Affiliate Disclosure
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our ethics policy.

Leap Wireless says iPhone sales falling short, could meet only 50% of first-year commitment

It was revealed in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that Cricket, the prepaid cellular carrier owned by Leap Wireless, expects to sell about half the number of iPhones it committed to move over the first year of its agreement with Apple.

Cricket began carrying the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S in June of 2012 after entering into a commitment with Apple worth some $900 million, though weaker than expected sales may see the telecom miss the deal's first-year obligations.

As noted by BGR, Leap/Cricket's Chief Operating Officer Jerry Elliott previously claimed that “sales of Apple devices were pretty good in the fourth quarter,” adding that he wasn’t concerned about meeting the commitment goals. When the carrier first began iPhone sales, it was estimated that the provider paid Apple a $150 subsidy for every contract-free iPhone 4S sold on its network.

Following the launch of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S on its network, Cricket rolled out Apple's latest iPhone 5 on Sept. 28, one week after the handset started sales with major carriers AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.

Under Cricket's pay-as-you-go pricing, customers pay $55 per month for an"unlimited" plan that includes talk, text and data. The carrier offers wireless voice and mobile data services over 4G LTE and 3G CDMA through Leap. As of September 2012, Cricket was servicing over six million subscribers.