U.S. Telecommunications giant, AT&T has reported profit dropped 9.7% in its 1st quarter from the previous year, but managed to avoid a much larger drop that was predicted by Wall Street.

AT&T’s net income for the 1st quarter was $3.1 billion that’s 53 percent per share as opposed to $3.5 billion or 57 cents per share for the same period the previous year and is largely due to new subscriptions to the Apple iPhone according to the NYT.

However, AT&T revenue was $30.6 billion which is slightly down from the $30.7 billion in the quarter of last year, although analysts had expected revenue to be $31.1 billion. Earnings were 58 cents per share after 5 cents per share reduction due to increased pension and retiree expenses but still exceeded analysts expectations of 48 cents.