499 plan would be eligible to switch plans and get a new phone without paying a penalty.
The company registered the lowest ARPU at NT$581 among the nation’s top three telecoms for the first three months of this year, compared with Taiwan Mobile Co’s (台灣大哥大) NT$825 and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co’s (遠傳電信) NT$843.
Chunghwa Telecom did not provide ARPU figures for the second quarter.
Far EasTone said it also expects the new iPhones to help improve revenue and raise ARPU.
About 70 percent of new iPhone buyers have so far chosen the iPhone XS Max, the most expensive of the three new iPhones, the company said on Friday.
Most people who wanted an iPhone subscribed to its NT$1,399 plan to make the pricey smartphone more affordable, Far EasTone vice president T.Y. Yin (尹德洋) said.
Taiwan Mobile said it found that about 85 percent of those who had purchased an iPhone subscribed to its NT$1,399 plan, down from 90 percent over the past few years.
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