Despite a very vocal group of detractors, the vast majority of iPhone users love AT&T.
That’s the key finding in a survey released this week by Yankee Group, which reports that 73% of iPhone users are very satisfied with AT&T’s service. That rating compares favorably to how non-iPhone smartphone users feel about AT&T, and even to how non-iPhone users feel about other wireless providers.
The satisfaction rate of AT&T subscribers as a whole is 68%, and only 69% of smartphone users say they are satisfied with their mobile provider, Yankee Group found.
The results are surprising, given the pounding AT&T has taken in the media and on the blogosphere about its service-related issues with the iPhone. On CNNMoney’s recent stories "AT&T and Apple’s marriage made in hell," and "AT&T: The most hated company in iPhone land," reader comments were overwhelmingly negative toward the wireless network.
AT&T’s recent iPad-related security glitch and mishandling of the iPhone 4 launch likely didn’t do much to help its reputation. Plus, iPhone owners pay AT&T nearly $12 a month more for service than the average smartphone user.
Tech analysts like to point out the ways in which AT&T is a drag on the iPhone. Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi said last month that AT&T’s network has "limited the iPhone experience." And Drake Johnstone, an analyst with Davenport & Co., forecasted that poor experiences with AT&T would drive as many as 40% of iPhone customers to Verizon once that network gets the iPhone.
So what explains Yankee Group’s conclusion that iPhone users’ love AT&T?
"Consumers transfer the high gloss of their Apple iPhone experience to AT&T," says Carl Howe, Yankee Group analyst and author of the study. "The iPhone creates a halo effect that rubs off."
In other words, iPhone customers’ praise for their network may be a result of the famous "reality distortion field" that surrounds Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) CEO Steve Jobs and his company’s products.
But AT&T says its network really isn’t as bad as many people think Online payday loans. It’s a perception problem, not a service problem, in the company’s eyes.
"There’s a gap between what people hear about us and what their experience is with us. We think that gap is beginning to close," says Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman. "It doesn’t mean we’re perfect; we still have work to do. But that’s no surprise to us, because we have a great network."
AT&T’s ‘problem’ that everyone wants
Meanwhile, AT&T (T, Fortune 500) continues to reap the rewards of being the country’s exclusive iPhone provider.
Despite heavy data demands that drive up AT&T’s cost of servicing each customer, users still make the wireless company $50 more per customer each year than other providers get from their smartphone subscribers, according to Yankee Group. That’s because a higher percentage of iPhone customers buy pricey, top-tier service plans to satisfy their mobile download demands.
The iPhone will be worth $1.8 billion in sales to AT&T this year, and will generate $9 billion in revenue for the provider over the next five years, the study estimates. Yankee Group says that’s $750 million more each year than AT&T would be taking in if it had a different flagship smartphone.
The iPhone is also the gift that keeps on giving: 77% of iPhone owners say they’ll buy another iPhone, compared to 20% of smartphone customers who say they’ll buy an Android phone. (See correction below)
"Our analysis explains why AT&T has bent over backward to keep its exclusive distribution deal with Apple as long as possible," Howe says. "Verizon has been regretting turning away Apple for the last three years."
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Oshkosh Corp.'s defense division said Thursday that it has begun delivering to the U.S. Army the first of its Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles ahead of schedule.
The vehicles being delivered are part of the estimated $3 billion contract that Oshkosh-based Oshkosh Defense retained after a challenge by competing suppliers resulted in a re-evaluation of the award process. The five-year FMTV contract is for the production of an estimated 23,000 vehicles and trailers, as well as for support services and training.
Oshkosh (NYSE: OSK) said the first deliveries, originally slated to begin in October, left the company's Oshkosh campus Wednesday.
Production deliveries under existing orders run through December 2011. To date, Oshkosh has received orders to deliver 5,209 FMTV trucks and trailers.
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Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate rose to 10.6 percent in April, up from 10.4 percent in April 2009 but down from a revised 10.7 percent in March 2010, according to figures released Thursday by the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training.
The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in April, up from 8.9 percent a year earlier and 9.7 percent in March 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Seven of Kentucky’s 11 major nonfarm job sectors reported year-over-year employment increases, and four reported decreases.
Kentucky gained a net 7,500 jobs, bringing the state’s nonfarm employment to a seasonally adjusted total of 1,769,500. It marked the second consecutive month of net job growth in the state, according to the OET.
April job gains were experienced in the following sectors: manufacturing; government; construction; trade, transportation and utilities; educational and health services; professional and business services; and “other” services sector (repair and maintenance, personal and laundry services, religious organizations, and civic and professional organizations).
Declines were experienced in mining and logging, information, leisure and hospitality, and financial-activities sector.
The Small Business Administration is making low-interest "economic injury loans" to small firms on the Louisiana coast that have been hurt by last month’s BP oil spill.
Under its Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, SBA is offering 30-year loans of up to $2 million, at a 4% interest rate, to affected businesses. The April 20 spill, which is still leaking oil, led to a ban on fishing along Louisiana’s southeast coast.
Gov. Bobby Jindal officially requested the loans Tuesday, saying in a letter to the SBA that thousands of commercial fishermen in six parishes could suffer economic injury as a result of the spill.
"The closure of these vital fisheries will have a devastating impact to the economy of southern Louisiana," said Jindal.
Small businesses can begin applying for the loans today, Mills said, and they can also request deferrals on existing SBA disaster loans. The money can be used to to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the spill’s impact.
"Many small businesses in the Gulf region earn their living by fishing in the waters on the coast," said SBA Administrator Karen Mills, in a conference call Thursday instant payday loan no telecheck.
Jonathan Swain, the SBA’s assistant administrator, said the agency has a loan reserve of $7.2 billion for its disaster assistance program. Of that, so far only $190 million has been allocated to 38 different disaster areas around the country, including the flooded areas of Tennessee.
"We have the resources necessary to meet the needs [of businesses hurt by the oil spill,]" he said. "We don’t expect that all of the funds will be needed."
SBA also encouraged local small businesses to file claims with BP (BP), and said that borrowers may be required to use any claim payments to help repay the SBA loans.
"We have the tools, and we want to be there to help people with what they need," Mills said. "There are expenses they would have been able to pay if this disaster had not occurred."
Thirty-eight states assess a tax when you sell a home.
Missouri’s real estate agents want to make sure their state never makes it 39.
The "Vote YES to Stop Double Taxation Committee" — funded by state and national real estate trade groups — said it submitted "tens of thousands" of signatures Sunday to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would prohibit transfer or sales taxes on real estate in Missouri.
Spokesman Scott Charton would not say exactly how many signatures the group submitted, but said it was "very comfortable" that it had more than the roughly 160,000 needed to qualify to put an amendment on the ballot.
The measure is preventative. Neither the state nor any cities or counties in Missouri now have a transfer tax. But real estate groups worry that, in a budget crunch, state or local lawmakers may start taxing home sales in a bid to raise revenue.
"As state, county and city revenues decline, politicians are tempted to impose new transfer taxes — just as Missouri citizens are struggling to make it," the group said in a news release. Elizabeth Mendenhall, president of the Missouri Association of Realtors, described transfer taxes as "unfair double taxation," because Missourians also pay property taxes every year.
Still, such taxes are hardly unusual.
They’re in place in 38 states and the District of Columbia, generally at less than 1 percent of the purchase price. Illinois taxes sales at 0.1 percent, though some municipalities, like the city of Chicago, assess taxes of their own. In some cities, the funds are used to pay for open space or affordable housing programs.
But they don’t exist in Missouri. And real estate agents, already battered by the weak housing market, hope to keep it that way.
ST. LOUIS — A Budweiser Clydesdale clopped into a packed gymnasium at a San Diego naval hospital last December and was greeted by 300 people — injured servicemen and women surrounded by their families and hospital staff. It was a "wounded warriors" holiday party. The Clydesdale was a hit. People posed for photos with the horse. Children rushed to pet it.
"Cost numbers never came up," said Riley Nelson, athletics coordinator for Naval Base San Diego. With a shoestring budget, he was relieved Anheuser-Busch paid for the Clydesdale.
But it could be the last time the wounded warriors — or other small charitable events and nonprofits — can afford a Clydesdale visit.
Earlier this month, Anheuser-Busch quietly started charging a $2,000-per-day fee for public appearances by its Budweiser Clydesdales, ending the decades-long practice of the brewer absorbing almost all of the cost of showcasing its iconic horses before adoring crowds.
A-B described it as asking for "increased participation" to offset the $8,000 per day it costs to have a hitch team on the road. Previously, beer wholesalers and event organizers were expected to chip in only for stabling and feed costs, which were typically nominal.
The Clydesdales are considered corporate ambassadors so revered they have evolved into almost symbols of America; appearing, for example, in two presidential inaugural parades. The horses make more than 900 appearances at 200 different events each year. Hitch teams, consisting of eight horses pulling the red Budweiser beer cart, travel the country for months at a time. The horses march in parades. They visit festivals. They attend rodeos and air shows.
Keith Levy, A-B marketing vice president, said the new fee should not reduce the number of events for the Clydesdales because demand for the horses far outstrips the supply of available dates. "They’ll still be extremely visible, as visible as they ever were," he said.
Levy declined to provide the annual budget of the Clydesdale program but said the fee was not aimed at generating revenue. He pointed out that the brewer still pays the bulk of the cost and that "the value (of an appearance) exceeds the cost of showcasing them," even with the new fee.
But that price is still too high for small events like wounded warriors, Nelson said.
"It probably would be something we wouldn’t do," he said. The Clydesdale visit "is nice, but $2,000 is a lot of money."
The Clydesdales also could be missing from next year’s St. Patrick’s Parade in Atlanta. Nancy Logue, president of the nonprofit that organizes the 128-year-old event, said she was delighted to have a hitch team in last month’s parade. The nonprofit and a local beer distributor divided the cost of paying for stable space, feed and overnight security for the horses. But Logue said she doubted the Clydesdales would be back next year due to the new fee.
"In this economy, it’s tough," Logue said.
But Old Town entertainment complex in Kissimmee, Fla., said it likely would pony up the money to have the horses return again after their last visit in January.
"We love them. It’s definitely something we would consider," special event manager Tracy Parkinson said. "The Clydesdales are very, very popular."
Handling of the brewer’s 250 Clydesdales is a sensitive issue for Anheuser-Busch, especially since it became the U.S. subsidiary of Belgium-based InBev in 2008. The official merger agreement specifically requires the combined company — renowned for tough cost-cutting — to continue to support the Clydesdales operations. After all, the horses have been a part of company lore since 1933, when a team of Clydesdales were used to deliver the first post-Prohibition beer brewed in St. Louis.
A-B has made some changes to its Clydesdale program since the merger. Last year, it closed its Clydesdale breeding center in California and opened a massive new breeding farm in Boonville, Mo., with its own veterinary lab, 34 stalls and state-of-the-art equipment. While the farm is closed to the public, A-B will open the adjacent Warm Springs Ranch for tours on April 30.
A-B also has consolidated hitch teams spread across the country to just three locations: Boonville, St. Louis and Merrimack, N.H.
Earlier this year, A-B ran into some public grief for its initial decision not to include a Clydesdales commercial among its Super Bowl TV ads. The brewer changed its mind.
The decision to charge for Clydesdale appearances presents a difficult calculation for A-B, said Derek Rucker, marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The fee is a way to curb costs — a fee that the consumer is not likely to know anything about.
But there is a risk.
"Where it could become a problem is if (the decision to charge a fee) becomes strongly associated with the brand," Rucker said.
Beer industry consultant Tom Pirko said he agreed with the decision to charge for the Clydesdales. He said the brewer should even consider a fee on its now-free brewery tours. Value is reinforced if people pay for it.
"They are more appreciated if they are not free," Pirko said.
But not all Clydesdale visits face the $2,000 fee. Levy said A-B would continue to cover the cost of supplying hitch teams to major events such as the baseball All-Star Game.
And that includes the Budweiser Clydesdales scheduled to parade around Busch Stadium today before the Cardinals home opener. A-B plans to pick up the tab for the appearance.
Microchip Technology Inc. has completed its purchase of Silicon Storage Technology Inc., closing the nearly $300 million deal.
Chandler-based Microchip (Nasdaq:MCHP) finalized is acquisition of SST (Nasdaq:SSTI) after shareholders approved the deal in a special meeting on Thursday.
We are pleased to have completed this transaction,” said Steve Sanghi, Microchip president and CEO, in a prepared statement. “Through this acquisition, we gain access to SST’s SuperFlash technology and extensive patent portfolio, which are critical building blocks for advanced microcontrollers. We expect that SST will also enhance our ability to customize technology variants, thereby adding an advantage over competing technologies.”
Microchip sought SST’s technology as a way to build its presence in the memory market and add to its own patent portfolio. Microchip twice upped its bid for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based manufacturer after rival bids were submitted to its board.
“We are confident that SST will flourish as a part of Microchip,” said Bing Yeh, co-founder and CEO of SST. “As part of a larger, more diversified company, we believe that SST will be better positioned to deliver the superior service and innovative NOR flash and embedded flash solutions that our customers expect.”
Today will mark the last day that SST’s stock trades. Owners of the stock will receive $3.05 in cash as part of the sale.
Colorado's construction industry joined the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and other business groups in pleading with legislative leaders to kill a handful of proposed new laws they believe will hamper job growth and stifle economic development.
Declaring that their industry faces perhaps the worst unemployment in history, representatives of a dozen organizations involved with construction and building sent a letter to state House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders Sunday urging them to kill several measures that change regulatory control, modify business tax exemptions or change workers' compensation in Colorado.
The industry leaders said they were writing "to express our dismay over the partisan politics that seem to be dominating the agenda of this legislative session."
"As business leaders, we urge and challenge you to put aside partisan differences and take the necessary steps to ensure that [these bills] do not move forward," the letter says.
The first six of those bills also were targeted in the letter to lawmakers sent Tuesday by the Denver Metro Chamber, Colorado Concern and the Colorado Competitive Council.
Those bills are:
• Senate Bill 185, sponsored by Senate President Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, which modifies rental law to make it easier for tenants to claim a breach of contract requiring residences to be habitable.
• House Bill 1012, sponsored by Rep. Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, which limits workers’ compensation insurers’ ability to do surveillance on benefit applicants.
• House Bill 1017, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Kagan, D-Denver, which permits voluntary rent-control agreements between local governments and private properties. The bill already has passed the House.
• House Bill 1107, sponsored by Rep quick pay day loan. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, which bars the inclusion of agricultural land in urban renewal zones, a tactic that has become more commonly used as an incentive to attract manufacturing plants.
• House Bill 1263, sponsored by Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, which caps at $250,000 the amount of each employee’s salary that a business can be count as an operating expense against its corporate income tax.
• House Bill 1269, sponsored by Rep. Claire Levy, which increases the damages that can be awarded in employment discrimination lawsuits.
The new construction-industry letter adds one bill to that list: House Bill 1356, which requires state workers' compensation insurer Pinnacol Assurance to distribute surplus funds in excess of 800 percent of its risk-based capital to its policyholders.
Click here to download a copy of the letter.
Groups signing the letter are the Colorado Association of Mechanical & Plumbing Contractors, the Colorado Association of Home Builders, the Associated General Contractors of Colorado, the Colorado Contractors Association, Hispanic Contractors of Colorado, the Heating Air-Conditioning Refrigeration Professionals of Colorado, and the state or regional chapters of the American Council of Engineering Companies, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the National Electrical Contractors, the Independent Electrical Contractors Association and the Sheet Metal Air-Conditioning Contractors National Association.
To protect Wisconsin’s lakes, streams and rivers from phosphorus runoff beginning April 1, Wisconsin residents can no longer apply turf fertilizer that contains phosphorus to their lawns, except in limited instances, under a new law that affects retailers as well.
The restriction, according to a press release from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, also applies to professional lawn and landscape businesses, golf courses and municipalities.
“The new law makes it illegal for Wisconsin retailers to display turf fertilizer that is labeled as containing phosphorus or available phosphate,” said Charlene Khazae, the Department’s fertilizer program manager. Retailers can post a sign that indicates fertilizer with phosphorus is available upon request.
Fertilizer products carry three numbers that indicate the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and potash in the product, commonly referred to as N-P-K no fax cash advance. The middle number, which represents the amount of phosphorus ‘P,’ should be zero.
Fertilizer that contains phosphorus can still be used in agricultural production, pastures and home gardens.
Similar restrictions already exist in places such as Dane County, some counties in Michigan and Florida and in the state of Minnesota.
Additional restrictions for all types of turf fertilizer, no matter if it contains phosphorus or not, include: no application of fertilizer can be made to frozen ground or surfaces like driveways or sidewalks
For more information about the turf fertilizer law, visit www.datcp.state.wi.us and search ‘turf fertilizer.’
Fast food joints are scrambling to find alternate sources for one of America’s favorite sandwich toppings after a winter freeze took a huge bite out of Florida’s tomato harvest.
Due to unusually cold winter weather, 60% to 70% of Florida’s tomato crop was destroyed, said Terence McElroy, a spokesman at the Florida Department of Agriculture. And because the sunshine state produces about 75% of U.S. tomatoes, prices across the country have spiked.
A 25-pound box of tomatoes from south Florida is selling for $30, up more than 300% from a year ago, when a box of tomatoes cost about $6.50 to $7, said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.
Because ingredients make up about 30% of the price of a typical fast food meal and tomatoes go into nearly every sandwich or burger, a price spike could chew up profits in no time.
"We’re seeing the effects in restaurants and produce aisles at grocery stores, but fast food chains in particular are being impacted, because those restaurants buy tomatoes in bulk and put at least a thin slice on almost everything," said McElroy.
‘Sorry, out of tomatoes’
Restaurants are trying to offer their customers uninterrupted tomato supply without raising prices. For some large chains that means getting tomatoes from other sources. But others are only offering the fruit "upon request," or slicing tomatoes from menus altogether.
Burger King was so low on tomatoes in the last couple weeks that some of its restaurants were forced to stop offering them.
"We just didn’t have them for a few days, so we put up a sign from corporate saying we’re sorry, we’re out of tomatoes," said an employee at a Burger King in Missouri Valley, Iowa.
A Burger King spokeswoman confirmed there have been "spot outages of tomatoes," and the chain "will continue to resupply Burger King restaurants with tomatoes that meet our standards as they become available."
While fast food chains like Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. avoided price hikes by sourcing their tomatoes from Mexico prior to the freeze, restaurants that typically rely on the Florida crop are looking elsewhere.
Subway usually purchases its tomatoes from Florida at this time of year, which has an earlier tomato season than other parts of the country because of its warmer climate. In the spring, as tomato seasons begin elsewhere, the chain starts looking to places like California and Mexico for tomatoes.
To maintain a steady supply of tomatoes, Subway has switched its sourcing earlier than usual this year, said Les Winograd, a company spokesman.
The effect on your burger
Fast food chains are doing everything they can to keep the shortage from affecting their customers’ dining experience. Denny’s is hoping prices stabilize soon, and has not made any menu changes so far.
But some changes may be unavoidable. Subway, for example, typically purchases a specific type of tomato from Florida, but surging prices have forced the sandwich chain to experiment with different varieties.
"Because of the freeze in Florida and because certain tomatoes are becoming harder to come by, we’re going to be purchasing some other varieties that are not in as short of supply," Winograd said.
Switching to a new product or source poses a risk for these chains, because customers could perceive it as lower quality, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of food industry research firm Technomic Inc.
"It’s a question of if you are going to be those that opt for a lower price and sometimes lower quality products or if you are going to maintain the level of quality your customers expect," he said.
But substitutions might be better than no tomatoes at all. The lack of tomatoes at some Burger Kings really hit a nerve with certain customers.
"Burger King, I am through with you," a customer who received five tomato-less Whopper Jr.’s from Burger King said in an online consumer forum, My3cents.com.
But some chains believe their customers will be more understanding.
Since last week, Wendy’s has been including tomatoes in its sandwiches and burgers only upon request, said Denny Lynch, a company spokesman.
"We’re doing this in all U.S. stores for two reasons," Lynch said. "One is availability — we can’t get as many tomatoes as we need — and secondly, the color, size and quality has been affected by the deep freeze in Florida, so the quality might not meet customers’ expectations."
Lynch said Wendy’s has placed signs explaining the situation outside the restaurant near the drive-through window and next to the cash registers inside, and that so far, customers have been very understanding.
"We’ve actually had a number of people compliment us that we told them about it beforehand," he said. "Everybody knows that we’ve had a harsh winter, so they’re very understanding about it."
CNNMoney.com’s Andrew Keshner contributed to this report
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