T-Mobile sells 500,000 iPhone 5 units in three weeks

It seems that the introduction of the iPhone to its roster of supported devices has been very good for T-Mobile.

The company released its financial results for the first quarter of 2013, and says that it sold some 500,000 iPhone 5 units to its customers—a number made that more impressive by the fact that Apple’s flagship mobile phone has only been available to T-Mobile’s new and existing customers since April 12th. (Extrapolated to an annual basis, that number translates into some ten million handsets per year, although the actual ongoing sales are likely going to be much different once the novelty of T-Mobile’s service wanes.)

According to a press release announcing the financials, T-Mobile also gained an average of 100,000 new iPhone customers who were moving their handsets over from other carriers each month by taking advantage of the company’s Bring Your Own Device program, which allows owners of unlocked smartphones to get favorable monthly rates if they switch to T-Mobile.

Interestingly, the sales numbers reported by the mobile carrier did not make specific mention of how many iPhone 4 and 4S models the company sold—a number that could further boost the success of its decision to start offering Apple products to its customers.

In March, T-Mobile announced that it would begin offering iPhones starting April 12 using an innovative subsidy-free approach that offers competitive fees and does not lock customers into a contract, instead allowing them to purchase a handset on a monthly plan. Just a couple of days prior to launch, it further sweetened the deal with a trade-in program that would grant up to $220 in trade-in benefits to new and existing customers.