But the cost was steep: Sprint estimated that the phone launch widened its quarterly loss by $630 million, or $350 per phone activated. It buys the phones from Apple for around $600, then subsidizes them to sell them for $99 or $199.
Shop for Love event to benefit charity
The Nani ‘A’ala team of Independent Scentsy Consultants will host its first “Shop for Love” event from 9 a.m.-7p.m. Sunday at Aunty Sally’s Luau House, 799 Piilani St., in Hilo.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit island charities. People who purchase Scentsy products will be able to choose which organization they would like to benefit.
Scentsy offers many different scented products for the home, office, car and anywhere else.
Anyone interested in fundraising can call Thresa Niimi at 937-1665 or visit www.rx.scentsy.us.
Oahu house prices increase 8.6 percent
HONOLULU (AP) — Median Oahu home prices last month reached the highest level in 16 months.
A Honolulu Board of Realtors report shows single-family homes sold in January for a median $618,900, an 8.6 percent jump from the same month last year. That’s the highest level since $620,000 in September 2010.
However, the number of single-family home sales last month decreased 12.1 percent to 175 from the same period last year.
The median price for condos in January was $305,000, a 4.8 percent increase from January 2011. Condo sales increased 1.9 percent to 270 last month.
Sprint posts 4Q loss on iPhones
NEW YORK (AP) — Sprint dug deep into its pockets in the latest quarter to put iPhones in the hands of its customers. The perennially money-losing company on Wednesday posted its largest loss in three years.
Sprint Nextel Corp., once known for the worst customer service in the industry, has made progress on turning its fortunes around in the last few years. But the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier has still found it difficult to compete with larger rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, both of which sell the iPhone.
So Sprint jumped for the chance to sell the iPhone starting in October, giving Apple Inc. a $15.5 billion commitment.
In the October to December period, Sprint activated 1.8 million iPhones, compared to 7.6 million at AT&T Inc. and 4.3 million at Verizon Wireless.
Sprint said 40 percent of the iPhone users were new to the company, while AT&T usually reports a figure around 25 percent.
That meant the phone helped Sprint post a rare increase in the number of subscribers on contract-based plans, which cost more than contract-free alternatives.
But the cost was steep: Sprint estimated that the phone launch widened its quarterly loss by $630 million, or $350 per phone activated. It buys the phones from Apple for around $600, then subsidizes them to sell them for $99 or $199.