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AT&T: iPad activations more than triple last year's launch

The carrier also says there was strong demand for its AT&T Next monthly installment plan.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
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Roger Cheng
Josh Miller/CNET

AT&T had a good weekend thanks to the iPad.

The carrier said that iPad activations over the past three days rose more than 200 percent over last year's launch weekend, as customers signed up for plans for the new iPad Air.

The comparisons are a bit skewed because the cellular-enabled iPad Air was released on launch day this year, while the cellular versions of the fourth-generation iPad and iPad Mini didn't come out until a few weeks after the November 2 iPad launch day (it launched on November 16). Of course, AT&T didn't benefit from an iPad Mini with Retina Display this year.

AT&T said it saw strong demand for AT&T Next, its monthly installment plan in which customers can walk out of the store without putting any money down. (Customers are required to sign up for a data plan.)

The company said another driver was AT&T Mobile Share, its family data plan that allows customers to add a tablet for $10 a month. The tablet would draw from a shared bucket of data.

Updated at 3 pm PT: to include the comparison of launch times between this year and 2012.