Colorful T-Mobile chief John Legere called demand for Apple's new iPhone 6 "unbelievable" during a recent interview, later hinting that the scrappy fourth-place wireless carrier may have profited from the launch more than any other.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere
"We have 15 share points which means as this game goes on, all we need to is gain X amount of share periodically," Legere said of his company's position in the market at the annual GeekWire summit. "So when you get into the iPhone event, trust me, AT&T better have sold the most iPhones...but I would think relative to our size, history may end up showing that we were the biggest share-taker in the event."
T-Mobile has long been a haven for owners of unlocked iPhones, even before becoming an official Apple carrier partner. Leger again nodded in their direction, acknowledging the iPhone 6 series's restricted supply but noting that nearly any iPhone would work on the T-Mobile GSM network.
"It's a hard issue, because there's a major, major supply issue. I do wanna tell you though, any one of you folks, if they do appear, there's nothing that would stop you from buying a Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint device at the Apple Store and coming over and putting a T-Mobile SIM in it," he said to the assembled audience.
Legere's comments on Apple begin in the video below at about the 20-minute mark. It should be noted that the T-Mobile CEO uses profane language and the recording is uncensored.
In addition to sales numbers, Legere also commented on "bend-gate", calling it -- in so many words --Â a non-issue.
"That is such horseshit," he said. "Listen, what the f**k did you need to see? The video of the guy that's doing this, and if you could have seen his face he probably would have been purple and the veins are coming out of his fingers. And the thing moves a little bit? Are you shitting me?"
"Let me help you about bendgate or whatever it was. It's not slowing down demand. The demand for these devices in the last few weeks is unbelievable."